Movie Review: The Green Hornet

Blockbusters like The Green Hornet don't often come out this early in the year. January is normally the month in which movie studios dump shitty films, so the fact that it was released in January is astonishing. Thankfully, The Green Hornet isn't your typical January film in terms of quality, it's a fun ride.

The Green Hornet tells the story of Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), a playboy millionaire who does nothing but party, try to seduce women, and live off the wealth of his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), a successful newspaper publisher. When James dies from a bee sting, Britt inherits his dad's newspaper. The Daily Sentinel. Britt ends up befriending his father's mechanic Kato (Jay Chou) and during a night of drinking, they hatch a plan to become masked crimefighters. With Kato's knowledge and mechanic skills and Britt's money they equip cars with high-tech weapons and state-of-the-art technology.

Britt and Kato soon stir up quite a bit of noise in the city and Britt gets The Daily Sentinel to report on it and they come up with the name "The Green Hornet". As Britt and Kato continue to take out criminals, they catch the attention of powerful Russian mobster Benjamin Chudnofsky(Christoph Waltz). Chudnofsky wants The Green Hornet dead due to the fact they are destroying all of his meth labs. Britt and Kato must get to Chudnofsky before he gets to them.

Plain and simple, The Green Hornet is a good time at the movies, it's very entertaining. It's able to establish a nice balance of action and comedy without becoming a muddled mess. It's stay pretty light-hearted and fun throughout the film and it doesn't take itself seriously very often, which is a big advantage for a film like this. Seth Rogen is actually a pretty believable hero, The Green Hornet isn't supposed to be a muscular, ass-kicking guy, he is just an average dude with a lot of money who fights crime for the fun of it. Rogen and Jay Chou make a good team and their comedic pairing is pretty damn good. Christoph Waltz, isn't nearly as menacing or charismatic villain as he was in Inglorious Basterds, but he still turns in a solid and amusing performance.

I have to commend Michel Gondry's work on the action sequences. His approach to shooting action is very interesting due to his background in independent films. He adds a rich, artistic, integrity to each action scene and it really livens up the film. You don't see action sequences shot in this fashion very often and it's a refreshing change of pace.

The Green Hornet is a film that entertains and provides a good deal of fun for the audience. There are a good amount of laughs and action that are balanced quite well. Seth Rogen and Jay Chou have a great comedic chemistry and remain interesting to watch for entire duration of the film. The Green Hornet is a thoroughly enjoyable time at the movies.

4/5 Stars