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The Green Hornet More at IMDbPro »

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220 out of 318 people found the following review useful:

Awful...

Author: jrargonaut from United States
15 January 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It blows me away that people thought this movie was, "surprisingly good." It's not. It's bad. Really really bad. Lets put it this way, I have not walked out of a movie in who knows how long, since Ishtar? And this was that bad.

Yes I did laugh a few times. But Seth Rogen, just plays himself as he has played that same character in dozens of other movies, except this time he has money, a side kick and weapons, devised by the sidekick. He plays Britt Read as a super loud and obnoxious character without being endearing. Reid's not smart or witty, but brash and annoying.

Now one could say that there are these great fight scenes thanks to Kato (played by John Cho). But there so over the top special effects laden as to be completely unreal and not enjoyable. It's like the viewer is playing a video game when we see from Kato's perspective in a fight.

The bad guy, has a bad guy insecurity complex with wanting to be perceive as scary, but has a name that nobody can pronounce and of course, owns and hide's out? at a cement/construction company.

In the end, this movie is tedious, predictable, annoying, and worse, unenjoyably campy. Save yourself the money and god forbid the 17$ it costs to see it in 3d. Because 3d does nothing but make you angrier you spent that much more money on a waste of 2 hours.

137 out of 205 people found the following review useful:

Really annoying film

Author: Larry S from United States
21 January 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The trailer got me all excited to watch this, but boooooy was I wrong. I was really hoping this was going to be like Iron Man but instead it felt like that darn Streetfighter film with Van Damme. Like Streetfighter, the movie felt really short, because there was not much of a plot. Heroes were generic and same with the villains. You see the bad guy in the beginning, but there wasn't much character development which made the villain very generic (which also made it obvious how the story is going to end). Kato's role was generic as well, like he was a typical Asian foreigner who does all the hard work but no play. Now I understand why Nicolas Cage turned down the role of the villain and same with Stephen Chow as Kato...lame. Besides the cheesy characters, the fight scenes were done in slow motion which made it seem fake and derivative of the Matrix, Seth Rogen (green hornet) was annoyingly loud most of the time, I didn't really understand what Jay Chou (Kato) was saying sometimes because of his heavy accent (which also made his acting kind of wooden), and Cameron Diaz felt like she was there just for star power for some reason. Even the action scenes (especially towards the end) was very boring, (believe it or not I actually fell asleep during the middle of an action scene), my brother tapped me on my shoulder to wake me up. There was nothing in this movie that was really interesting other than maybe the black beauty (green hornet's car) and maybe his hornet gun, and that's about it. And what was up with the 3- D? The glasses made the movie too dark and did nothing to the experience (I am getting really sick of 3-D).

117 out of 185 people found the following review useful:

A stinker : green hornet - dog poo cornet

Author: Anton_Ego from UK
21 January 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Where do I start ? See how long we can take one joke and stomp it to death again and again and ( voice gradually fades ) ..Arrogant rich kid blundering through life ; Smart sidekick does everything for hero who doesn't get it .... The casting is so far off wack in this, Seth Rogen who is supposed to be core of this film is just not convincing either as rich playboy buffoon, or as a prospective crime fighter. He spends the whole film being unsure of what he is doing there. The arch villain even when he is shooting people is not the least scary. The humour is crass, directing appalling. The few decent actors Tom Wilkinson, Edward James Olmas just look embarrassed.

I notice there is no DC logo at the beginning, and someone should have stopped this mess a long time before release. I guess having Mr Rogen as producer probably didn't help.Its not that I don't like these type of films; Iron Man is one of my all time favourites and Kick Ass does what it says on the tin. Really - buy yourself a tin of Dulux, a 4 inch brush,find a wall and slap it on. You'll find watching it dry a lot more fun..

94 out of 146 people found the following review useful:

Don't waste your money..very minor spoilers..read this ..

Author: med77_99 from Los Angeles
16 January 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I never watched episodes of the TV series, nor have i read any of the Green Hornet comics, though i doubt they were as lame and as silly as this new movie adaptation of Green Hornet. because of the big adds and billboards this movie has, i bought into that and decided to watch it tonight, and i wish i have not !! i was expecting a cool superhero, a crime fighter type of movie with a little a humor, but i was let down and disappointed. it had too much humor it turned into a full comedy, a cartoon. it became silly and ridiculous. the plot did not have anything special, just another average superhero plot with some really silly and lame parts " Spoiler AHEAD " >>> Hornet and Kato fighting over a girl !! how silly is that <<<< END Spoiler

and i saw this in 3D, what a waste !!! nothing special about that except for small parts of the action scenes, not really worth the price. Some of the action scenes were cool, but not enough to save this movie from being a failure. Also, Cameron Diaz role was unnecessary and she was just one of the marketing aspects of this movie. the whole thing was a Hollywood joke, just too much Hollywood !! please don't buy into the big billboards and the charming adds, because this movie really isn't good.

Im also surprised that some people are giving this good reviews, probably they are either 10 year old kids, or people who watched it drunk with a group of friends !

65 out of 97 people found the following review useful:

Stupidly Dumb!

Author: Jake Lo from United States
13 March 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I don't know why I went to see this, but I wish I could get my money back. Wow, this movie was really irritating me. First of all, being of an Asian descent myself, I expected Jay Chou's character Kato to be somewhat represented fairly (with respect to Bruce Lee), but most of the scenes have him doing all the hard work and not getting any action from the ladies. There was a brief scene with Cameron Diaz, but nothing happened. I find that kind of odd because Kato seems to be more of the superhero than Seth Rogen's character Britt Reid as The Green Hornet, and aren't superheroes suppose to get the ladies? There wasn't even a romance other than a brief flirtation in the office. No offense to Jay Chou fans, but his Asian accent wasn't very flattering either because his role is of a stereotypical Asian martial arts expert that drives Seth Rogen's character Britt Reid around as a chauffeur. And I understand that's how the story goes with the characters, but I find that kind of ironic because Bruce Lee tried to avoid the Asian stereotype with the heavy accent. Besides the stereotypical Asian accent, the fight scenes with Kato were interesting and pretty to look at, but the fancy special effects also made the martial arts seem a little fake. Instead of the real thing like Jackie Chan's or Jet Li's fight scenes, I felt like I was watching a video game of a player going through the motion. And I understand the fight was stylized to be funny, but it felt more campy than funny (like all that was missing were those big letters that said "POW!").

I also found Seth Rogen as The Green Hornet awkward to watch with his overacting, obnoxious personality (which wasn't very likable throughout the movie) and I understand he was trying to be funny too, but there wasn't anything really all that humorous, despite some funny moments. Overall, the film felt lazily produced and I agree with critics like Ebert, there wasn't a well structured plot. It's as if Rogen wrote the story to fit his type of characters that he portrays in every movie (which also kind of ruins it for the followers of the comic) and I understand it's just an adaptation but still, even a big time star like Cameron Diaz's role seemed to be in the movie just for her name only. And Christoph Waltz's portrayal of the villain wasn't very inspiring either (kind of a waste of his talent), not like Inglourious Basterds.

Also, I question the morals of the story. I'm not sure what Rogen and Goldberg were thinking when they were developing the script considering The Green Hornet TV show in the 60's wouldn't have been popular without Bruce Lee. One of the themes about the movie was inequality between The Green Hornet and Kato, and when the movie ended, the two decided to be equal but it didn't seem like it. It felt like Kato is always going to be in the background doing all the hard work without getting any credit which is kind of a slap in the face to Bruce Lee because like I mentioned, he did not want to be portrayed as a stereotypical Asian man. That's one reason he left the U.S. for Hong Kong to pursue his passion for cinema. One last thing, the 3D glasses made the movie too dark, (it felt like a first shooter game) and did nothing to the experience.

117 out of 201 people found the following review useful:

Campy, corny, but visually entertaining.

Author: jccwu from United States
15 January 2011

I've been keeping my expectations low for this film and I'm glad that I did. I was a big fan of the 60's television show, but I didn't watch any episodes until the mid 90's; so I've been waiting almost 15 years for a film adaptation on the Green Hornet.

The film is campy, the story is corny, the villain is wasted and Seth Rogen wrote the script. Based on the plot and the dialogs, it's not a well made movie; but it doesn't try to be. This movie could have been written more seriously and be on the same map as a Christopher Nolan's Batman film; but instead, it went on the road to be a comedic film with a lot of explosions. Some stuff didn't work, other stuff was clever & visually entertaining.

The stuff that I admired the most are the homage to the original television show. There were some criticism to the 60's show about how the Kato character was just a sidekick, butler, manservant, an aid or a chauffeur to the Green Hornet. Bruce Lee didn't have much dialogs and he didn't have much screen time. It was during the 60's and just having an Asian-American to be an everyday character on a show was a big deal, so I never saw that as an insult. In this movie, they make a HUGE deal about that subject as Seth Rogen & Jay Chou are constantly arguing about Kato's role throughout the whole film.

Other homage to the television show is a drawn image of Bruce Lee, Al Hirt's theme "Flight of the Bumblebee" tune, and there's even a scenario from my favorite episode that has been written into the movie. The Black Beauty is also a very awesome car! The funny thing is that in the TV show, the Black Beauty was a brand new & very recent 1966 Imperial Crown sedan. In the movie, it's the exact same vehicle; but it's now a classical vintage car.

I saw the 3D version and there were very few sequences where the 3D effects was worth the extra price of admission. I recommend saving your money and watch the 2D version instead.

To finally sum everything up; the movie isn't good, but it brought back my love for the characters inside the Green Hornet world. The film is visually entertaining for what it is. I hope there's a sequel, but that somebody else will write its screenplay.

81 out of 130 people found the following review useful:

The Boring Green Bee

Author: jonnyhavey from United States
17 January 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"The Green Hornet" is a wanna be superhero movie trying to be original by following the scheme of Seth Rogan's character Britt Reid to become a superhero that is perceived as a criminal to the public. The problem is that Britt Reid doesn't even deserve to be a superhero because his coffee maker Kato (Jay Chou) is the one with "super powers". The only things Britt Reid can do is be very obnoxious and use his money and power of the press to sensationalize his character while giving no credit to Kato. The origin of this story comes from "The Green Hornet's" debut in 1936 on the radio. The character was created by George W. Trendle and Frank Striker and has taken a journey through various mediums in time including a comic book and television series in the mid 1900s. However, its newest medium in 3D fails to capture the spark that lit the character's way to fame. The lackluster film begins with showing the bad relationship that Britt had with his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) when he was a kid. This scene is followed by a very special cameo appearance of James Franco while establishing the ego of the character of criminal Benjamin Chudnofsky (Cristoph Waltz, "Inglourious Bastards") and his aspiration to rake over the streets. Chudnofsky later changes his name to "Bloodnofsky" in order to sound scarier in his pursuit to take down Britt's alter ego "The Green Hornet" which forms after his father dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting. As Britt's alter ego begins to take over the street solely because of Kato who does not receive any recognition and their car "The Black Beauty", a secret about Britt's father unfolds along with a love triangle between Britt, Kato and Britt's new secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz)

The most memorable scene in the film is James Franco's cameo of the criminal mastermind of the city. He receives a little less than five minutes of screen time with Cristoph Waltz's character Chudnofsky who work together to create a scene with great acting and a subtle comedic undertone. After this scene it is an uphill battle for the characters of Kato and Chudnofsky to salvage the remains of the film. Kato does this with his skill and gadget repertoire while Chudnofsky strives to boost his ego with decent one-liners.

The problems with the film do not necessarily stem from the subject because the film really could have been a decent superhero movie. Instead the two biggest problems fall into the categories of casting and entertainment. Seth Rogan is actually a very funny guy and a decent actor when he is cast in the right film as a supporting character ("The Forty Year Old Virgin", "Funny People"), but when the spotlight is on him in a film outside his genre repertoire bad things happen. Rogan is completely out of his element with the role of Britt Reid and is not able to do anything about it. He is not a likable character at all and is completely overshadowed by Kato. The film should have been saved from its entertainment factor, but fails on this account as well because the film is downright boring.

Boring is the word of the day when it comes to "The Green Hornet" which should have abused the 3D medium with "The Black Beauty" and Kato's heightened senses. However, a better name suited for the film is one spoke of by Britt himself when he talks about his alter ego being named "the Green Bee" exemplifying a boring undertone that would help keep you away from theaters and waiting for DVD.

97 out of 165 people found the following review useful:

Split Personality

Author: jdesando from United States
14 January 2011

"So this is what you want out of your life? This gives you sense of fulfillment? I spend all night, writing about the corruption in this town, and you do nothing." Jack Reid (Tom Wilkinson) to his son, Britt (Green Hornet Seth Rogen) The Green Hornet is unlike most other comic-book-hero film adaptation: Seth Rogen's slacker Hornet is a dipstick without a clue about navigating the crime world while Kato ( pop star Jay Chou), his valet/associate, pretty much plays the Bruce Lee/kung-fu role as cool, even when he's goofing with the Hornet, which is most of the time. It is also a bromance with Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case, a love interest who helps us get over the homoerotic subtext.

Geeks know the Green Hornet franchise well: radio show from 1936 to 1952; TV show in 1966 by the producers of the campy Batman TV series, while Green Hornet's greatest asset was emerging martial arts star Bruce Lee. Writers Rogen and Evan Goldberg renew that 60's camp but with it seeming out of date, as if the parodic part of the genre cycle had long ago been played out and not welcome anymore. Of course, you could argue that Despicable Me, Kick Ass, Megamind, and Iron Man 2 last year took to parody, but each one of those is more successful at marrying the satire to the action than Green Hornet.

The personality of the film is split—it's either satire or action, Hornet or Kato. The film is a bit away from the accepted concepts of this sub-genre except in Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), the arch villain whose ironic reactions are an adept amalgam of menace and insouciance.

As he did in Inglorious Basterds, Waltz commands the screen with his charming menace. Actually he is equaled in the opening sequence, the best scene of the movie, when he faces off James Franco in a cameo, two hoods pissing about their territory. Franco is quite good as a semi-clueless drug lord.

Britt has daddy issues, specifically making something of his life while newspaper owner dad. Jack Reid (Tom Wilkinson), is a hero to the city. With dad's death, Britt decides to fight crime as the Green Hornet while letting everyone think he is a criminal (as in the original versions).

The gadgets are Bond-worthy, and Kato has the Bruce Lee charisma; it's just Rogen who seems out of place—not believable as a hero from beginning to end of the film. He can be amusing as a man-kid, but the geeks will never accept him as their hero.

The Green Hornet has lost its buzz.

45 out of 68 people found the following review useful:

Van Williams needs to open up a can of 'whoop-ass'!

Author: fauxep from United States
24 February 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm getting sick of people who are angry with those of us who love the Green Hornet, and want to defend the character from this piece of crap movie. "Nobody knows him anyway" is what I hear a lot, but apparently enough people in Hollywood knew of him, and thought enough of the name to use it as a way to sell tickets instead of just creating a new character. It is understandable that most people don't know very much about the Green Hornet. He was created by George W. Trendle (who also created the 'Lone Ranger'), during the hayday of radio dramas. Britt Reid is actually a distant relative of John Reid a.k.a. the Lone Ranger. Both were ahead of their time in-so-much as the heroes worked with sidekicks very unusual for their time period. The Lone Ranger with an Indian back in the old west, and when the Green Hornet premiered in the 1940's it was unheard of for an oriental sidekick. In the old west everyone thought the Lone Ranger was bad because he wore a mask. The Green Hornet purposely wanted people to think he was bad. Neither Tonto or Kato was written, or intended to be sub-servient. Kato was Britt Reids assistant as part of his cover. The Green Hornet is "supposed" to be a crime-boss, that's why he sits in the back of the car, NOT because he just wants Kato to drive him around! Both men bring much to the partnership, and both are excellent fighters, just in different styles. Kato with martial arts, and Britt with 'street fighting' abilities. They are also closer than brothers! Van Williams and Bruce Lee understood this very well, and it came across in their screen time together. Even watching the old TV show now there is no hint of Kato being a 'lesser' person to Britt Reid.

OK, history lesson over, now on to this complete piece of trash. I actually have no problem with the initial portrayal of Britt Reid as a louse who parties all the time. The problem is he NEVER grows up! If he had some redeeming qualities it might have been better. Perhaps a real talent for journalism (which he had in the radio & TV shows), a 'buddy' relationship with Kato, or even the lovable rich rogue somewhat like Bruce Wayne. Seth Rogan has turned the Green Hornet into nothing more than a reject from animal house. Why, after being nothing but a jerk to everyone, would Rogan's character all of a sudden want to fight crime!?!?!? I don't know when we went from partners being friends to hating each other but working well together, but it's stupid. I don't even particularly care for the guy playing Kato. He's a capable enough actor, but he's no where near as cool as Bruce Lee, but that aside, there is absolutely no reason for him to like, much less work with Britt. We're supposed to believe that both of these guys hated Britt's dad so much, that they are willing to work together, even though there is really nothing to even suggest they are more than rich guy/assistant. Lenore Case was not the 'mastermind' behind the Green Hornet. She knew his identity and was able to help cover for him, and help him in his guise as Britt Reid. She was a necessary part of the team (and actually had a crush on Britt) but not the all controlling figure that we are supposed to believe she is in this movie.

The bad guy with a problem of not being scary enough was great for about 10 minutes. It created some pretty funny dialogue, but went on for a hour and a half too long. This guy wasn't even worth Kato's time, much less the Green Hornet. He could have been caught by T.J.Hooker. Why do we need a superhero, if the bad guy is not REEEEAAALLY bad! I am not naming the other actors because I'm sure that by being in a movie with Seth Rogan is punishment enough. I wouldn't want my name associated with this movie either.

If you've read this far I will say there are some things I liked. The homage' to the TV series in costuming, and design of the Black Beauty, as well as the switch in the garage were a nice touch. There is even a great 30 sec. scene at the end with the old theme and logo popping up that doesn't last long enough, but it was nice to see. Sadly, this movie had so much promise. There are a lot of possibilities for this character, and Rogan didn't seem to like any of them. If you're going to make a movie about a doofass who becomes a superhero fine, but why do you have to take established characters and destroy them. Please do yourself a favor, seek out the old series with Van Williams & Bruce Lee. It's a much better use of your time.

58 out of 96 people found the following review useful:

The hornet is back...

Author: Paul Magne Haakonsen from Denmark
26 February 2011

I watched "The Green Hornet" with a sense of skepticism. Having grown up with the original TV series, this movie really had some big shoes to fill out. And surprisingly enough, it managed to do so in a good enough way. But there were also aspects of the movie that were less than successful.

First of all, Seth Rogen (playing Britt Reid/The Green Hornet). No, no, no. I know he was involved in directing and writing the movie and all, but he is not chiseled out for an action role of this caliber. I do admire his spirit and enthusiasm, but he is more suited for comedy movies. Seeing him in this role didn't go well with me. He did bring along some comedy, but it didn't work so well in this particular movie.

And the scene at the beginning where Britt Reid was bringing home a woman and they went through the garage and sat in all the cars (showing them off for the audience, actually) in high-speed capture, what was up with that? Already at that point, the movie started to falter and crash.

Jay Chou (playing Kato) certainly had HUGE shoes to fill out after the original role was played by Bruce Lee. And actually Chou did a decent enough job, with good acting and well-choreographed action/fighting sequences. So hats off to him for that.

However, the most memorable person in the movie was Christoph Waltz (playing Chudnofsky). He was fantastic as a villain and worked his role very well and very convincingly. Plus there was also a good sense of humor to his role, and it worked well.

The story told in the movie was fast-paced, captivating and interesting enough to keep you enthralled throughout the entire feature length.

For an action movie, then "The Green Hornet" is actually quite good. But for a follow-up to the legacy of the TV series, the movie is a mediocre attempt with good intentions. Had they cast someone else for Britt Reid, it would have worked much better. Now, I am not saying that Seth Rogen is a bad actor, he was just ill-suited for this role. "The Green Hornet" is good entertainment if you are in for an evening of action, corny one-liners and a trip down memory lane.

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