Review of The Green Hornet (2011) by Phil H — 17 Apr 2014

To be honest I think they simply made this film purely to see the 'Black Beauty' (the car) realised and looking sexy as hell in a modern action film. I kinda got the same impression with the film adaptations of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and 'Starsky and Hutch'.

There is so much car porn in this film its quite incredible. I am a bit of a car bod myself so I admit it was quite nice to see the interior of Reid's garage, but geez! car porn!!. Still the whole thing is predictably your typical blockbuster fare with silly over the top stunts, obvious CGI in places and a very very unoriginal plot which seems to be the standard Hollywood plot formula for all films of this genre. Wash, rinse and repeat folks.

First up, the very odd Terminator style POV vision used for Kato when he fights was rather strange and misplaced I must say, what the hell! frankly. Also the nasty violent segments and graphic deaths of one or two people (Chudnosky especially) seemed out of place for what is advertised as a film for all. Its one of these curious blends where the film appears to be advertised for the family yet out of nowhere BLAMMO! nasty violence which certainly isn't for the kids. Is this a loose comedy parody or a semi violent crime fighting flick? make your minds up.

Cast wise Rogen wasn't too bad as Reid despite him sounding like Fozzie the Bear every time he raised his voice. Some of his quips were amusing yet harmless and his clumsy overweight attempts at action were funny in dumb slapstick kinda way. Chou as Kato was as you would expect really...slick, slim and fast, a basic Bruce Lee air of coolness about his person. The fact he is the guy that does all the actual dangerous heroic stuff yet Reid/The Hornet is useless and gets all the attention was pretty formulaic admittedly, but that's the main gag really.

It does work but also kinda smears the image of this crime fighting hero, bit like 'The Lone Ranger' flick really. Could you say they are ruining the legacy of these characters? I guess, but hey anything for a quick laugh and a quick buck right.

Waltz was good as the baddie of course although this type of film seems way below his standards and he did feel a bit out of place if you ask me. Diaz was hardly used and quite right too as shes practically useless in everything she's ever done and a terrible actress.

Usual silly adaptation from Hollywood here. The original show was a cult but this is just a churned out cookie cutter affair with much over the top nonsense just as we saw with 'Charlie's Angels' and 'The A-Team'. All of which will be (has been) forgotten in the blink of an eye. I'm still waiting for the obligatory film adaptations of 'Airwolf' and 'The Six Million Dollar Man'...come on down.