The Green Hornet: Movie Review

Most Filipinos probably never heard or read about the hero known as the Green Hornet. But for us, we do know him fondly. We saw the original 60s television series being shown here by a nondescript local channel (if our memory serves us correctly, it was SBN 21) right along Batman. And no, we are not that old - these were reruns during the Nineties. Now just imagine, what are the chances that anyone saw this and worse, it was going against the ever-popular Batman. Definitely, the 2011 film adaptation "The Green Hornet" has a lot to show or else, most of the local population would probably never give it a second glance. Read on to find out what we think.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is the son of the newspaper mogul James Reid. The young Britt is a brash playboy, who does not care about anything his dad aspires him to be. One day, everything changes as his father dies from a bee sting. After the funeral, Britt finds out that the coffee he so loves every morning was made by Kato (Jay Chou), a highly-skilled mechanic and martial artist. The two bond together and agree that they hated James Reid. They decide to desecrate the funeral statue of James by cutting its head off. As Britt carries the decapitated head of the bronze statue, he glimpses a couple being harassed by gang members. He and Kato decide to help them and when they are successful, both men decide that they will team-up to fight crime.

"The Green Hornet" is a balls-out, pumped-up and very funny action film - though it fails to show these traits consistent throughout the film. The problem with "The Green Hornet" is the stale and slow first half. The story of Britt Reid and how he became the Green Hornet feels old, used up and honestly, we hated it. The filmmakers probably wanted to show Britt as an arrogant, egomaniac, who hated his father to his very bone but it also reveals how shallow the new Green Hornet is. Another bad thing is Christopher Waltz. He was a weak villain lacking any character or charisma (definitely not the award-winning performance we got from "Inglourious Basterds"). What makes "The Green Hornet" good though is the strong action-packed second portion. The final few minutes just left us awestruck and gasping for breath. Michael Bay would probably cry with glee seeing how much carnage was depicted. In this department, "The Green Hornet" showed a lot of creativity. The action was new and unique to the film. In the end, "The Green Hornet" will leave you laughing and shouting and yet, it still fails to present a compelling story. As much as the action was refreshing, the story was its complete opposite.

Rating: 3 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- action-packed with a lot of action sequences that are new and unique to the film
- Seth Rogen was funny as hell
- a little patience will get you to the juicy second-half

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- The first half was lackluster, slow and had a poorly-written story
- Christopher Waltz was mediocre as the villain
- Jay Chou mumbles and fumbles trying to speak in English