The Green Hornet [2011] [Region Free]

Remember that Batman story where the dynamic duo teamed up with 'arch criminal' the Green Hornet - and his sidekick Kato - in order to take down villainous philatelist Colonel Gumm? That was the sole exposure most British people will have had to the character of the Green Hornet. And most won't be aware - since it's hardly been shown in this country - that it was actually a crossover between Batman and the Green Hornet's own tv show.The Green Hornet has been around for quite some time. First appearing on radio in the golden age of american radio [ie the 1930's/1940's] he's really Britt Reed. Proprietor of newspaper the Daily Sentinel, he masquerades as costumed crimefighter the Green Hornet, and along with sidekick and chauffeur and all around excellent fighter Kato, the Green Hornet pretends to be a criminal so he can get close to criminals in order to take them down. The two drive around in a big car with lots of gadgets which is called the Black Beauty.The Green Hornet's tv show was made by the producers of Batman but since it took itself more seriously and was played dead straight, it never caught on and lasted for only a year. It had one of the best theme tunes ever, though. A rearrangement for trumpet of Rimsky-Korsakoff's flight of the bumblebee.There have been a few attempts to get a big screen version of the character done down the years. None prior to this got anywhere. Since he never had any supervillain adversaries and since he's not been in any other mediums in a while, the character was ripe for reinterpretation.Thus when he came into the hands of Seth Rogen, he saw fit to make it a slacker dude buddy comedy crossed with superhero movie.Thus what we have here is the story of Britt Reed's development as a character. Starting out as weak willed child with domineering father, he becomes a worthless party animal. His father's death and the fact that he has to take over his newspaper, a role he's ill suited for, leads him to encounter his father's former servant Kato. Mechanical genius, martial arts expert, and a dab hand at making coffee also, the two end up stopping crime by chance and rather like it.But what starts out as innocent fun as the Green Hornet and Kato start to take on the underworld gets serous as mob boss Chudnofsky, a man tired of not being taken seriously, doesn't take kindly to a villain people think is cooler than him. And the secrets of life in this city are about to come to light.Can Britt become a true hero, and the kind of person his father would have wanted him to be?You can probably guess how that turns out, but then that's the usual character arc for this kind of thing. The bulk of this is the relationship between Britt and Kato, which is different from usual superhero movies because the sidekick is better at the job. Which leads to character conflict. Britt is as a result irritating for a lot of the movie but Seth Rogen plays that rather well so you can get used to it.Cristoph Waltz plays Chudnofsky, and does his best with a role that was handed to him at short notice after Nicholas Cage, originally cast in the past, quit. He has his strong moments and a very stylish gun.Cameron Diaz plays Britt's secretary Leonore and is pretty much a usual Cameron Diaz style character. The film teases the viewer with potential romantic triangle without ever quite going down that road.And there's sterling support from Edward James Olmos as the Sentinel's editor.Beyond that: A very cool car. Lots of car chases and explosions. One huge set piece to finish it off. And a fairly decent plot with a few good twists and turns.Director Michel Gondry is better known for more esoteric movies, but he does manage some interesting montage shots at a couple of points.View this either as a slightly different take on costumed crimefighters or a buddy movie with a difference or a piece of escapism. With things like this, if you don't expect too much out of them, then you should enjoy it.The disc begins with a short anti piracy advert, but you can skip past it by pressing the next button on the dvd remote.It has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, Catalan, French, Italian, Spanish.Subtitles: English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish.Extras:A filmmaker's commentary.A six minute long gag reel. Mostly shots of people on set messing around. Which must have been funny to do but not to watch.Five trailers: One for blu ray in general and four movies with no relation to this one.Two featurettes:A ten minute one about the writing of the film. Which is actually interesting viewing for it's insights into the scripting process.An eight minute long one about the Black Beauty. If you like classic cars with style, then this is also well worth a watch.

There are some films you just watch without knowing an awful lot about them. For me, ‘The Green Hornet’ was one. Okay, so I generally like superhero movies and Seth Rogan’s brand of crude/adult humour always tickles the more immature side of me. Plus I’ve never even read a Green Hornet comic (or did it originate on the radio? See, I don’t even know that!) so I can’t really compare the film to the source material. Anyway, in short, I really enjoyed it and went round recommending it to anyone I happened to stumble upon. It was only after a few weeks of it being released did I realise that it was almost universally not liked. Did I watch the same film?I’ve had a look at a lot of the negative criticism and it seems that much of it revolves around Seth Rogan himself. Yes, he’s normally that chubby bloke who smokes too much in all those comedy films that sort of roll into one. Yes, I would agree that he’s not exactly the first leading man you’d think of when you were about to sit down to a superhero movie. People seemed to only see Seth Rogan playing the same old Seth Rogan character he always does. I guess that could be seen as a fair point. However, I argue that ‘The Green Hornet’ isn’t your average superhero movie. Our protagonist wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider and therefore attained superpowers. He’s just a rich guy. And not particularly fit. However, anyone – even a rich guy in a mask – can land a devastating blow to a thug if he whacks him hard enough with a piece of lead piping (this is basically what our ‘hero’ does). Therefore, Rogan’s ineptitude is actually the whole point. He knows nothing and isn’t physically intimidating. So how come he’s a hero? Enter ‘Kato.’Kato is the guy who makes The Green Hornet’s cups of coffee in the morning. However, making a swirly leaf pattern isn’t his only skill. Arguably, he DOES have superpowers (not that they’re ever really explained). Not just is he a wizard with a wrench and can knock up an armed vehicle to the standards of ‘The A-Team’ but he also sees dangerous situations practically in slow motion, meaning he can use his martial arts powers to defend his employer (and part-time buddy). Not only does this lead to Kato saving The Green Hornet’s (not particularly toned) backside on numerous occasions, but also makes for quite an entertaining way of filming a fight scene in a genre saturated with simple whacking people and the occasional ‘bullet-time’ effect.Other criticisms are levelled at the supporting cast, namely the (obligatory) baddie and love interest (Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz, respectively). Yes, Chudnofski is the villain, but he’s actually poking fun at the usual bad guys you get in superhero-based movies. He’s constantly striving to be one, but quite often getting the overall feel wrong, despite being more evil and violent than anything you find in your average Marvel movie. I suppose that I can see how Cameron Diaz hardly has an awful lot of ‘character development’ put into her role. She’s kind of only there for ‘star power.’ She’s well used to action and comedy and yet never really gets to do either here. However, at least she never sinks so low as to just be the ‘damsel in distress’ that are so commonplace in the genre.Basically, ‘The Green Hornet’s’ biggest weakness is that it is probably too many things to appeal to one mass audience. It’s not just a superhero film, it’s also an action movie, a comedy and a satire that pokes fun of the conventions and clichés you’d normally find with the genre. I guess if any sort of superhero film wants to evolve from a stand-alone film to a profitable franchise it needs to have plenty of merchandise to go with it. This film is mainly aimed at adults (even though there’s not that much violent/drug use/profanity so it never got the obligatory computer game, McDonalds Happy Meal tie-in or action figures for the kids to play with. However, if you’re generally a fan of Rogen’s work/sense of humour, plus you’re up for a little fun being made of all those ‘shared universes’ out there right now, then give this one a try. It’s simple, but fun.