The Green Hornet: A January Dump Off With Summer Chops

I had the pleasure of interviewing Michel Gondry a couple years ago during a press day for the anthology film, Tokyo!, and from the pictures he scribbled in my interview book to the way he talked about translating his imagination into tangible images, it was abundantly clear that the visionary filmmaker is not so much a child at heart as much as an adult who believes in the importance of childhood whimsy and who makes determined efforts to inject wonder into all of his projects. Thus, it came as a surprise to many when Gondry was hired to direct The Green Hornet, the big-budget superhero flick that studios had been trying to get off the ground for the last 15 years.

But Gondry's hiring actually makes perfect sense when matched up with the sensibilities of the man who stars in and co-wrote the film, Seth Rogen. Rogen and screenwriting partner Evan Goldberg are no strangers to writing scripts in which their main characters are, to one degree or another, adults in appearance only – if even that – and their take on The Green Hornet as an irresponsible heir was fertile ground for a director whose protagonists are vehemently unwilling to accept adulthood (Tokyo!, The Science of Sleep).

You see, Britt Reid (Rogen) is the antithesis of Batman, the masked vigilante who adopted the cape and cowl in order to avenge the murder of his parents. Britt, similarly wealthy but dissimilarly motivated, seizes his overbearing father's death as an opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants. Part of that entails pulling childish pranks, such as sawing the head off his father's bronze statue, but after witnessing and preventing a mugging – thanks almost entirely to the help of his father's ex-mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou) – part of that also entails packing a car chock full of a shit load of weapons and using it to fight crime.

On top of donning masks and nicknames (except for Kato who continues to be known as Kato), the pair of crime fighters attempt to further disguise their efforts by posing as criminals, wreaking havoc and running from the police while simultaneously eliminating some of the largest meth labs that plague the streets of Los Angeles. Their antics become front page material – it helps that Britt inherited The Daily Sentinel from his father – but also attracts the wrath of Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), whose infamous reputation of being THE L.A. crime lord is matched only – if not topped – by his constant self-consciousness over being scary enough. In the Gondry/Rogen/Goldberg universe, even the super villains have some growing up to do.

Admittedly, your enjoyment of the film hinges largely on if you are or are not yet sick of Seth Rogen's antics, because the banter between Britt and Kato is similar to the humor found in other films from Rogen, except the actor starring opposite him speaks tenuous English and has an affinity for kicking ass. If that's not your bag, then I can do nothing for you, but I personally find the Rogen/Goldberg's comedy style to be hilarious and similar to their work in Superbad; there's a surprising amount of rapport and maturity that develops between the two polar opposite leads, even as they call each other childish names and spar (futilely) for the affections of lovely Lenore (Cameron Diaz).

So from beginning to end, The Green Hornet is populated with a bunch of children pretending to be and eventually becoming adults, and it's also an insanely good time. From the awesomely choreographed car chases to the visual flair Gondry adds to Kato's fighting style, the comedy and action are paced exceptionally. There's a few awkward cuts here and there and a few tell-tale signs of "touch ups" in post, but for a big-budget film that took almost two decades to make, and helmed by a director that seemed out of place, The Green Hornet is surprisingly great.

And I don't even mean that The Green Hornet is great for a January release either; this film would be great if it was released in April, May, or even June. Its release was pushed back twice, and I was told by many people how poorly it was being reviewed by just about everyone. What film did they see? Did they think that Christoph Waltz, who could probably have chosen any role in any film he wanted after Inglourious Basterds, would've chosen to be part of a bad film? I can't speak for anyone except myself, but I saw one hell of a good time.