Movie Review: The Green Hornet

Brett Reid(Seth Rogen) is the only son of Jame Reid(Tom Wilkinson), the publisher of a highly successful newspaper. Having lost his mother at an early age, Brett grew up emotionally distancing himself away from his father who is always busy running a successful newspaper and shying away from responsibilities. The sudden demise of his father brings the responsibility of the newspaper upon his shoulders. He entrusts the newspaper to his father’s trusted aide and goes back home. There, he fires all his father’s employees working at his home.

The next day morning, Brett realizes that he has also fired Kato(Jay Chou). Kato was responsible for making the awesome coffee served to him everyday in the morning at his bedside. Brett brings him back and the duo bonds together. Kato was responsible for the cars in the house and he shows Brett some of the modifications performed on the cars. Brett is amazed by Kato’s work. Later in the night, Brett urges Kato to go out with him to do something wild.

As part of their late night escapade, Brett and Kato sever the head from the statue of James Reid. Later during the night, they also save a couple from thugs. They are both caught on the camera but unrecognizable to anyone watching the footage. When they are dubbed as the bad guys by the media, Brett hits up on an idea. They decide to do good to people but project themselves as bad men. In order to achieve this, they use Brett’s newspaper. In the newsroom, they create the Green Hornet and the sidekick.

Brett and Kato starts having more and more fun when they adorn their alter egos. Soon, they come under the attention of Benjamin Chudnofsky(Christoph Waltz), a gangster who is behind all the crime in the area. Will the Green Hornet and his sidekick be able to put an end to Chudnofsky? When Lenore Case(Cameron Diaz) is hired as Brett’s secretary, the friendship  between Brett and Kato is strained, causing cracks to appear in their partnership.

Michel Gondry directs this superhero action movie which ends up as a mixed bag experience for the viewer. The movie starts off differently from other superhero movies. Two guys bond and decide to have fun. But then, it degenerates into a comedy movie from Seth Rogen’s repertoire. This is no surprise as Seth Rogen is also part of the team responsible adapting this radio program and TV series for the big screen. 3D effects play a vital part in the final climactic fight. When the superhero and the sidekick are fighting the villains inside the publishing house, depth powered by 3D makes it an exciting watch.

Seth Rogen delivers the dumb guy act which is similar to his earlier movies. Jay Chou captures the viewers attention in his role as a multitalented Asian sidekick. There are “blink-and-miss” references or homage to Bruce Lee who played the same part in the TV series. Cameron Diaz has nothing much to offer in this enterprise. Christoph Waltz makes you sit up on your seat with his portrayal of Chudnofsky. Christoph does not ham. But he gives a restraint performance which is riveting and different from all the other supervillains one has seen on the movie. Unfortunately, he has very little screen space.

You can watch it if you do not have any other options.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Tags: Movies,Seth Rogen,Jay Chou,Cameron Diaz,Christoph Waltz,Michel Gondry,Action

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