O Besouro Verde

I watched "The Green Hornet" with a sense of skepticism. Having grown up with the original TV series, this movie really had some big shoes to fill out. And surprisingly enough, it managed to do so in a good enough way. But there were also aspects of the movie that were less than successful.

First of all, Seth Rogen (playing Britt Reid/The Green Hornet). No, no, no. I know he was involved in directing and writing the movie and all, but he is not chiseled out for an action role of this caliber. I do admire his spirit and enthusiasm, but he is more suited for comedy movies. Seeing him in this role didn't go well with me. He did bring along some comedy, but it didn't work so well in this particular movie.

And the scene at the beginning where Britt Reid was bringing home a woman and they went through the garage and sat in all the cars (showing them off for the audience, actually) in high-speed capture, what was up with that? Already at that point, the movie started to falter and crash.

Jay Chou (playing Kato) certainly had HUGE shoes to fill out after the original role was played by Bruce Lee. And actually Chou did a decent enough job, with good acting and well-choreographed action/fighting sequences. So hats off to him for that.

However, the most memorable person in the movie was Christoph Waltz (playing Chudnofsky). He was fantastic as a villain and worked his role very well and very convincingly. Plus there was also a good sense of humor to his role, and it worked well.

The story told in the movie was fast-paced, captivating and interesting enough to keep you enthralled throughout the entire feature length.

For an action movie, then "The Green Hornet" is actually quite good. But for a follow-up to the legacy of the TV series, the movie is a mediocre attempt with good intentions. Had they cast someone else for Britt Reid, it would have worked much better. Now, I am not saying that Seth Rogen is a bad actor, he was just ill-suited for this role. "The Green Hornet" is good entertainment if you are in for an evening of action, corny one-liners and a trip down memory lane.

"The Green Hornet" is your same old typical Hollywood remake. Non-stop explosions, CGI, shot in 3D. And it is also your same old typical Seth Rogen comedy. Seth Rogen acting like a retard and scattered raunchy humor. While "The Green Hornet" is a ridiculous movie it's also an enjoyable one. It's not painful to watch. The action scenes were awesome. It's not really as bad as anyone else is saying. "The Green Hornet" is completely fun and ridiculous.

The biggest problem here in "The Green Hornet" is Seth Rogen's portrayal of Britt Reid. He's not playing Green Hornet. He's just playing himself all the time with fighting. If he's not around in one scene the movie is quite serious. The slow-mo fights and the car chases were awesome. How about the 3D? The 3D was good especially when there are sparks coming out the screen.

The merit here is Jay Chou. He practically steals the show although he needs to improve his accent. Christoph Waltz is like playing Hans Landa again in a different manner. Cameron Diaz is too old for her role. Overall "The Green Hornet" is entertaining, hilarious and absurd. It's the same old Seth Rogen comedy with explosions. It's a good movie to watch... For a while.

Frankly, very few remakes are worth the time. I was expecting a disaster of a movie when I started watching, but was pleasantly surprised.

Seth Rogen is his usual self/character. He needs to learn more than one trick. I found his acting flat and his voice monotonous. So kudos to the screen and script writers for making it interesting enough that Mr Rogen's shortcomings are overcame.

Cameron Diaz.... Of the hundreds of actresses in the movie industry, why her? Is her character written in, in the last minute? Or is there some kind of compulsory need to add a female lead, so that the 2 male leads are not seen as homosexuals? She was refreshing a decade ago, now she is just.... boring and highly predictable.

Jay Chou. Being an Asian-Asian, I personally never like or dislike him. He has a zero-expression face, no matter what movie he is in. Putting him in the shoes of Bruce Lee is a tough order. Of all the characters in the movie, his is the most significant one. Ones with big expectations to fill, and I think he did alright. Do remember this is his first Hollywood movie. Other than that, I still say he can't really act.

Story/plot. The movie is fast pace enough that even the slow moments get by really fast. After a first 15 minutes or so, there is very little dull moments. One of the few things I disliked about this movie is the elevated level of gory deaths. Is it really necessary? As I said before the screen and script writers did a fantastic job in this adaptation.

For pure action entertainment, I'll give it 8 or 9 out of 10. However, overall it should only garner a 7, in my opinion.

I've been keeping my expectations low for this film and I'm glad that I did. I was a big fan of the 60's television show, but I didn't watch any episodes until the mid 90's; so I've been waiting almost 15 years for a film adaptation on the Green Hornet.

The film is campy, the story is corny, the villain is wasted and Seth Rogen wrote the script. Based on the plot and the dialogs, it's not a well made movie; but it doesn't try to be. This movie could have been written more seriously and be on the same map as a Christopher Nolan's Batman film; but instead, it went on the road to be a comedic film with a lot of explosions. Some stuff didn't work, other stuff was clever & visually entertaining.

The stuff that I admired the most are the homage to the original television show. There were some criticism to the 60's show about how the Kato character was just a sidekick, butler, manservant, an aid or a chauffeur to the Green Hornet. Bruce Lee didn't have much dialogs and he didn't have much screen time. It was during the 60's and just having an Asian-American to be an everyday character on a show was a big deal, so I never saw that as an insult. In this movie, they make a HUGE deal about that subject as Seth Rogen & Jay Chou are constantly arguing about Kato's role throughout the whole film.

Other homage to the television show is a drawn image of Bruce Lee, Al Hirt's theme "Flight of the Bumblebee" tune, and there's even a scenario from my favorite episode that has been written into the movie. The Black Beauty is also a very awesome car! The funny thing is that in the TV show, the Black Beauty was a brand new & very recent 1966 Imperial Crown sedan. In the movie, it's the exact same vehicle; but it's now a classical vintage car.

I saw the 3D version and there were very few sequences where the 3D effects was worth the extra price of admission. I recommend saving your money and watch the 2D version instead.

To finally sum everything up; the movie isn't good, but it brought back my love for the characters inside the Green Hornet world. The film is visually entertaining for what it is. I hope there's a sequel, but that somebody else will write its screenplay.

Ever since I heard about "The Green Hornet", I expected a bad movie. It didn't seem like it would work...boy was I wrong. I saw a screening of this recently, and walked in with zero expectations, and walked out having laughed throughout the movie and REALLY enjoyed the action and chemistry between Rogen and Jay Chou. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg did a fantastic job crafting this script, which could have been truly horrible, into a fun ride.

The true star of the movie is Jay Chou, aka Kato. His accent was sometimes hard to interpret, but he was surprisingly funny, and Kato-vision (time slows when his heart starts pumping during fights) turned out pretty cool in 3-D.

Thank goodness Nic Cage walked away from this, and Christoph Waltz came in as the bad guy, because Christoph inhabited the role better than Nic could have. I enjoy Nic Cage, but he wouldn't of worked in this movie, and with that character. Nic Cage would have been too over the top, where as Christoph went a subtle route.

The movie isn't perfect, I didn't feel Cameron Diaz added anything to the movie expect being "the hot girl" to create a rift between guys, but if you're looking for a pure escapist fun ride, then look no further than "The Green Hornet."