Review: The Green Hornet

2011, the year of the cinematic superhero, has begun with the release of The Green Hornet.  Having appeared in radio, television, and movie serials since the 1930s, this marks the feature film debut of the newspaper editor turned crime fighter.

As a fan of the character and his roots in radio in television, I had had some doubts about how this character would be adapted to the big screen, and how Seth Rogen, a man with a history of goofy comedies under his belt, would portray the role of white collar crime fighter, Britt Reid.  While it is not an achievement of cinematic gold, for a fan, the final product is an enjoyable popcorn movie, but still falls short in some respects.

Similar to the first Iron Man, the audience is introduced to an irresponsible protagonist with nothing but money, parties, and women on the brain.  You can guess where the story will go from there.  A life changing event prompts the main character to reexamine his life and then use the resources at his disposal to right society’s wrongs.  In this case, those resources include his recently deceased father’s wealth, and the combat and engineering skills of Asian mechanic, Kato, played by Taiwanese pop star, Jay Chou.

Hit the jump for the full review!

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The Green Hornet Buzzes Towards Theaters

I can probably count on one hand the number of people who actually know who The Green Hornet is these days.  It's likely that more people know who Kato is since he was portrayed by the great Bruce Lee on television in the 1960s.  But regardless of how well-known the pulp hero is, everyone's favorite stoner film star, Seth Rogen has donned the emerald overcoat and hat and teamed up with Jay Chou to bring The Green Hornet to the big screen for the first time since the character's introduction in 1936.  (Since then, the Hornet and Kato have appeared in television, radio, and comics, but never in a theatical movie.)

From early stages of production, the film was plagued with turmoil.  Actor/director Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) was originally slated to direct and co-star as Kato.  That fell through.  Nicolas Cage was close to being cast as the film's villain.  That didn't happen.  The film's original relase date was June 25th, 2010.  That obvioulsy won't happen either.  But, throughout all this nonsense, director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine...) and co-writer/star Seth Rogen have managed to finally get this film made.  Will it be any good?  Too early to tell.  But we're finally getting a look at what is coming now that the first trailer has hit.

As a fan, I'm not terribly encouraged by what this trailer depicts.  Rogen is portraying Britt Reid as a wide-eyed, seemingly naive noob who thinks it would be cool to fight crime as a vigilante.  A bit of a departure from the original character's noble crusade to rid his beloved city of corruption.  I know what you're thinking.  Sounds just like Batman, which is probably why they're going with the approach they've chosen.  Also, I really hope they explain why Kato has all of this fancy crime-fighting equipment (including the Black Beauty) in his garage.  I have many more questions and concerns, but I should probably quit while I'm ahead.  I guess we'll just have to wait until next year to see how it all plays out.

The Green Hornet hits theaters on January 14th, 2011.

Another Week in Century City

Issue 2 of Kevin Smith's Green Hornet comic is on the shelves.  Will it be flying off said shelves?  Difficult to say.

Issue 1 left readers with some interesting questions.  What will prompt the Hornet to resurface?  How will Britt Jr. fill his dad's shoes?  Who is the lady Kato featured on the covers?  These are a few questions that motivated me to crack open #2.  Sadly, the pages of the second issue of Kevin Smith GH interpretation are severely lacking.  But is it the writer's fault, or is this chapter a victim of storytelling circumstance?

In Green Hornet #2, Kevin Smith spends a lot of time stating and restating that Britt Reid (aka the former Green Hornet) has a strained relationship with his son.  They talk.  They bicker.  We get it.  Smith also beats the reader over the head with a lot of unnecessary political nonsense about the upcoming mayoral election in Century City.  Now, one could argue that this is Act 2 and is all part of the setup for the much grander scope of the story.  Maybe.  I hope Smith doesn't spend too much time building up, only to have to rush the story's climax.  Plenty of comic mini-series have suffered that same fate recently.

After all the talk, it's not until the last few pages of the issue that Smith throws some action in.  A mysterious Asian woman (obviously the new Kato) crashes the mayor's fund raiser party and helps Britt and Britt fend off some ninja/commando attackers.  Yes, you read that right.  And that's where Smith ends the issue and once again leaves the reader with questions.  Unfortunately, they are the same questions from the end of issue 1.  Will readers want to bother picking up issue 3?  Perhaps.  Hopefully, Smith won't jerk around the loyal page-turners for another issue.  Let's see some crime fighting, Kevin!  C'mon!  Pull the cover off the Black Beauty and let some sweet jade justice be brought forth!

If you're a die-hard GH fan, like me, you'll give this issue a go.  But hang in there, fans.  While this one's pretty rough, I'm hoping Mr. Smith delivers in the future installments.

The Green Hornet Rides Again

For those of you that don't remember, filmmaker Kevin Smith was approached in 2004 to write and direct a movie about pulp hero, The Green Hornet.  While Smith's film never came to fruition, the idea for his abandoned project has resurfaced, taking his script and adapting it to comic form.  

*SPOILERS/PLOT SYNOPSIS AHEAD*

Written by Smith and illustrated by Jonathan Lau, the story thus far depicts Britt Reid (aka The Green Hornet) and his sidekick Kato hanging up their masks and parking the Black Beauty as they finally rid Century City of the last few crime families.  With Kato heading home to Asia, Britt promises his wife that his crime fighting days are over, and they can now raise their son in a city free of mob presence.  Jump ahead 20 some odd years and little Britt Jr. is all grow'd up.  But the grass is not green for this Hornet offspring.  His girlfriend has left him, he does a lousy job working for his dad at family-owned newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, and to make matters worse, he mooned the paparazzi on his front stoop.  Our potential hero, ladies and gentlemen!

It's obvious where Smith is going with his updated take on the 74-year-old character.  Britt Jr. will (reluctantly?) take up his father's mantle and attempt to once again rid Century City of crime.  It's a predictable story, but the mystery of how it will play out in a modern setting might be what gets readers to pick up the following issues.  I'll give them one reason: Lady Kato.  'nuff said. 

Smith's dialogue is a little silly at times (some bad jokes by The Hornet during a mob bust might elicit a few groans from readers), but fans of the overcoat-wearing hero will definitely appreciate Lau's stunning art (supplemented by Phil Hester's breakdowns and Ivan Nunes's colors).

And be on the lookout for more Green Hornet exposure this year.  The Michel Gondry/Seth Rogen film hits theaters on 12/22.

Green Hornet - Episode 1: Night and Day is published by Dynamite Entertainment and is on comic shop shelves now.  Variant covers by John Cassaday, J. Scott Campbell, Stephen Segovia, and the master artist, Alex Ross.