The Green Hornet review thread.

[Comics N' Toons]

GH was BATMAN before Batman was Batman

 

[Comics N' Toons]

P.S why are hardcore Green Hornet fans pissed with this movie? It's not like the the Green Hornet was super popular or anything?

So the character has to be popular to have a fan-base?

Haha Right! Great argument

 

[Symbiotic]

Saw it tonight and enjoyed it. I'll pick up the Blu-ray, and watch any sequels that may come of it. I'll admit, at first, I expected

Spoiler

Edward James Olmos's character to be bad.

 

[Vid Electricz]

I am not a "hater". What I don't like is this phoney support for a film based solely on the actor who is in it. Have you spent five seconds thinking about the pointlessness of the concept? Consider it. You have Seth Rogen pulling out a hero last relevant in the late 60's, and using him as a device for a comedy to sell to his fans...right? Am I unfair in that assessment? Nope. Okay, so here's the rub. The whole film is a satire based on that last installment of the Green Hornet. Problem is the current generation (which is composed of Seth's fans) don't have any familiarity with Van Williams. And the generation that is familiar, are not interested in this treatment. So the people who would "get" the joke are not going to see it. So why base the film on that character at all? See my point?

Isn't it interesting that as soon as you become critical of anything around here, you're suddenly a "hater"? There's that extremist fanboy mentality at work! But yeah, I totally agree with you. If you take an objective look at this film, the source material is there to serve the actor (which ALWAYS turns out terrible). One of the things that pissed me off about this movie was that there was not even a slight attempt to maintain any verisimilitude towards the source material. All the dialogue was forced, half-assed Apatow wannabe stuff so pervasive in all these "bromance" movies.
I have no problem with humor in superhero movies. It can be used to great effect...In fact, it's important to maintain some sense of humor in movies like these to diffuse the seriousness... but here, the source material serves as fodder for the comedy...which is completely backwards and repugnant. There's a complete departure and lack of respect for the original radio show or the 60's show...which, let's be fair, can work out sometimes if there are creative or imaginative ideas at play...but this movie seemed so damn generic! It seemed like it could have been made by anyone! And that's an insult given that Michel Gondry has churned out some high quality, creative films in the past. I really wanted to like this movie, but it just left a terrible taste in my mouth... overly violent trash hoping to bank on nostalgia/Seth Rogen fans/whatever...Ugh.

 

[Darthkush]

unapologetically loved it. I love Chou, loved the action scenes, the humor. I liked the "gangsta's paradise". I love the fightbetween Britt and Kato, and especially the very emotional climax of that fight(which isn't getting enough attention. Think about it. It's speaks volumes about what Rogen and Goldberg were saying about best friends or even brothers and how crimefighting partners relate to each other).
If Batman and Robin were real and the same age group, this might actually be how they got along. Obviously, it'd still be way different but you get my drift.

 

[gkokujin]

Wow this film is an abomination. As a fan of the classic tv series, I'm really disappointed that this spoof adaptation was even put into production in the first place

do you think if this movie was a period piece or had a more serious tone it would have done better?

Personally i'm sick of hollywood taking GREAT properties and turning them into buffonery to cash in on the "fart joke" crowd of today.

 

[The Geek Vault]

i saw it tonight i loved it!

 

[bullets]

It's really funny and has a lot of great action . I'm not really familiar with Green Hornet and this felt like a Rogen comedy more than anything. I could see how some of the hardcore fans might be upset but there were people form all ages laughing , so we'll see. I liked the spin on Waltz's character and Franco's cameo also. Kato was awesome , best thing about the film , 8/10

 

[Punk&ComicBooks]

You`re all going to love me after this revierw (not really)- but as someone who is familiar with the comics and the 60s tv show I *drum roll* thought it was a masterpiece. NOW first things first, Seth Rogen- Yes obviously you can identify the familiarity of his comedic elements with a typical Seth Rogen movie however you are fooling yourself if you dont think this film stands out from his others and gives his acting ability a lot of credit for the parts that are serious and they are most definatley serious parts. As a matter of fact I found the movie to be more serious than a comedy but that is ofcourse opinion. As for Kato- ok lets get this straight, ofcourse no one is ever going to live up to Bruce Lee and this film doesnt try to do that...why not? Because its supposed to live up to Kato and NOT Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee brought the character to life in the 60s show as we all are aware. All of you hardcore Bruce Lee fans need to realize that Kato is his own character and we were lucky to have the great Bruce Lee give life to him and leave his mark in the history. What are we supposed to do? Never make a Green Hornet movie just because there will never be another person as good as Bruce Lee (Nevermind that you dont like that this movie was done by Seth Rogen)? Please!

FACT: From the particular comics that the 60s tv show was based on the source material was more than present! Even the little characters such as Mike Axford, the editor who doesnt know Britts secret identity and isnt too fond of the GH but a good guy none the less.

MY OPINION: Like I said before I thought this movie had more of a serious tone overall with some funny parts. Even people who did like the movie might even disagree with me here but I thought the few parts that were funny simply got big laughs when they occured and thats why it may seems like more comedy than it is.

In conclusion, the comedic aspects of the movie did not happen during any inappropriate times. Things were serious when they needed to be and funny when they were free to be. Ofcourse Seth Rogen will add his comedic touch but really its just an add on with everything else there that makes the GH character who he is. I always say its better to add as opposed to take away or not stay faithful to the source material (Yes I realize the GH isnt laughs in the comics really so dont even try to call me out saying how stupid I am for what I just said.) This movie could have been done so so much worse and you all know this. I garentee if this movie played out the same way with its comedic elements however a different actor aside from Seth Rogen you all wouldnt have as much of a problem. I approached this movie with an open mind the way ALL movies comic book or not should be approached no matter what you see or dont see in the trailers or clips. I absolutley loved this movie and I can only hope those who not only enjoyed it just as much but the comic fans who liked it as well would speak up! And ofcourse theres some out there who thought this movie would flop from the begining are either hiding now or wont admit they were proven wrong. If you hate it so much then simply dont go see it, the GH and every other super hero belongs to everyone and not just you and you are just as free to make your own movie with changes that people will probably hate too . Now quote this and leave your predictable comment on how I`m stupid for simply thinking a movie was cool. EPIC WIN SETH ROGEN AND MICHEL GONDRY!!!

 

[Killgrave]

Enjoyed it. Reid and Kato were funny, and the was action pretty cool. At the beginning it had me questioning the story (involving Reid's dad), but it picked up towards the end.

7/10

I would like see Gondry do more action movies, either it be GH2 or another movie.

 

[lou2099]

Personally i'm sick of hollywood taking GREAT properties and turning them into buffonery to cash in on the "fart joke" crowd of today.

By your example,the Starsky and Hutch TV series was a great property.(footnote, it was really not.)

I did not hear any fart jokes in The Green Hornet. It is an excellent movie.

 

[Webhead38]

The movie is bombing... Those offering favorable reviews laugh at Seth Rogen's 10 year old one-liners. Don't be fooled by their reviews. Sony themselves have already said the film is failing...

"Given how well this legendary action duo -- Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) and his resourceful Kato (Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou) and their cooly-equipped The Black Beauty -- were tracking for weeks now, rival studios are emailing me tonight that The Green Hornet is surprisingly under performing. I'd say it's so-so given the higher 3D ticket prices and on the lower side of Sony Pictures' expectations. ("Once again, tracking overestimated this genre," a studio exec messages me in a veiled reference to the lackluster performance of Kick-Ass."

 

[lou2099]

The movie is bombing... Those offering favorable reviews laugh at Seth Rogen's 10 year old one-liners. Don't be fooled by their reviews. Sony themselves have already said the film is failing...

"Given how well this legendary action duo -- Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) and his resourceful Kato (Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou) and their cooly-equipped The Black Beauty -- were tracking for weeks now, rival studios are emailing me tonight that The Green Hornet is surprisingly under performing. I'd say it's so-so given the higher 3D ticket prices and on the lower side of Sony Pictures' expectations. ("Once again, tracking overestimated this genre," a studio exec messages me in a veiled reference to the lackluster performance of Kick-Ass."

So you are posting this because....?????

 

[Webhead38]

So you are posting this because....?????

BECAUSE IT'S NEWS... Coming from THE STUDIO. Why do you post? To cry because your a ten year old Seth Rogen fan who laughs at his juvenile joke? Why do YOU care? Maybe you ARE Seth and your crying this morning.

 

[lou2099]

BECAUSE IT'S NEWS... Coming from THE STUDIO. Why do you post? To cry because your a ten year old Seth Rogen fan who laughs at his juvenile joke? Why do YOU care? Maybe you ARE Seth and your crying this morning.

and your beligerent attitude is because...?

 

[jezza]

The movie is bombing... Those offering favorable reviews laugh at Seth Rogen's 10 year old one-liners. Don't be fooled by their reviews. Sony themselves have already said the film is failing...

"Given how well this legendary action duo -- Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) and his resourceful Kato (Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou) and their cooly-equipped The Black Beauty -- were tracking for weeks now, rival studios are emailing me tonight that The Green Hornet is surprisingly under performing. I'd say it's so-so given the higher 3D ticket prices and on the lower side of Sony Pictures' expectations. ("Once again, tracking overestimated this genre," a studio exec messages me in a veiled reference to the lackluster performance of Kick-Ass."

I'm bemused by why you consider this quote as a form of victory for 'non-believers', simply because you don't like the film. Or have you even seen it yet?

I'm by no means a Seth Rogen fan, I'll take his form of comedy in small doses on most occasions and I was definitely not expecting much from this film from the very moment they said Stephen Chow had pulled out. I also wasn't expecting much from Jay Chou as I'm also a HUGE Initial D fan and wasn't keen on his starring role in the film that had been adapted from the manga series I was accustomed to. I had every reason to think this film was going to be a horrible raping of the Green Hornet name, even down to the cheap comedy in the latest trailer. With this in mind, I still decided to give it a fair chance out of curiosity.

What I found was something of a massive surprise. Whilst the film is by no means Oscar winning in it's execution, I couldn't help but feel it balanced the level of tongue-in-cheek humour, with action and small doses of drama very well. Jay Chou did a much better job than I was expecting and his lack of clear English actually helped add charm to Kato and I like to think Bruce Lee would have respected his performance if he were alive to see it, because it's clearly the best performance in the film.

Of course, there are negative aspects to this movie, like with everything. The action can get a little over the top at times and can throw you off a little (yet, if you clear your head of this, it still remains fun) and the plot has got more holes than most cases of Swiss Cheese and you HAVE to watch it in overpriced and overrated 3D. Still, take everything with a pinch of salt, this film could have been FAR FAR worse. I dreaded it turning into Kevin Smith's representation, which to a lesser extent it did, they just found a way to come to a compromise without alienating MOST of the Green Hornet fans (be it from the radio show or TV series) and still pleasing the new audiences who have never even heard of the Green Hornet (e.g my fiancée).

For me, the film gets an 8/10 and is a likely Blu Ray purchase for me, which doesn't happen often, simply because it delivered on being fun enough to watch a second time around. I'd also be interested in watching the extras on how they dealt with all the ***** problems they had during production.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

I really enjoyed it. Minus the comedy, it was a different take on a superhero. Both these guys have no real idea what they're doing and Britt is so flawed, and is in it for the wrong reasons, which I dug.

 

[KenK]

The movie is bombing... Those offering favorable reviews laugh at Seth Rogen's 10 year old one-liners. Don't be fooled by their reviews. Sony themselves have already said the film is failing...

"Given how well this legendary action duo -- Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) and his resourceful Kato (Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou) and their cooly-equipped The Black Beauty -- were tracking for weeks now, rival studios are emailing me tonight that The Green Hornet is surprisingly under performing. I'd say it's so-so given the higher 3D ticket prices and on the lower side of Sony Pictures' expectations. ("Once again, tracking overestimated this genre," a studio exec messages me in a veiled reference to the lackluster performance of Kick-Ass."

Look, we understand that you don't like the approach taken with the film. We understand that you clearly have no intention of seeing the film to even have your own opinion of the film, but again, it's that "I told you so" mentality, coupled with the fact that you couldn't even bother to post a link to wherever this story came from, or even any box office numbers information, that just makes you come off like a hater. People would have more respect for your opinion if you constructed it without belittling the people who actually have seen the film, especially when you haven't, and you back up whatever argument you're making with some tangible facts.

When you made a fairly bombastic declaration regarding critical reaction to the film, you were convinced the overall critical reaction would continue to get worse, and in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty much stayed in a range most would consider "mixed".

But bottom line is, if you don't see the film, you're in no position to argue, question, or try to invalidate the opinions of people who have seen the film, and like it.

 

[CaptainCraig]

Webhead didn't post a link to Deadline.com cause at the end of the article it says something like, "may still be too early to tell/judge. I'm at a coffee shop on my iPad or I'd link and quote it. Green Hornet is headed for a $30-36m opener, aka nice January MLK open.

 

[bullets]

I've heard it's estimated around 30 million but we'll know for sure in a couple days.

 

[CaptainCraig]

$30m is the 3 day estimate, $35-36m for 4 day estimate.

 

[Webhead38]

But bottom line is, if you don't see the film, you're in no position to argue, question, or try to invalidate the opinions of people who have seen the film, and like it.

I don't have to eat ***** to smell it and know it's *****. Just because you feel inclined to defend it, doesn't make you any more objective. Why would you care? What's your invested interest? Are you going to sit here and go ten rounds over a second rate comedy from an actor who is on his way out of Hollywood?

 

[MadVillainy]

Ken (and everyone) dont even reply to him. Your just fueling his hate

 

[Webhead38]

What hate? I just responded to his smack. And besides you being a 12 year old cheerleader, what is your part in all this? Contribute or go watch Halloween III again. If your Avatar is any indication...

 

[S.A.A.D.]

Halloween III is awesome.