Review: The Green Hornet

Grade: A-

Britt Reid has lived a life of privilege and has spent most of that life partying and drinking. His father, James Reid, runs a newspaper where he and his staff try to expose the dark underbelly of the city. When James Reid dies suddenly, Britt is left with his media empire. Britt befriends his father’s mechanic and assistant Kato and one night they decide to go out, while they are out they end up stopping a robbery. This event inspires Britt to become the Green Hornet, a masked crime fighter who poses as a villain to get close to the bad guys. He finds out that all of the crime in the city is run by one man, Chudnofsky, and that man is determined to kill the Green Hornet. As Britt goes deeper into the seedy underbelly of the city, he uncovers some hidden truths that he must get out.

I was pretty skeptical of The Green Hornet for a while. I don’t know why but for some reason the trailer just didn’t inspire too much hope. So I was glad that when I watched this movie, I ended up really enjoying it. The story is pretty good and entertaining to watch. The action in the movie is great and really fun to watch and the movie is loaded with great laughs. I know some people are upset that this movie is kind of a comedy. They feel the character should have been taken seriously. I honestly don’t know much about the Green Hornet character but what I’ve heard is that he is kind of a bumbling idiot and Kato is the one that does most of the heavy work, and that is exactly how this movie plays out. I thought it was great, Britt Reid was a privileged rich boy with no training who decides to be a hero and Kato is a martial arts expert who helps him out and does most of the fighting.

Seth Rogen (Funny People, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) stars as Britt Reid/Green Hornet. Rogen lost a bunch of weight over the last couple years for just so he could make this movie, and it paid off. Rogen was great in this role and really made it fun to watch. He was funny when he needed to be and he handled the action very well. Jay Chou plays the role of Kato, a mechanic and martial arts expert. Chou really held his own in this movie and did a great job with the role. He was amazing during the action sequences and he was very funny at times as well. Cameron Diaz (Knight and Day, The Holiday) plays Lenore Case, Reid’s assistant at the newspaper. It is amazing how little they advertise that she is even in the movie. Diaz was her usual enjoyable self in the movie. The movie also features performances by Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos and some interesting cameos by Edward Furlong and James Franco.

The Green Hornet is a very enjoyable action/comedy movie. It is a lot of fun to watch and is a surprisingly good movie. The cast is great and the story is a lot of fun. If you like action/comedies and comic book movies, then The Green Hornet is for you.

Great quote: “You’ve got balls, and if there is one thing I like on my women, it’s balls.”