The Green Hornet Review

The Green Hornet

Release Date: 20th January 2011 – Australia

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures (presents)

Original Film

Distribution
Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Action/Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 119 minutes

Budget: $120,000,000

Box Office Gross: $227,817,248 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When a news magnate suddenly dies, his Playboy son Britt Reid inherits his publishing media empire and forms a friendship with one of his father's employees, Kato. Together, the pair finally find a purpose of altruism: they become vigilantes to rid the city of crime. Britt becomes the masked Green Hornet, and with Kato's help, they use their high-tech weaponry and skills of crime-fighting to take on the underworld crime boss, Chudnofsky.


Cast

Seth Rogen – Britt Reid/
The Green Hornet

Jay Chou – Kato

Christoph Waltz – Benjamin
Chudnofsky

Cameron Diaz – Lenore
''Casey'' Case

Tom Wilkinson – James Reid

Edward James Olmos – Mike Axford

Edward Furlong – Tupper

Analeigh Tipton – Ana Lee

David Harbour – D.A. Frank Scanlon
Jamie Harris – Popeye
Chad Coleman – Chili
Reuben Langdon – Crackhead
James Franco – Danny "Crystal" Clear (Cameo) (Uncredited)

Crew

Director – Michel Gondry

Based on the Radio Series – George W. Trendle and Fran Striker

Writers/Executive
Producers – Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Associate Producers – Leeann Stonebreaker and Lisa Rodgers

Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager – Michael Grillo

Executive Producers – Ori Marmur and George W. Trendle Jr.

Producer – Neal H. Moritz

Co-Producer – Raffi Adlan

Casting Director – Francine Maisler

Production Designer – Owen Paterson

Illustrators – Jeff Julian,

Manuel Plank-Jorge and John Eaves

Supervising Art Director – Greg Papalia

Art Directors – Benjamin Edelberg,

Randy Moore and Chas S. Frey

Set Decorator – Ronald R. Reiss

Costume Designer – Kym Barrett

Costume Supervisor – Lisa Loovas

Director of Photography – John Schwartzman

Director of Photography: Second Unit –

Peter Lyons Collister

Location Manager – Mike Fantasia

First Assistant Directors – Michael Hausman

and Jonathan Watson

Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator –

Vic Armstrong

Stunt Coordinator – Andy Armstrong

Fight Stunt Coordinator – Jeff Imada

Picture Car Coordinator – Dennis McCarthy

Special Effects Supervisor – John Frazier

Special Effects Coordinator – Jim Schwalm

and Scott Forbes

Visual Effects Supervisor – Jamie Dixon

Visual Effects Supervisor: Hammerhead

Productions – Justin Jones

Co-Visual Effects Supervisor: Hammerhead

Productions – Dan Levitan

Visual Effects Supervisor: CIS Vancouver –

Mark Breakspear

3D Visual Effects Supervisor: Venture 3D –

Bruce Jones

Visual Effects Producer – Camille Cellucci

Animation Supervisor: Luma Pictures –

Raphael A. Pimentel

Editor – Michael Tronick

Additional Editor – Evan Henke

First Assistant Editors – Aaron Brock and

Dylan Quirt

Supervising Sound Editors – Harry Cohen

and Wylie Stateman

Production Mixer – John Pritchett

Re-Recording Mixers – Jeffrey J. Haboush,

Greg P. Russell and Dennis S. Sands

Foley Artists – Gary A. Hecker

and Catherine Rose

Music – James Newton Howard

Music Editors – Carl Kaller and

Joe E. Rand

Score Recordists & Mixers – Shawn Murphy

and Joel Iwataki

Review

The film adaptation of THE GREEN HORNET had some okay elements, but overall, it felt like a complete mess. The movie's weak points include the storyline being a bit flat and Seth Rogen as the protagonist, bringing lowbrow humour and a lack of depth to what could have been a great character. It has shown that Rogen is not the ideal actor for that role. The movie relied upon its gratifying visual style from the director Michel Gondry. Jay Chou was exceptional as Kato, a character once portrayed by Bruce Lee in the classic TV series. His action scenes kept the audience's interest. This film includes several throwback references to the original franchise to entertain the Hornets.

THE GREEN HORNET is the first superhero movie I have ever reviewed. However, this interpretation could have been better if it had a better storyline and characterisation. The main hero would have been likable had it not been ruined by Seth Rogen's take on the character. Unfortunately, the feature holds no contest with the other rival superhero films.

Star rating: (3/5) Average

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