So, the Green Hornet. A classic old school action hero. I resist saying comic book hero, because he really isn't. He got his start as the hero of a radio serial and most people remember him because of the television show, which starred Bruce Lee as Kano. He became a comic book hero well after all of this. That being said, in today's culture he is at best a third tier hero character. He has waned in the public eye and honestly, I think most people probably don't even know who he is. I kind of wonder how many people who only nominally follow comic heroes got him mixed up the Green Lantern, or Green Arrow. My guess is quite of a few of them. That makes this movie quite a risk. Unlike a lot of franchises, this one doesn't really have a large built in fanbase. Actually, it doesn't have much of a fanbase at all.
All that aside, I really did enjoy this film. It compiled a pretty decent cast, although they are really under utilized. I get the feeling that Seth Rogen enjoys hearing the sound of his own voice. Jay Chou is no Bruce Lee, but he does well enough, and he and Rogen seem to play well off of each other. Cameron Diaz isn't much in this movie, her role could have been played by just about anybody. I am not a huge Diaz fan, but the fault is not really her rather than the fact there just really isn't anything special about that role. Generic love interest #3, come on down. Christoph Waltz is very quirky and entertaining, but with him as well, it really felt like he could do so much more.
This movie has some rough edges, and I think the biggest part of it is the lack of a likeable character. Rogen just is kind of a jerk in this movie. Even after he decides to "cleanup" he still is just a jerk. It's Rogen's normal loveable dope character, just take out the loveable part. And since he had a lot of control of this movie, he gave himself LOTS of lines. Way more than was really required. A few times during the film I found myself rolling my eyes and saying "ok lets just get on with it."
That being said, I really did enjoy this movie. Despite the douchebaggery of Rogen's character, I will really felt this hero had a little more of an everyman feel. If you take out the wealthy partying media mogul aspect. It probably has more to do with the fact the Green Hornet had no powers, and no special skills. The one downfall is that it really plays out like a fratguy version of Kickass, which is kind of unfair since the Green Hornet is an old idea, but I could see today's pop culture thinking that sort of thing. Final verdict. See it.
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