Review of The Green Hornet (2011) by Simon W — 06 Jan 2012

A superhero with no superpowers still needs a gimmick. This one decides to pretend to be a gangland villain, although it has to be said his sidekick Kato pretty much does all the work.

Getting Seth Roegen on board as a superhero was an unusual choice, let alone as a screenwriter- although his schlubby appearance certainly works better as a smokescreen alter-ego than the more suave Bruce Wayne.

Unfortunately, the film can't decide whether it's an action blockbuster, indie film or comedy. As a result it falls somewhere in the middle, never achieving any, and Oscar winner Christoph Waltz is wasted as the somewhat nondescript villain.

At times it's difficult to see visionary director Michel Gondry is at work here- obviously he was a latecomer to the movie's production- but when he does throw in his trademark visual flair, the film is impressive, even if it does, rather confusingly, imply Kato has some kind of superpower himself.

Speaking of Kato, Jay Chou is clearly not 100% comfortable in his first English-speaking role, but more than makes up for his problematic pronunciation with a superb physicality that sells his performance.

P.S. I didn't see it in 3D and doubt I missed anything other than extra expense.