Movie Review - The Green Hornet

I am a sucker for a superhero movie. You know, a guy who overcomes trauma to risk life and limb to save the world? Well, Green Hornet is not that movie, but you probably figured that out when you saw it stars Seth Rogen. So, can a movie based on an old radio show; directed by the guy that did Be Kind, Rewind; and a 3-D January release be any good? Well, let's just say it's different.

The movie is about Rogen's Britt Reid having his father die, and inheriting a newspaper empire (sound familiar?). He meets his fathers mechanic, Kato (Jay Chao) who is a martial arts expert and a mechanical genius. After the pair stop a mugging, they decide to be superheroes. What follows is them clashing with a crime kingpin (Inglorious Basterds Christoph Waltz) and blowing a lot of stuff up. Sound cheesy? Good.

The movie, like the '60s TV show and the radio show was cheesy. The movie was less like Iron Man, and more like Rush Hour. The main hero, Rogen, was kind of a douche, making it hard to root for him. His 'sidekick' Kato was the real action star, and was really impressive, doing all the hard work, to Rogen's comedy. The pair was actually pretty good together. While the character Rogen played wasn't great, his portrayal was actually pretty entertaining, although not much of a stretch.

The movie was filmed quite differently. The action was different, where they slow down action scenes, and stretched them out to make it look more like a comic, and less like The Matrix. It was normal action, and while it was very unique in its depiction of time slowing down for Kato, it may not be an innovation in the action scene. Even though it was very entertaining, and quite fun, the 3-D took away from the action. The film occasionally tried to remind you it was in 3-D with some gimmicky shots, but overall, the 3-D was just a distraction.

The comedy was also pretty evenly spread throughout the movie. It started off introducing Waltz's villain opposite a James Franco cameo. It was extremely funny when Waltz asks why he isn't very scary. The film also had plenty of slapstick comedy as well (the gas-gun scene had me in stitches). The comedy fit in pretty nicely with the semi-serious tone of the movie.

The movie may not be for everyone, but I actually enjoyed it. It isn't quite the start of the summer action movies, but it's entertaining, a little silly and quite a lot of fun. Rogen has no problem fitting in this role, and Chao was really good as an action star. While it isn't quite what you may expect, I don't think you will be disappointed.

EDITORS NOTE: This also appeared on Creative Loafing, HERE.