First look at Kato in THE GREEN HORNET

[JacksonArcher]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/greenhornetnews.php?id=8662

Kato looks pretty faithful. I'm kind of looking forward to this if anything because of director Michel Gondry. I'm really excited to see what he does with this.

 

[watermelony2k]

that's actually a stunt double for jay chou but yeah looks faithful

 

[Corran Horn]

Cameron Diaz is just noxious.

 

[Ward Fowler]

I've had a bad feeling about this movie from the beginning. I think it will be a huge flop.

 

[Christopher]

It saddens me that they're apparently doing this as a comedy or spoof. That's missing the point. What was cool about the '60s Green Hornet show was that it was from the same producers who did the Batman sitcom, but it was played straight. Sure, it had some fanciful gadgets and awkwardly overused stock footage (like the Black Beauty driving at night when it was daytime in the story), but it was done as a serious action drama with more down-to-earth villains and a lot more violence and death than Batman had. Remaking it as a comedy is losing the thing that made TGH different from Batman, the thing that made it noteworthy as a show in its own right.

And of course the show was based on the radio series, which was also played straight. As were the movie serial and the various comics over the decades. TGH has never been a comedy, so why is this movie turning it into one?

 

[Rulius]

Hm.. ruined like Land of the Lost was? Campy kids show, could have been quite a movie
but ruined it with the comedy crap.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Months ago, Rogen or someone else close to the production said that the film would not be a comedy. Instead, it would be played straight, but with laughs a la Indiana Jones.

I just hope that audiences don't laugh at Rogen when they see him in costume.

 

[Ward Fowler]

TGH has never been a comedy, so why is this movie turning it into one?

IMO, when these sorts of things happen it's usually indicative of lack of faith in the source material. The studio wants the name recognition that the character provides but they really don't believe in or understand the character's roots or what came before. I agree that they should have played it straight. It would have a much better chance of succeeding.

I just hope that audiences don't laugh at Rogen when they see him in costume.

I fear that will be a huge problem.

 

[Broccoli]

It saddens me that they're apparently doing this as a comedy or spoof. That's missing the point. What was cool about the '60s Green Hornet show was that it was from the same producers who did the Batman sitcom, but it was played straight. Sure, it had some fanciful gadgets and awkwardly overused stock footage (like the Black Beauty driving at night when it was daytime in the story), but it was done as a serious action drama with more down-to-earth villains and a lot more violence and death than Batman had. Remaking it as a comedy is losing the thing that made TGH different from Batman, the thing that made it noteworthy as a show in its own right.

And of course the show was based on the radio series, which was also played straight. As were the movie serial and the various comics over the decades. TGH has never been a comedy, so why is this movie turning it into one?

Outside if it starring Seth Rogan, do we know that this is going to be a flat-out comedy? One of the reasons Chow dropped out was because he wanted to do a superhero spoof, but the other PTB didn't (which, admittingly, doesn't exclude the possibility that it won't be a comedy).

I see this playing more like Trek XI, where there are several comedic aspects, but overall, it wasn't a comedy.

 

[Captaindemotion]

My initial response to the casting of Rogen was 'WTF? but the more I've seen and heard about this production, the more relieved I am. I don't think it's going to be a spoof; it won't be The Dark Knight, but neither will it be Land of The Lost.

Rogen has lost a lot of weight to play the main role, they've taken a lot of care to cast the right martial arts expert actor as Kato and the costumes and car have been lovingly recreated. And let's face it, Gondry is a truly interesting director. This may end up being a glorious disaster but I think it is likely to prove to be a reasonably interesting, if offbeat, superhero movie.

 

[Kelso]

I like what I've seen so far. As for Rogan... I'll give the guy a shot. Who's to say that comedy is all that he can do?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

The other studios don't seem to see The Green Hornet as serious competition. Just a couple of days after Sony announced they were moving the release date back to 17th December 2010, Disney announced that they're scheduling Tron Legacy for release on the same date.

 

[Bad Bishop]

I hope this film will motivate 20th Century Fox (and other legal claimants) to release the TV show on DVD.

 

[Christopher]

I hope you folks are right, but even so, I'm not sure a "straight-with-laughs" adventure romp is the right tone. The TV series was kind of gritty for its day, even with the fanciful elements and the obligatory comic-relief episode endings. I mean, it's a very "hard-boiled" sort of concept -- the Green Hornet is a crimefighter who pretends to be a criminal in order to infiltrate the underworld, and is on the run from the law although he has the help of the DA. It could make for something pretty tense and noirish, though at the risk of getting accused of being a Dark Knight knockoff.

And Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case? Meh. She's no Wende Wagner.

I hope this film will motivate 20th Century Fox (and other legal claimants) to release the TV show on DVD.

I hope so too. The American Life Network was showing reruns for a while, but they pulled it from their schedule a few months ago. It was the first time I've ever gotten to see the show, and I still had something like 9 episodes left unseen when they stopped airing it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm looking forward to seeing this. I'd much rather have seen Kevin Smith's take on Green Hornet. I think it would have been more faithful to the show than what Seth Rogen has written. Still though as I said I'll be checking this out. Kind of sucks Tron Legacy is out on the same day...will have to see that the week after.

 

[S. Gomez]

I'm hoping to get to the original radio show soon (although I've just started listening to The Adventures of Superman), but other than that I've had little exposure to The Green Hornet character. So with that, I'm a little more concerned with the website calling a movie based on a radio and television character a "comic book adaptation". Yes, it's had comics but surely other mediums have had more of an impact.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I'm looking forward to seeing this. I'd much rather have seen Kevin Smith's take on Green Hornet. I think it would have been more faithful to the show than what Seth Rogen has written. Still though as I said I'll be checking this out. Kind of sucks Tron Legacy is out on the same day...will have to see that the week after.

I'm not so sure about that. Didn't Smith once say that his Green Hornet movie would basically feature GH and Kato sitting about talking and that all the action would happen offscreen? It almost sounded like Jay and Silent Bob as superheroes. I don't have a link to it, but I'm nearly sure that I read this.

The Rogen version might not be the most faithful or reverential movie version of a comic but it does sound a bit more faithful than that (though knowing Smith, it would have been interesting at least).

 

[Shazam!]

I just hope that audiences don't laugh at Rogen when they see him in costume.

Why? It's not like it's figure-hugging spandex.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I think Kevin was talking tongue in cheek when he made that statement. He does that a lot.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

That stunt double looks like he means business.

From what I've seen so far it looks like they've really used the TV show look as the basis for their design, modernizing it as would be expected.