The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet

"I don't want a gun that shoots farts!"

Directed by: Michel Gondry
Cast: Seth Rogen as Britt Reid/Green Hornet
Jay Chou as Kato
Cameron Diaz as Lenore
Rated PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*
The Green Hornet is the latest in a series of remakes that crowd and mock the superhero genre. At first, I thought Green Hornet would be different; a pleasant surprise in Hollywood's mundane attempts to constantly make more money. I was wrong and I blame myself for overlooking Seth Rogen.

The Green Hornet was originally a radio show in the 30's that ran until the 50's. It was then adapted into a TV show in the 60's and even had a crossover with Adam West's Batman show. Now, here we are in 2011 and the Green Hornet is drug from the closet in an attempt to cash in on the superhero movie trend.

With Seth Rogen at the helm, the movie follows the life of Britt Reid, son of a billionaire media president. His life is full of women, partying and lots and lots of money, all trying to get the attention of his jerk-father. Then, his life is turned upside down when his father dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting and Britt inherits the family business. Now, that right there sounds like a decent Seth Rogen comedy, right? Brainless, not a whole lot of plot and plenty of ways for him to be a dork. Well, this movie provides all of this, there's just a little bit more...."plot".

Life upended since his father's death, Britt confides in the one person who hated his father as much as he did: his father's mechanic, Kato. In a drunken fit of craziness, Kato and Britt decide to go and decapitate the late Mr. Reid's memorial statue. In the middle of their stunt, they spot two people getting mugged and decide to help. After Britt fumbles his way through and Kato unleashes some awesome ninja-ness, the two flee the scene pursued by cops who think their criminals. Multiple explosions follow.

After realizing how awesome they just were, Britt and Kato decide to be vigilante's, posing as bad-guys. Let the comedic mayhem begin!

My biggest problem with the Green Hornet is that it had a lot of potential. It's a pretty good plot for a superhero movie. The problem started when Seth Rogen was chosen to write the thing. Instead of being awesome, the whole thing became campy and stupid. For example, their bad guy was just a dude with a weird name who happened to be an idiot. Every line that came out of his mouth seemed be followed for a pause for laugh; it felt very intentionally funny, and that's not funny.

"My gun is double-barreled. It's funny, see?" No. No, it's not.

That really is my only problem with the whole thing. It was a pretty funny movie and had the classic, campy-superhero feel that I love. I just think that the whole thing could have been ten times better if the villain was serious, instead of trying to compete with the heroes comedy.

Nobody likes it when Mysterio cracks jokes with Spider-Man. It's just not done.

This just isn't done either...

Overall, Green Hornet wasn't bad. You just need to know what you're going into: a Seth Rogen superhero-comedy and you'll get corny jokes, general campiness, Cameron Diaz, insane kung-fu and a stupid villain. Spend wisely kids.

Personal Rating: 6 of 10
Plot: 4 of 10
Drugs/Alcohol: 3 of 10
Action/Explosions: 8 of 10