Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Green Hornet: The most underrated movie of the year?

Why didn't more people like The Green Hornet?  When it came out earlier in the year, it was panned by critics and moviegoers, and flopped at the box office.  I don't understand why people don't appreciate this movie.  I have no knowledge of the source material, but I imagine that fans of the comic books weren't too happy with Seth Rogan's take (as well as casting him as the lead).  But as for everyone else, why didn't you like this movie? 

I just watched it yesterday, and I can't find anything not to like.  Seth Rogan and Jay Chou are great together as The Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Kato.  They have perfect chemistry and play off each other well.  The action scenes are great, the overall cast is solid, and the movie is hilarious.  Michel Gondry does a great job directing, especially since this genre is new territory to him.  The villain, played by Inglorious Bastard's Christoph Waltz, is probably the weakest part of the movie, but still does a good job. 

Maybe the problem is that everyone went in expecting a serious action movie and instead got a comedy that also had some action.  The movie is, essentially, a comedy, and a great one at that.  Everything works, particularly Reid treating Kato like garbage even though he is clearly the more important side of their partnership.  Kato builds the cars, weapons, develops their strategies, and is the better fighter.  But still Reid treats him like his butler. 

It could be that people are just sick of Seth Rogan.  After Knocked Up made him a star, he was in a string of hits that included Superbad and The Pineapple Express, which he also co-wrote with writing partner Evan Goldberg (they also collaborated on writing this movie).  People might have grown tired of him because he's in so many movies and plays a similar character in most of them.  But he's so good at playing the likable jerk, and he's never been better then displayed in this movie.

With The Green Hornet, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg solitify themselves as legitimate action/comedy writers, and prove that Superbad and The Pineapple Express weren't just flukes.  These guys are great writers, and Rogan is one of the best comedic actors of this generation.  If you haven't seen The Green Hornet, I strongly recommend you check it out.  Just make sure you go in expecting a comedy.

No comments:

Post a Comment