The Green Hornet (2011) – movie review by Kate

The Green Hornet (2011)

Reel reviews for real people

Plot: Driven by the murder of a close friend and the realization that his media empire is infested with ruthless heroin smugglers, Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet and his human weapon Kato jump into action on a heart-pounding quest to rid the city of this mob once and for all.

Rating: PG-13  for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz

Director: Michel Gondry

Running time: 1:48

Kate says – Well, folks, I’m on vacation at Disneyland at the moment so I haven’t screened The Green Hornet yet. I’ve collected a variety of reviews to help you decide whether this one is worth your while.

Ebert says – 1 star “The Green Hornet” is an almost unendurable demonstration of a movie with nothing to be about. Although it follows the rough storyline of previous versions of the title, it neglects the construction of a plot engine to pull us through. There are pointless dialogue scenes going nowhere much too slowly, and then pointless action scenes going everywhere much too quickly.” (read full review)

Pete Hammond (Box Office Magazine) says – 3 of 5 stars ” (The Green Hornet) is bright and loaded with pop culture references and moments to showcase Rogen as superhero-as-buffoon. Surprisingly it often works, and we can credit the irreverent tone set right in the opening sequence…Rogen isn’t the obvious choice for a comic book icon but he forces his personality onto this material with an ingratiating ease.” (read full review)

Michael Phillips (Chicago Tribune) says – 2 stars “In the wake of last weekend’s massacre in Tucson it’s suddenly, temporarily a little harder to laugh off scene after scene of obsessive gun fetishization and mass slaughter in a superhero vigilante lark…The script by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, tailored for Rogen in the title role, rides a streak of blase raunch and overscaled action smack into a series of walls, each spray-painted with phrases beginning with “Too.” Too much. Too numbing. Too coy. And ultimately too violent. This is a PG-13 picture very close to R territory.” (read full review)

Rene Rodriguez  (Miami Herald) says – 3 stars “This Hornet is a big, boisterous action-comedy — a funny, exciting and intentionally goofy summer movie that just happens to arrive in the middle of January. (Rogen) is perfect as the unlikely, mostly hapless hero — and Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind), an equally unexpected choice to direct such pulpy material, latches onto Rogen’s sense of humor. The Green Hornet strikes a deft balance of comedy and comic-book shenanigans that never wavers. The characters take what is happening seriously, but the movie doesn’t.” (read full review)