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The Green Hornet: Movie Review

Krystal Clark — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:45:09 +0000

The Green Hornet is opening in a theater near you and he’s accompanied by his trusted partner Kato. Seth Rogen co-wrote and stars in this big screen adaptation of the popular TV series and radio show that centers on a millionaire who tries to clean up the crime-filled streets. The film is directed by Michel Gondry, and features a few of his visual signatures but nothing overwhelming. For more on the film, check out the review…

The Players:

Director: Michel Gondry
Screenwriters: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
The Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour
Cinematography By: John Schwartzman
Original Music By: James Newton Howard

The Plot:

The Green Hornet centers on a Britt Reid (Rogen), a party boy and heir to a publishing empire. After the sudden death of his father, he along with his new companion Kato bond over a desire to rebel and end up becoming vigilante heroes. With the help of the newspaper and Reid’s secretary Lenore (Diaz) they work their way up the crime ladder until they reach the top dog, Chudnofsky (Waltz).

The Good:

The Homages: There were several homages to The Green Hornet TV series in this film. I won’t tell you what or where they are because their impact would be ruined. Just take comfort in knowing that there’s more than one wink to the source material, and fans of the original will notice.

The So-So:

The 3D: This 3D film was post-converted, but the process took a lot longer than most. You would assume that with that extra time, the effect would be near perfect right? Wrong. The beginning scenes start off strong and clear, but after 30 minutes in, you can notice excessive blurriness in the background and the depth of field isn’t as sharp.
The Action: It’s no secret that Kato dominates all the fight scenes but the choreography used was nothing to write home about. It was standard. He doesn’t do anything that blows you away. There’s a lot of build up but never a huge pay off.

The Bad:

James Reid: Is he supposed to be loved or hated? James is Britt’s father and to be frank, he comes across as an a-hole. They even refer to him as a “dick” and a “douche” multiple times. Who is this guy?
Britt/Lenore/Kato Triangle: The relationship between Kato and Britt goes from 0-60 in a matter of 10 minutes. If that’s not strange enough, they throw in Diaz’s character Lenore who’s sort of a love interest but not really. Their dynamic is strange, forced, and unnatural.
The Casting: Everyone is wrong! Besides the obviousness of Rogen, Diaz was an odd choice to play the female sidekick, Olmos sulks the entire time he’s on screen, Wilkinson is wasted, and Waltz is completely unrecognizable as the Oscar winner he is. A lot of talent is underused.

Overall:

The Green Hornet is a standard action comedy that has a buddy cop feel to it. At the end of the day, this adaptation wasn’t needed. It does nothing to improve upon the original. It’s just here.

Rating: 6/10

The Green Hornet opens in theaters January 14.

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Will you be seeing The Green Hornet this weekend?

1-1 Interview: Michel Gondry on Green Hornet and Changing a Genre

Mali Elfman — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:00:05 +0000

This week in theaters Academy Award winning director Michel Gondry takes on a new kind of Super-Hero movie with Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet. Though the film has been taking heat from bloggers and fans since the project began, that never stopped Gondry from taking an unconventional super-hero story, with an unpredictable super-hero who is more known for his side-kick than himself, casting risky actors and seeing the project through to the end. If there’s one thing that Gondry is, it’s an inspiration to all of us to get off our asses, stop criticizing others and start doing things ourselves. And as he said in the press conference earlier that day, sometimes tequila helps with that!

Find out more from the Frenchman himself in our one on one interview below…

How are you? Not too exhausted promoting the film?

Michel Gondry: Oh yes, but I’ve been exhausted all my life, so I can’t see the difference.

What was the one thing that made you have to be a part of this project?

MG: It’s hard to say, because it came twice to me. One time in 1997 and then again two-three years ago. it’s a combination of the first time it not working out and I felt bad and my son. I told him too much about this movie. So the second time around, I just had to do it to show my son that I had made it. So I would say my son is my reason why I had to do this movie.

What about this genre interested you?

MG: First we have to define the genre, because this genre is “super-hero” which is not really something that appeals to me, but “super-hero” is also like an action-comedy, which appeal to me a lot. It’s a way of seeing, with characters, watching ordinary people doing extraordinary things and that’s what interested me.

Gondry definitely took a look of risks on this film, from the tone to the casting choices, that being said it’s not what one would expect from Gondry. Talking to him I realized how he really tries to do simple things in different ways and loves a challenge. He also likes to break things down into wonderful analogies.

A lot of people were having issues with this film because of a lot of bold choices made, what do you have to say about those decisions and then the early, bad buzz? Do you like to shock people with your decisions to step outside the box of what we expect from you?

MG: Well, step outside the box yes, shock people, it’s not really nice. A lot of people make a lot of silly things just to shock people, it’s sort of a cheap way to attract attention and I would rather attract attention with something more special. So, I don’t think of shocking people when I made the decision to take this project. I think of it’s more thinking outside of the box, because to find the truth, to find anything different you have to put yourself out there and it’s how you deal with this.

I realized recently that I keep looking for my keys in the morning, and the only way to find them is when I decide not to look for them but to look for something else. And I just understood why this works and now it works all the time, because when you look for you keys you’re going to look in the same places again and again and you’re not going to find them because they’re not in those places. When you start to say, I’m going to look for my wallet and the first thing you find is your keys. And then if you need your wallet you look for your glasses or telephone. That’s the definition of thinking outside of the box because if you don’t think outside you’re going to do the same thing again and again. To make something different you have to go in a new direction and see what you find in the new place.

How did you visually make this your film? I noticed a lot of reflection on every surface possible?

MG: I wanted to show the fight sequences in a creative away, but not in a way that would take you out of the story and be so stylized that you wouldn’t feel like there was a real fight going on. I was trying to make people what they felt. They used to use slow-mo and it was so different [it was like] nothing that was used before. Now when you see a slow-motion shot you think about it from a previous time and so now it sends you back, which doesn’t make you feel anything special. So I was trying to find a new way that makes you feel like “oh! what’s going on?!” That makes you doubt what you’re looking at. How can I show these guys, taking out 10 guys, and have it look like those 10 guys are waiting for their turn, I wanted them to be moving. So now when they punch one guy, the other is still floating, and beating up the next guy, so it was that that dictated my decision.

Whenever we interview Seth he’s always very playful? Does he ever get serious?

MG: We only had an hour during the fight set and it lasted 15 minutes. And I didn’t want to listen to him and I sent him a text message saying “I love you” and he was back right away. Another time it was me who left and called me and he said “you have to come back” and then I came back, but that was about it. It’s about how we solved it. Each time we had a difference we spoke or we got drunk once — if I wanted to complain he’d convince me everything was fine.

There were so many funny meetings with him and the producer and executives. There were so many funny meetings where they wanted to punch each other, but you could tell they were friends, it’s like best friends on the school yard. It was more like when you fight your brother.

At the heart of it, Gondry is an experimental film-maker who has now experimented with the mainstream. Though I wish I could have seen more “Gondry” and many people will say the same, I have to respect him for not just giving us what we wanted and for trying something new. I think his motto for making this film is a great one for film-makers of all levels.

You seem to love film-making in all it’s forms, what’s a tip that you have for aspiring film makers out there?

Two pieces of advice.

1. Finish Your Project
2. Start your Project

And in this order, it’s important that you use it in this order because the problem is that I hear young directors that are more scared about the result and how they will be judged by the result, that they go through life and don’t do anything.

People come to me and say “I’ve been asked to do this movie or that video, but I think it might be bad for my image, maybe I shouldn’t do it?” I always tell them, “what is your goal right now? Is it to do a bad movie, or to do no movie at all?” And they realize that the potential is much greater than any other possibilities. Grab the chance when you have, don’t think about how people will judge you. Which is scary with the internet because there are many more people to judge you and have their voices heard than those who are willing to go and make things. So it’s important to do something, not to get frozen by the possibility that people might not like it.

As long as you’re trying, making and doing something you believe in — you’re a part of the film-making culture. No one is ever going to love everything, but it is nice to know that you haven’t just followed others and that you’ve taken the chance.

Check out Gondry’s latest film The Green Hornet in theaters January 14th!

Michel Gondry Directs Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Mali Elfman — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:23:49 +0000

Academy Award winning director Michel Gondry wants to take on absolutely everything! His latest film, The Green Hornet hits theaters this Friday and as an added bonus he’ll be taking over “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this Thursday to promote his film and show us something we’ve never seen before. He’s not the first director to have done it, Quentin Tarantino and J.J. Abrams have both directed episodes in the past to promote their films, but he may be the craziest one so far!

The episode will feature none other than an interview with The Green Hornet himself, Seth Rogen. The last time Rogen was on the show, the studio lost power and Kimmel grabbed his laptop shooting the entire show from his computer’s webcam. Hopefully this time there will actually be something for Gondry to direct!

Though Gondry is most well known for his award winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind he’s also directed multiple music videos for artists such as Bjork, Paul McCartney and The White Stripes. this week, Gondry will be returning to his musical side and directing a live performance The Damned Things

Tune into “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday, January 13, at 12:05am ET/PT to see what Gondry will get up to!

Are you excited?

New Action Packed Trailer for The Green Hornet

Krystal Clark — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:42:47 +0000

A new trailer has been released for Michel Gondry’s latest film, The Green Hornet. Doesn’t it seem like everything “green” is debuting this week? First we had the Green Lantern trailer from Warner Bros and now Sony has released a new one for Hornet. What can they do to set this film apart from the other green guy? They can add Kato-vision!!! Check it out…

Green Hornet is based on the long running radio turned television series that ran during the 1930s and 1960s. The film stars Seth Rogen as Britt Reid, the heir to a major media conglomerate who spends his free time fighting crime as a vigilante hero after the death of his father (Tom Wilkinson). He’s typically aided by his driver Kato (Jay Chou), who just happens to be a martial arts master.

As much as we all want to hate this film, the early reviews for it haven’t been bad. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised by what Rogen and Chou have to offer? I’m not personally invested in it because Bruce Lee will always be Kato in my eyes, but I don’t hold a grudge against Chou.

The Green Hornet will open in theaters on January 14.

What do you think of the new trailer for The Green Hornet? Are you interested in seeing the film?

Source: Yahoo

Comic-Con 2010: The Green Hornet Press Conference

Mali Elfman — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:55:33 +0000

There’s been a lot of speculation about whether or not Seth Rogen can pull off the coveted role of The Green Hornet in the big screen adaptation. At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the actor along with fellow screenwriter Evan Goldberg, director Michel Gondry, producer Neal Moritz, and co-star Christoph Waltz were in attendance at the official Green Hornet press conference to give us an idea of how they plan on revamping the old property.

You can also check out details of the Green Hornet panel and a detailed explanation of the new footage including Kato Vision!

Check out some highlights from the press conference below…

Like what you read? For more fun, check out our top stories from Comic-Con…

Comic-Con 2010 Live Blog: Green Hornet Panel

Krystal Clark — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:25:52 +0000

Update: For more info on Green Hornet check out our video press conference coverage.

This will be the last year Seth Rogen comes to Comic-Con as the Green Hornet. We’re sure you have your own opinions about the latest superhero and who’s playing him, but while many of the panels we’re covering at the event don’t really belong at a comic book convention, The Green Hornet sure does, so let’s give ‘em some credit for that. We’ve got Rogen and Christoph Waltz, director Michel Gondry, writer Evan Goldberg and producer Neal Moritz in the house. Here we go…

5:32 PM: Seth Rogen has just taken the stage and he still looks skinny. He just made a crack about Ryan Reynolds. He’s tired of people getting them confused.

5:36 PM: They just showed a long trailer with some new footage. It had a darker tone. There was still comedy but Christoph Waltz’s character is really bad ass. He’s scares me.

Updates below….

5: 40 PM: Neal Moritz talking about why they decided to do the movie in 3D. Michel always wanted to do it in 3D in the beginning, but Moritz didn’t want to convert it in 6-8 weeks, which is why they pushed the date back for the release date.

5:41 PM: About to get our first look at the Kato vision. It features a drunk Kato and Britt who go and try to cut the head off of a statue of Britt’s dead father.

5:42 PM: Seth just said that some of Jay Chou’s music might pop up in the film. Yeah, that guy can do anything.

5:46 PM: There’s some creepy guy ogling over Christoph Waltz but he asked a decent question. He wanted to know why he decided to do another villain role. He said he wanted to do a comedy, and he wanted to work with the rest of the cast and the crew.

5:55 PM: Seth is asked about his weight. He was thin in the movie but even thinner now. He’s said, “Right now, I’m dying.” He doesn’t know how long his weight will stay off.

5: 56 PM: A guy dressed like Kato just came up to the mic and said his name was Brian and Seth said, “No it’s not.” (Kato) ha!

5:57 PM: There’s this green haired chick at the mic asking a question and she seems really stoned. Seth just called her out and said, “Save me some. You sound stoned.” And yeah, she admitted that she was. She tried to make a little “sale” too.

6:04 PM: A kid just walked up and he’s pretty much having an orgasm at the mic because of how good looking The Hornettes (Green Hornet girls) are. Gross. Seth just said, “boner alert, boner alert.”

6: 05 PM: Christoph just admitted that he wasn’t a comic type before this movie. The room went slightly silent because their so shocked. Get over it people.

6: 06 PM: Michel keeps getting asked the same question from fans, “How did it feel going from your experimental films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to Green Hornet.” They all ask that same question and use the same film as their example.

6: 08 PM: Somebody just asked ANOTHER question about it being converted into 3D. They have literally spoken about this 3 times during this panel. People just don’t listen.

6: 10 PM: Some nasally sounding kid just asked Christoph how his kids feel about him playing bad guys. He wanted to know if they really think he’s a bad guy. He answered, “Thank you for your concern.” But he doesn’t tell his kids that him killing is make believe. Oh, Christoph always the joker.

6: 14 PM: Wow, they’re wrapping up. That was quick! Short and sweet.

Like what you read? For more fun, check out our top stories from Comic-Con…

Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet Trailer on The Way

Krystal Clark — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:09:01 +0000

Filmmaker Michel Gondry recently spoke to the folks over at MTV about his upcoming big screen adaptation of The Green Hornet. According to him, we can expect to see a trailer for the film sooner than later and he even gave a description of the first piece of live action Hornet footage. The video’s already been cut and it’s ready for your viewing pleasure.

This weekend Gondry has been hanging out at the South by Southwest Film Festival, which he felt was the perfect place to discuss the status of The Green Hornet. Even though the film has been troubled by creative and corporate problems since its inception he assures us that everything is right in his Hornet world.

“It’s a great collaboration,” he said. “I really enjoy working with the producers. All of those guys happen to think very fast and make very random decisions, but they turned out to be successful.”

As for the trailer, Gondry revealed that it will give us a little backstory on the title character and his sidekick.

“You see Kato and Seth deciding why they want to be crime fighters,” he said. “Then you see images of their completion. It’s pretty violent, but with a good spirit.”

He also said that the trailer should debut sometime this spring or summer. I’m going to go with the spring because if it’s already been edited the sooner they put it out the better. There are too many people concerned about Seth Rogen’s vision for the movie and they need something to either quiet or confirm their fears.

Are you looking forward to the trailer for The Green Hornet? Are you excited about seeing the film?

Nicolas Cage On Leaving Green Hornet

Krystal Clark — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:50:20 +0000

These past few weeks, production on the Michel Gondry big screen adaptation of Green Hornet seemed to be moving along smoothly. That was before it hit another major casting snag, which centered on the film’s supposed villain Nicolas Cage. Cage had been rumored for several months to be in negotiations to star as the bad guy opposite Seth Rogen‘s heroic Britt Reid. It turns out that the creative forces behind the film and the actor couldn’t come to terms on how his character should be portrayed.

Here’s what Cage had to say…

“‘The Green Hornet’ was something that I wanted to do, I think Michel Gondry is very talented and I had hoped it would work but I think Seth Rogen and Michel had a different take on the character,” said Cage, who starred in 2007′s supernatural comic book film, “Ghost Rider.”

“I had to have some humanity and to try to give it something where you could understand why the character was the way he was but I don’t think there was enough time to develop it.”

According to The Canadian Press, the actor stated that he wasn’t interested in playing the villain as a straight up and down evil guy. Although I respect the decision that Cage made on his creative principal, I don’t think it adds up. Ghost Rider, Bangkok Dangerous, and Next weren’t exactly amazing character pieces. Those were all pretty bad movies, so I’m having a tough time gauging his taste level on any film right now.

If he thinks there needs to be more character development, they might need to give that script a second look. I was already a bit skeptical about Green Hornet, and now I’m down right terrified.

What do you think about Cage’s reason for leaving Green Hornet? Did he have a legit excuse?

Nicolas Cage Out of The Green Hornet

Krystal Clark — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:50:33 +0000

Recently, production began on Michel Gondry‘s film adaptation on the Green Hornet but an important element has been missing, Nicolas Cage. For months the actor has been attached to star as the film’s villain opposite Seth Rogen, but according to THR, things have gone south. Cage has officially dropped out of the movie.

Nicolas Cage was in negotiations to star in Green Hornet, but talks between the actor and the studio (Columbia) have fallen through. No specifics have been given as to why an agreement wasn’t reached. Green Hornet began shooting last week in Los Angeles, and we’ve seen plenty of photos of Rogen, Cameron Diaz, and Jay Chou on set, so when Cage was nowhere to be found the rumors began to fly.

Since the actor never made it to the set, no footage of him was shot for the movie. Perhaps the reason behind Cage declining the role has something to do with the other 9,235 movies that he’s scheduled to shoot within the next year? The guy is beyond busy, so there’s no real surprise element to this announcement.

Now that Cage is out, the role of the film’s villain is up for grabs. We don’t have an official description of the character, but who do you think should step in as the bad guy?

What do you think of Nicolas Cage’s decision to leave the Green Hornet?

Green Hornet Behind the Scenes Photos

Krystal Clark — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:50:42 +0000

Green Hornet is everywhere! Previously, we reported on the film’s release date being pushed back from July to December 17, 2010. It will go head to head with the highly anticipated Tron sequel, and several CGI Smurfs. With that type of competition, it’s no surprise that the film’s cast and crew have jump started their production. We’ve got a few behind the scenes photos of Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, and director Michel Gondry mugging for the camera.

I’m assuming they’re smiling so hard because they thought this day would never come. I personally had doubts that Green Hornet would ever make it past the pre-production stage. I notice in these photos that Rogen is wearing the trademark suspenders that his character is known for, yet I’m not too keen on their purple color. That look doesn’t work for everybody.

So here it is! Proof that this movie is still “going strong,” even if they are just standing around doing nothing. At least their actually on a set!

Images courtesy of CrazyCritics.

What do you think of the first set photos from Green Hornet?

Green Hornet Starts Production

Mali Elfman — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:34:15 +0000

The film has been cast (well almost all the way cast), a screenplay is locked down, and a director has been picked…it’s time for ACTION! As of today, Michel Gondry, Seth Rogen and a few new additions are on their way to bringing The Green Hornet to the big screen!

You’ve got a lot of interesting and creative talents with all different types of backgrounds working together on this film. If this film works, it could be one of the best superhero films made.

Gondry is known for creating some of the most thought provoking, interesting and visually beautiful films, while Seth Rogen has proved time and time again to be able to deliver great comedic screenplays and performances. With a wide range of producers involved, with a resumes as different as I Am Legend to Pineapple Express, we’re in for a real treat.

I could regurgitate the information, but I won’t tease you with that. Here’s what Sony just sent over to us about the film…

A classic character of film, television, radio and comic books returns to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’ feature film The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up) as the vigilante crime-fighter. Production is underway on the Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) helmed film, which is produced by Neal H. Moritz (I Am Legend, The Fast and the Furious) and executive produced by Michael Grillo (The Accidental Tourist), Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), Ori Marmur (Evan Almighty) and George W. Trendle, Jr. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based upon “The Green Hornet” radio series created by George W. Trendle and shoots entirely in Los Angeles. The film is set for release December 17, 2010.

In addition to Rogen, the film also stars Taiwanese actor-pop star Jay Chou as Kato, Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels, What Happens in Vegas), Edward James Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica”), David Harbour (Revolutionary Road) and Tom Wilkinson (Valkyrie). Nicolas Cage is also in negotiations to appear in the film.

Academy Award®-nominee John Schwartzman (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) is the director of photography. Production designer is Owen Paterson (The Matrix Revolutions), Kym Barrett (Speed Racer) serves as costume designer and Michael Tronick (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is editing.

Who’s excited for the film?

Green Hornet Pushed Back Again!

Krystal Clark — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:30:40 +0000

I should have known better than to get my hopes up. The Green Hornet adaptation has had fans on an up and down roller coaster this past year, with no signs of slowing down. As of late the film has been on a winning streak acquiring several talented actors for key roles, but out of the blue here’s another sign of darkness. According to /Film, Hornet has had its release date pushed back once again.

The release date for Green Hornet had already been previously moved from June to July of 2010, and now sources are setting it at December 17, 2010. Over at HitFix they were able to get in contact with the film’s star Seth Rogen in regards to the big move, and this is what he had to say:

“We’re both relieved and psyched about the change. It gives more time for post, which would have been immensely rushed if we were to come out in the summer. It also affords us more time to promote the film, (now we can go to Comic-Con with more than a car!) and ultimately is a great vote of confidence from the studio. We got the same date that movies like ‘I Am Legend‘ and ‘Avatar‘ are getting, so we’re thrilled to be there.”

Comparisons to I Am Legend and Avatar? I wouldn’t go that far. Films do bomb in the winter months, that’s not exactly a huge vote of confidence on the studio’s part. Yet, I can understand the desire to put out a decent product without the rush factor. This film already has two targets on its back, all we need is a crappy release to finish the job.

What do you think of Green Hornet’s release date getting pushed back? Is it a smart move?

ScreenCrave.com » michel gondry

The Green Hornet: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The So-So:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 6/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

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