Released over the winter break, The Green Hornet (2011, Columbia-Tristar) stars Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Pineapple Express) as Britt Reid, the son of James Reid, publisher of fictional newspaper The Daily Sentinel. Britt lives the stereotypical life of a socialite, having no motivation in life as he does nothing but party. After James Reid passes away, Britt becomes the new publisher of The Daily Sentinel and does not know how to function in this new world that he has been thrust into.
After a chance encounter with one of his father’s employees , Kato (portrayed by Japanese pop star Jay Chou, not to be confused with John Cho), Britt realizes that they have been wasting their potentials in life and that they need to give purpose to it. Britt becomes the Green Hornet and Kato helps fight crime with him. They decide to pose as criminals to entrap the real criminals. While these events are happening, a crime lord named Chudnofsky (played by Christoph Waltz) is trying to merge all the gangs of L.A. into one empire. He becomes aware of the Green Hornet and he tries to eliminate him.
The Green Hornet is a fun movie that you should go and see with a group of friends. It was not without its faults though; Cameron Diaz plays Lenore Case, the new secretary/pseudo love interest for the duo. Her acting is very stale and one might think she is only in the film because she is a well known actress, which disappoints me because there are many more talented actresses that could have played the part. The film is advertised to be in 3D, but like most of the films to come out lately, the 3D does nothing but add four dollars to the ticket. The action sequences are spot on, though I only wish that there could have been more Kato fight scenes.
The story structure was very solid, it did not disappoint, but overall it was just an average movie. Moving on, I thought that the film would be serious with comedic undertones but it turned out to be the opposite. The Green Hornet is based off of a radio show in 1936, which was later turned into a television show for ABC in 1966 starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee as Britt Reid and Kato. With myself being a fan of the 60s show I was excited when I heard the the film was going to be made after being in “development hell” for a long time. The Green Hornet is a film that combines action, comedy, and culture to tell a new chapter. While it has its many flaws, the film does prove to be entertaining. Overall, I would recommend seeing The Green Hornet, but not in 3D.