Adapted from the hit radio show that began airing during the 1930’s, The Green Hornet is a superhero story with a difference; in that not only does it’s hero not have any distinguishable superpowers, or even a basic understanding of martial arts/hand-to-hand-combat, but he actually poses as a villain, in order to seek out the criminals.
The twisted superhero in question is millionaire playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up), who, following the untimely death of his media mogul father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson, Batman Begins), decides to inject a little justice into the world, and enlists the help of his father’s mechanic Kato (Jay Chou, Curse of the Golden Flower) to help craft his superhero persona, and act as his own personal Q; designing the costumes, weapons, gadgets, and cars, he will need to save the innocent people of Los Angeles.
The Green Hornet’s main enemy comes in the form of an aging pantomime villain named Ben Chudnofsky (portrayed well by Inglorious Basterds’ Christoph Waltz), who, despite spending most of the film worrying that he isn’t scary enough, runs practically all of the crime in LA, and soon shifts his attention to disposing of The Green Hornet; once he starts wantonly beating up drug dealers, and destroying meth labs belonging to the unfortunately named Chudnofsky (one of which is run by Terminator 2’s Edward Furlong; who appears in an almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part that makes you realize just how far he has fallen).
And while Reid and Kato have big plans for putting a stop to the corruption and crime that is running rampant in their fair city, their lack of knowledge on the subject is a real roadblock; one which is overcome by Reid’s sexy new assistant Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz, Knight and Day), who accidentally provides them with the plans they need to make a difference to Chudnofsky’s business, but simultaneously throws an attractive spanner in the works, as both Reid and Kato begin to fall for her (causing a number of tensions as the film draws on, towards its inevitable, action-heavy, clash between Chudnofsky and the team of Kato and The Green Hornet.
Generally the cast do a decent job of fleshing out their characters and adequately fulfilling their roles; Chou is excellent as Kato, Diaz is easily believable as the sexy yet intelligent assistant, Tom Wilkinson commands great presence in his brief role, and while Christoph Waltz’s character is far less intense and mesmerising than the Jew Hunter he played in Inglorious Basterds there’s still little wrong with his casting; the main issue with the film is actually the casting of its leading man; as funny-man Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid like every other half-baked slacker he’s portrayed onscreen, and while he’s fun to watch, excellent at the partying, and undeniably charismatic, he’s never believable as an action hero (in any capacity), and often feel misplaced in the film.
Overall the movie is pretty predictable, and all fairly standard stuff, but The Green Hornet stays enjoyable, and easy to watch, thanks to its sheer sense of fun; sure you never really care about any of the relationships, or even exactly how it’s going to play out, but the action’s solid, the jokes are funny (for the most part), and it even throws in a couple of subtle references to the old series that are guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any true Hornet fan (with Kato’s sketches of Bruce Lee being one of the stand-out moments of the film); making it a solid film, and one that should be enjoyed by most viewers.
Picture:
Unlike the film itself, The Green Hornet’s impressive 1080p transfer is all but devoid of problems (save for the odd touch of softness here and there); featuring superbly deep and inky blacks (that propel the numerous low-lit and night shots into greatness), accurate colour and fleshtone reproduction, solid levels of fine detail, a nice thin layer of film-like grain, and an overall stable and consistent transfer that appears absent of all compression artifacts and usual transfer issues; making for a video presentation that’s sure to please any fan of the movie.
Audio:
Boasting similar levels of exceedingly high quality is the 5.1 DTS-High Definition Master Audio track that has been award to The Green Hornet on blu-ray; an all encompassing track which contains heaps of superbly rendered directional effects, plenty of subtle, yet crisply clear, nuances, pounding bass (which often has the soundstage rumbling; thanks to the plentiful supply of explosions on offer), perfectly prioritized and intelligible dialogue, and some truly impressive effects during the action sequences; ensuring every listener will be fully engrossed in the mix, drawn further into the film, and not in the least bit disappointed with this excellent audio presentation.
Extras:
The Green Hornet also comes to blu-ray with a decent supply of special features; beginning with a funny and interesting audio commentary that covers everything from shooting, the sets, casting, and even what the filmmakers think they got wrong (which makes a nice change), a selection of deleted scenes (which are worth a look, but nothing special), and a lengthy, but fairly standard gag-reel.
Also including is a PS3 Theme, access to BD-Live, Movie IQ, and a number of featurettes that include a praise heavy talk of the director’s style/ability, a look at rebuilding the classic car from The Green Hornet TV series (definitely worth a watch), an interesting writing featurette discussing how ideas were formed and fleshed out, a look at the family of stunt choreographers that worked on the movie (average but not essential viewing), why Jay Chou was cast, and a cool featurette looking at the way in which Hollywood destroys buildings and sets for movies.
All in all the collection of bonus features does exactly what a selection of special features should; providing a good deal of background information about the film, a few extra laughs, and even a bit of interactivity, that should keep fans of the movie both entertain, and fulfilled.
The Bottom Line:
Forget Kick-Ass, forget Batman, The Green Hornet is a different beast entirely, and though it suffers from having a misplaced actor in the leading role, this action/comedy about a wealthy have-a-go hero; who decides to play the villain in order to bring down the biggest crooks in LA; is fun, easy to watch, packed with some solid action, a few laughs, and comes to Blu-ray sporting a great transfer, great sound, and a decent selection of special features; making it a disc that’s not only guaranteed to please fans of the movie, but entertain anyone who enjoyed the classic Green Hornet TV series, and just about anyone who enjoys a simple, easy-to-handle bit of escapism. A great rent, and a good buy for any real Hornet fan.
