{"id":19863,"date":"2011-01-15T22:03:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-16T05:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=19863"},"modified":"2011-01-15T22:20:53","modified_gmt":"2011-01-16T05:20:53","slug":"movie-review-the-green-hornet-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/15\/movie-review-the-green-hornet-2011.html","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: “The Green Hornet” (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>So the biggest problem with Seth Rogan’s new The Green Hornet<\/a><\/em> is that it just cannot decide what it’s going to be. \u00a0Gritty crime drama? Super-hero romp? Tarantinoesque violence escapade? Campy frat \u00a0film? Redemption and maturity arc? And, sure, there’s comedy, but within that realm, what kind? Farce? Goofball? Dry? Juvenile? Situational? Absurdist?<\/p>\n

The movie tries to be all of the above, and it makes the sum less than its parts. \u00a0Where Rogan (who writes and stars) goes for “Britt Reid is a childish wastrel who turns a rebellious romp into something that helps him grow up a bit,” it does fine — but instead we oscillate wildly from wit to fart jokes, from “this is deadly serious” to “this is just stupid” to “Britt’s finally becoming a hero” to “Britt’s a buffoon” way too much and way too inconsistently.<\/p>\n

(Margie thinks part of the problem was a late effort to distinguish between Britt Reid and Tony Stark, and maybe that’s so … but regardless, it’s awkwardly done.)<\/p>\n

This carries over into the rest of the cast. \u00a0The primary antagonist (Christoph Waltz) can’t decide if he’s really a stone killer or a silly supervillain. \u00a0There’s some clever play on his vanity, but a lot of stuff comes out of nowhere. \u00a0When he’s not being scary, he’s being absurd … and the Joker he ain’t.<\/p>\n

Similarly, John Cho’s Kato character never quite gels. \u00a0Uber-competent and\u00a0unflappable\u00a0martial artist (and mechanic and barrista and pianist and …) one minute, jealous and envious and touchy macho idiot (sometimes with provocation, to be sure) the next.<\/p>\n

Only Cameron Diaz comes off well — and that’s because she’s playing the whole thing straight. \u00a0As does Edward James Olmos, for that matter, but neither of them actually progress as characters in the film. They’re minor points of sanity against which Rogan (and Cho) can bounce.<\/p>\n

The overall result is a movie that entertains in its components, but loses its way by the increasingly violent end. \u00a0It’s a case of a film where the trailer<\/a> has most<\/a> of the good parts and paints a much more coherent and enjoyable story.<\/p>\n

Putting all that aside …<\/p>\n