The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.14.11

[Captain Craig]

The first comic book superhero movie of the year kicks off today: The Green Hornet.

The hard-partying son of L.A.'s most powerful media magnate realizes his true calling as a crime-fighting vigilante after his father perishes under suspicious circumstances in this big-screen adaptation of the popular radio serial, comic book, film, and television series originated by Lone Ranger creators Fran Striker and George W. Trendle. James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) single-handedly built a media empire, but unfortunately his industrious genes weren't passed down to his son, Britt (Seth Rogen). Irresponsible, slovenly, and frequently inebriated, Britt is shaken out of his drunken stupor upon receiving word that his father has died. Shortly after Britt learns that he has inherited the family business, he forges an unlikely alliance with Kato (Jay Chou), one of his father's star employees, and together the pair hatch a plan to pose as villains in order to get close to the city's most high-powered criminals.

I'll be seeing this over the MLK holiday weekend cause I've like the character every time I've sampled it. My most freqeunt sampling was the late 80's run by NOW Comics and I'm currently reading the series by Dynamite Comics and really enjoying it.

The early reported budget is around $120m and Rogan who co-produced it seemed shock that it cost that much. If he's lucky the early tracking by Sony at test screenings was that it got good "buzz" and the anticipation was high for the release.

Did you see it? What did you think?

 

[Saga]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

about to head out in thirty mins to watch this. i had been reading Kevin Smith's Green Hornet comic series and Green Hornet Year One was very good. i grew up with reruns of the old tv series so i hope this is a decent movie.

 

[Gaith]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

SF/F,really?

 

[Professor Zoom]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

SF/F,really?

Seth Rogen as an action hero? could it be anything but SF/F?

 

[Samurai8472]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

I watched some clips on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE7rrlEGnP8

Christoph Waltz hams it up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrqI5MN5ITo

I love the original "Green Hornet" back when FX had it alongside Batman,The Greatest American Hero, Wonder Woman

I might rent the dvd. I want to really like it but the dialogue is terrible. Not enough to keep it in my dvd collection

 

[Gaith]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

Ebert sure gave it/Rogen quite the bitch-slapping...

 

[Agent Richard07]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

It's hard to believe that George Clooney and Greg Kinnear were once attached to The Green Hornet, but it was Seth Rogen that made it to the screen. The movie leaned more towards the comedic without being a full-on ultra silly comedy and I think it worked well. Rogen managed to deliver a performance full of his usual antics and brand of humor, but toned down and sanitized just enough to be a convincing vigilante. There was also Christoph Waltz as the villain, a threatening crime boss who's overly sensitive about his image. That was different and well played. And his introduction was especially good. It featured a criminal (played by James Franco) chewing him out on how pathetic he's become. The guy who played Kato, Jay Chou, was also quite good. What little fighting we did see was done in bullet-time effect instead of the well choreographed artistry of a Jackie Chan scene, but the character was still impressive with his versatility. I also thought he looked a lot like John Cho. Cameron Diaz was also onboard, but I didn't think she was a good casting decision. She didn't seem like a good fit for the Rogen and Chou duo. I warmed up to her a little though. Finally, there was Edward James Olmos as one of the senior editors who worked under Rogen's Britt Reid. He had Adama's commanding presence, but he was a sweater-wearing office guy. I haven't seen him in anything outside of BSG in a long time, so I took notice of the fact that I was watching Edward James Olmos in a smaller role as an office guy.

Now for the story... I don't have much to say other than I thought it was a good origin story and that Seth Rogen and his writing partner did a fantatic job of introducing a number of threads and tying them up pretty well. The requisite action-sequence showdown wasn't anything special though. It was the usual over-the-top mayhem you usually get with superhero/action movies of this sort.

That's about it. I haven't seen the original series and I'm not that familiar with the characters, so I can't make any comparisons, but I enjoyed this movie and give it a B for the entertainment value.

 

[od0_ital]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

Saw it at a free screenin' last night. I liked it, and so did my friends.

I'm hopin' for a sequel.

 

[Gepard]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

Ebert sure gave it/Rogen quite the bitch-slapping...

No kidding:

Casting about for something to praise, I recalled that I heard a strange and unique sound for the first time, a high-pitched whooshing scream, but I don't think [the film] can claim it, because it came from the hand dryers in the nearby men's room.

Wow.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

By the way, I had to go well out of my way to catch this in 2D. It seems that everyone is pushing this movie in 3D.

 

[timothy]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

Ijust came from seeing it . And I thought it was great all the way through. saw it in
3-d for only a couple fight sceans and a cool way to open bottles. over all it was good . now my questioni is in the beging when we meet the villian he is threatening a meth dealer is the dealer the same guy from kick ass?

 

[od0_ital]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

^

I think that was James Franco, from the Spider-Man trilogy, doin' a cameo.

Which would make sense, since he & Seth Rogan made Pineapple Express together.

 

[timothy]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

I think you might be right and pineapple express was fantastic movie and it is also in my perment dvd collection and when the green hornet comes out on blue ray It will be mine.

 

[Trekker4747]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

I'll likely see this tomorrow night. I, personally, wouldn't recommend seeing the movie in 3D as it was converted from 2D to 3D the results of such process aren't likely to be satisfying when they're done quickly and cheaply.

Does every studio really think that 3D = 2 Billion Dollars like Avatar got? Do they not realize Avatar did ungodly levels of business because of good action, a decent story, excellent word of mouth, breath-taking visuals and the 3D was immersive and spectacularly done?

 

[Captain Craig]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

A nice bit of fun. It walked a fine line of serious/satire and stayed just this side of serious.

Grade: B

The Green Hornet at its core follows a basic Hollywood template. The Straight Guy/The Badass. This movie at its core has the same "oddball" pairing as 48 Hours with Murphy/Nolte or Lethal Weapon with Riggs/Murtaugh. That is how I see this.

I really enjoyed the first and last acts of the movie. The opening minutes set the stage as adequately as most movies do for this type film. The scene with James Franco was fun. I caught the Bruce Lee nod in the movie but missed The Lone Ranger nod, it was credited in the closing credits. I enjoyed seeing James Edward Elmos as well, for a secondary character I enjoyed what his presence added to the film.

The last act of the movie plays like a good action movie with several good sequences strung together. I also liked how they opened it with a comic book panel style transition of getting the word out about the bounty on GH's head. There isn't a post credits scene for those who might be curious.

So where did I feel like the movie faultered to land in the 'B' range. The second act. After the good bonding in the first act we are led to believe that they are fighting over Cameron Diaz's character Lenore. She very clearly isn't interested in both yet we get this "brotherly quarrel" over her and a fight sequence about which of the two is the most important part of their duo.
While a number of the quick one off jokes work in the movie(laughter in the right places at my viewing) there were 3-4 spots where a few quick fire things(shotgun affect is how I like to describe it) were said and the joke felt forced and didn't click.

Overall though I enjoyed it, saw it in 2-D, and think at minimum it's a good matinee of fun for 2hrs.

Should it get a sequel I think the character likely would've evolved and matured. The comedy toned down a few tads yet still have well timed comedic moments.

 

[timothy]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

If there is a sequel it will probably go realy dark on us with maybe one or two deadpan jokes . I also noted the bruce lee homage liked what lone ranger homage are you refering to ?

 

[Captain Craig]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

I also noted the bruce lee homage liked what lone ranger homage are you refering to ?

I stayed through the credits to see if there was a post credit scene and near the end it gave thanks for permission of Lone Ranger.
The same guy who created Lone Ranger created Green Hornet as well and even tied them together through genealogy. They are related, pretty cool.
I didn't see it so I'm curious where it is, probably a quick picture in Britt's room or Kato's garage I'd imagine.

 

[Aragorn]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

Does every studio really think that 3D = 2 Billion Dollars like Avatar got? Do they not realize Avatar did ungodly levels of business because of good action, a decent story, excellent word of mouth, breath-taking visuals and the 3D was immersive and spectacularly done?

They're not thinking about Avatar profits, but they do know that one 3D ticket costs another $5, so that definitely plays into it, regardless of whether the 3D is actually good and works for the storytelling.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

"Green Hornet" was supposed to come out last June but was pushed back so they could go and do the 3D conversion the studio ordered. I will be seeing this either Sunday night or next weekend, not been decided yet. Kevin Smith's Green Hornet has been really interesting and the trailers look decent.

 

[John Clark]

Re: The Green Hornet: Grade, Review, Discuss, Speculate-Seth Rogan 1.1

I'll be heading off to see it shortly.

My friends have seen the tv show (I don't know about the comics), but all I know of Green Hornet is what I've seen in the trailer and that Bruce Lee was in the tv version.

All the local cinemas only seem to be doing the 3d version as well.