Just watched the trailer for *The Green Hornet*starring **Seth Rogan **and I have to say, it looks like a lot of fun. **Christoph Waltz **plays the baddie, which has to be great.
What do you think?
Just going off the trailer, I don’t see why they need the Green Hornet at all - Kato seems to be the guy doing all the heroics. I’m also not sure about setting it in the modern day. GH always seemed very “period” to me.
Still, I’ll probably see it. I like Seth Rogan, and it looks like stuff blows up real good, which is enough to sell me on the film, other reservations aside.
I loathe Seth Rogan, but this one I’ve got to see.
I think it would probably be better without Seth Rogen and the doofus spiel…
Looks pretty awesome–much better than I expected.
Does Rogen gain and lose weight as required by the role?
Looks quite good from the trailer. And I like that Kato is the competent one. That’s a comedy dynamic we’ve seen before, of course: the goofy leader with a supremely competent sidekick. (Off the top of my head: Dr. Evil and Number Two, Zap Brannigan and Kiff. Any others?)
I like Seth Rogan and a lot of stuff he’s done, but I’m afraid that his acting’s been severely exposed to me in Pineapple Express. Whenever there’s a scene where he’s shouting or there’s action, he sounds just like Rowlf the dog on the Muppets.
Now I like the idea of Green Hornet. These pulp characters have a rich history and modern take that stays honorable to that even if they wind up making a few changes here or there sounds good to me.
The sites I’ve seen say that it is a pretty generic action comedy though. That’s unfortunate.
http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2010/06/green_hornet_trailer_michel_go.php
Although it does have Cameron Diaz, so at least we’ll get a scene of her dancing around in her underpants.
In the TV series, Kato was Bruce Lee and the Green Hornet was some guy who wasn’t Bruce Lee.
I remember one confrontation going something like this.
Hornet: You’re a coward. You don’t have the guts to go hand-to-hand.
Villain: I am no coward. I will fight.
Hornet: Good. Fight him, Kato.
Then the guy who wasn’t Bruce Lee sat back while the guy who was pummeled the bad guy. It was played in all serious, but I laughed when I saw it.
This movie doesn’t look nearly as funny as that scene.
Holmes & Watson in Without a Clue.
I can’t imagine how this could be good. I usually will see any super hero movie, but man, I’m not even sure this is a renter.
(Are we supposed to take Seth Rogan seriously as a crime fighter, or is this a comedy?)
It looks fun, but I suspect that all the action scenes will have gratuitous slow-motion sections. Note to action movie directors: please stop that.
cameron diaz is too old to be playing the hot secretary. other than that, i have no real objections.
inb4 “Waaaah! They’ve ruined my childhoooooooooood!”
I’ll be there. Seth Rogen and superheroes? Fuck yeah.
…this looks kind of good.
All I care about is if they screwed up the Black Beauty.
views trailer
Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou
Jack Burton and Wang Chi from Big Trouble in Little China?
Anyway, I don’t mind the dynamic, although it does seem to give the title character short shift. I’ve never seen or read much Green Hornet stuff, but I’m assuming that the guy is supposed to be some measure of badass on his own. For anyone who really likes the property, I can see this coming off like watching a Batman movie where Robin does all the hard work. Might be okay as a parody (c.f. Without a Clue) but Green Hornet isn’t a popular enough property for them to start off with a parody. It would have been nice to see the source material played straight.
(Of course, I’m talking about a movie I haven’t seen based off a comic I haven’t read, so the above might be total hogwash.)
The real problem I have is, how do they explain the dynamic in terms of the story? Why does Kato keep the guy around? He’s both a better fighter, and a genius inventor. What does Seth Rogan bring to the relationship, except (I’m assuming) his father’s money? I don’t mind the “smarter sidekick” dynamic if there’s a reason why the smart one is second fiddle, but I’m not seeing the hook that makes Seth Rogan’s character necessary to the film. In a way, it sort of weirdly echoes the 1940s racial dynamics of the original work - the Green Hornet is the main character because he’s the white character. Which isn’t to say that the movie is being consciously racist by any means. They’re just playing off the established character dynamic of a much older work. If they’d kept the original period, they could have gotten some great mileage out of having the lead be inferior in every respect to the side kick, but still be treated as the main guy simply because he’s white. In a modern setting, I have trouble seeing how this dynamic is going to be believable. If Kato is so competent, why is he saddling himself with this great lummox?
On the other hand, the film is being directed by Michel Gondry. So there’s a fair chance that they’ll make it work anyway.
From the trailer, it’s not just money; it’s “his father’s media empire”. So he’s presumably got a ready supply of contacts and information on top of ensuring the newspaper coverage we see near the end there (presumably blanketing the city with the right publicity for that “we will pose as villains to get close to the bad guys” scheme Rogen comes up with). Add that to putting up the money for Kato to further trick out the car or whatever and maybe he’s minimally competent to wave a gun around while his buddy goes in to deliver a one-on-one beatdown, or quietly plant the bug while his attention-getting buddy is leaping around doing flashy kung-fu moves, or whatever.
Inspector Clouseau and… Cato.