You know how sometimes you go to the movies to see a comedy and find that the only funny parts in the movie had already been shown in the preview? That’s my biggest movie pet peeve – second only to the people who clap at the end of a movie – and that’s exactly what I imagined the “The Green Hornet” cinematic experience to be like. Oh how wrong I was.
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is a goofy 20-something party boy who is forced to man up when his father, owner of Los Angeles’ “The Daily Sentinel,” unexpectedly dies. As heir to the monstrous fortune and responsibility, Britt does what any other incredibly wealthy and powerful young individual would do: he decides to employ his resources, one of which is his father’s Swiss Army knife-like mechanic Kato (Jay Chou), and fight crime under the name “The Green Hornet.” Even though Rogen plays the same character he seems to play in all of his movies, his comedic manipulation of the comic book hero makes “The Green Hornet” unconventional, funny and simply entertaining.
Unlike most other sober, melodramatic comic book hero movies, “The Green Hornet” rounds up all superhero clichés, takes them for a spin in Britt and Kato’s super sweet ride and then shoots them with a fart gun. Diversion from the norm sets this movie apart. For example, instead of a maniac demonic villain, we get Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz of “Inglourious Basterds”), the insecure, self-conscious, wannabe bad guy. Instead of a crime-fighting team that righteously fights for justice, we get a bromance that decides to clean up the streets of L.A. after realizing their lives have been inconsequential up until that moment. And instead of guys in tights and capes, we get dudes who kick butt in attire “GQ” would be proud of. Again, disregard for the traditional seriousness that plagues most films makes “The Green Hornet” an unexpected breath of fresh air in the comic book hero genre.
The cast surprised me as well, given that many notable stars signed on to play arguably insignificant roles. I mentioned earlier that Waltz played Chudnofsky, the bad guy, and sadly did not take the character as far as he could have, given his performance as über-Nazi Col. Hans Landa in “Inglourious Basterds.” Cameron Diaz (“There’s Something About Mary”) plays Lenore Case, the love interest of both Britt and Kato – talk about trouble in parbrodise – and Edward James Olmos (“Stand and Deliver”) plays Axford, papa Reid’s most trusted advisor at “The Daily Sentinel.” Neither star delivers a poor performance, though neither star has enough material to make a remarkable performance either way.
The star-filled cast did not add or subtract to the quality of the film and thus was unnecessary, with the exception of Rogen and Chou, who were a great goof-ball/straight-man pair. Viewing the film in 3-D was also unnecessary, because the third dimension was mostly used to display depth of field rather than to have bullets and kicks flying in your face. My advice to you would be to get yourself some popcorn with the extra money you save not viewing 3-D.
Nonetheless, the superfluous star cast and 3-D antics are neither here nor there; the moral of this story is that “The Green Hornet” is a great movie to watch if you just want to sit back and laugh.