Based on the radio show set in the 1930s and 40s about the formerly-sleazy newspaper editor Britt Reid who started a life of crime after his father’s death, The Green Hornet remains true to its source material but also remains faithful to lazily-plotted action movies, many of which director Michel Gondry takes notes from.
The two main factors that made The Green Hornet better than the run-of-the-mill action comedy with an overdone hero-versus-druglord plot were the funniness of the jokes (Hornet was largely written by its star, Seth Rogen) and the visual insanity that Gondry brings to the table. Michel Gondry is famous for his wacky, almost architecturally freaky visual scenes and certainly brought that to Hornet. In one scene, the villain (Christoph Waltz of Ingloirous Basterds fame) actually attempts to crush Seth Rogen and Jay Chou’s car with four trucks, each coming from a different direction. Combined with his fluidly and beautifully shot action scenes (Kato taking on an entire gang of baddies, the heroes and villains rolling over rolls of newspaper printing during their fight) Gondry supplies a large portion of the film’s “wow factor”–although not enough to totally measure up to the surreal heights I expected from a Gondry/Rogen combination.
The film is well-cast, with Rogen doing his usual self-deprecating act along a dose of jealousy directed towards his incredibly talented assistant, Kato (Jay Chou), and Jay Chou dishing out action along with an authentically real edge. Kato is the real star here: although by the beginning of the movie he can already open beer bottles by karate-chopping them and beat the living daylights out of several thugs at once, it takes him the rest of the movie to complete his emotional journey—something that he can’t simply kick into submission. Also starring is Christoph Waltz, playing gang kingpin Benjamin Chudnofsky, plagued with worries about his age and the amount of fear he inspires (or doesn’t inspire) in his enemies. Although the movie uses Chudnofsky in order to portray some of the funnier aspects of why people become superhero and messes with the trope of a fear-inspiring villain in general, I wish the writers had done it with anyone except Waltz: he’s far more entertaining when he doesn’t have to be. Cameron Diaz, while still looking like Cameron Diaz, felt a little old to play the role she does: the hot young secretary working for Rogen (who, conveniently, is also an amateur criminologist). Although only 36 when Hornet was made, Diaz’s bad skin and her motherly attitude towards the main characters make her feel inappropriate and out of place.
See Hornet if you’re interested in what Gondry can do. I certainly am after seeing it—hopefully Michel Gondry will get a film in which his manic camerawork is the main focus. Aside from that, Hornet is what it looks like in the trailer: a fun, funny action-comedy with a less-than-stellar plot and some high octane car chases.