Ever since Seth Rogen was first announced for this project, I figured it was going to go for some tongue-in-cheek. However, when Michel Gondry got involved and Rogen started slimming down for the role, I got to thinking it might be leaning more serious. I’m not really that great of a devotee of THE GREEN HORNET, so I don’t have as much invested in them being bound to the details as hardcore fans might. I’ll say I pretty much agree with Alex’s assessment over at Screened, though I think I might’ve liked this more if Rogen had played it like the dangerous sociopathic hero in the criminally-overlooked OBSERVE & REPORT.
Some quick observations in lieu of extensive commentary…
- It’s been a long time since I’ve watched it, but I think one of the typical pop culture jokes about the 60s GREEN HORNET show was that most fights basically consisted of Britt hanging back, almost inconsequentially, while Kato did all these incredible stunts. I can’t help wondering if this might’ve been plotted with that idea as an extended in-joke, because it goes the extra mile to show how Kato's the actual talent of the operation while Britt’s just a schmuck (by his own admission!) Kato’s the one who can actually fight, who makes all the gadgets and who has the modern-line superhuman strobbing bullet time power. Even when it seems like Britt’s getting his act together in the climax, he just winds up being a distraction to let Kato gain the upper-hand and take care of business. And why not? Even when he doesn’t have the best handle on the language, Jay Chou’s got great charisma. I hope this is the start of his Hollywood career. == TEASER ==
- As far as gadgets go, the gas gun's actually pretty rad. It somehow manages to make non-lethal take-downs look badass. Though, Kato wound up killing plenty of villains, anyway, almost in spite of that (and I have to say that a certain car-off-a-skyscraper-into-the-pavement fatality made for one wicked black humor gag.)
- When it comes to superhero mythologies, Green Hornet’s always kept it pretty basic and I didn't really notice too many of the sly nods you'd usually see in a revival like this. I don’t know if Chudnofsky (or Bloodnofsky, rather) is actually from any previous story, but his presence does beget the classic bad guys pretending to be good guys angle. While Britt Reid as a yuppie prodigal son is certainly a departure, I guess I was more intrigued by the change of Kato's nationality. Maybe it completes some odd kind of cycle for him to be Chinese in this to match Chou, as he’s alternately been Japanese, Korean and Filipino before.
There are my quick thoughts. I’m sure a lot of you Comic Vine maniacs have seen it. What do you think? Did this green make you think of spring time or nasty bile? Let your opinions be seen below...
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