by SilentBobX on Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:47 am
Saw this last night at a late showing w/my fiancee and I have to say that this is about as imperfect a film can be without being terrible.
It is a deeply flawed film almost redeemed by its ambition. To be sure, I'm glad Rogen and Chou weren't in tights, altho the characters never wore them. But the way Rogen was written AS the Green Hornet troubled me deeply. I kept reading about how he lost weight and that this would be a serious role for him. He' s half right. It's sad because Rogen is playing man-child slob #33 for the character of Britt Reid when he should've stood up and tried to play it straight, and not be useless.
I'm not saying he should've played himself a Bruce Wayne, ass kicker and name-taker, but rather, have him be SERIOUS. Play the frat boy thing early on, then sober up immediately once dad dies. This is what separates GH from being barely tolerable as opposed to really good. Have him be intelligent, mindful, and truly driven to avenge wrongs as opposed to treating it like an Animal House style romp. He's behaving like a rich, drunk guardian angel wannabe who's oblivious to what he's getting into.
Jay Chou is the other problem I had. He fits Kato physically perfect, but I really did genuinely have trouble understanding him both in speech and in motivation. Why am I seeing more and more of this Dr. House/Dr. Chase style relationship in movies where one is abusive and demeans the other who takes it in stride when anyone else would've capped this asshole, dropped them in a drainage ditch and walked away? He's a cool character, but this bothered me to no end.
The other characters sadly fare no better. Edward James Olmos barely registers and doesn't seem to want to be in the film. Christoph Waltz as a crime lord with a mid-life crisis and love of comic books just falls flat on its face. And Cameron Diaz is a humongous waste of space.
Now for all my bitching, here's what did work: Gondry's direction is good(minus the pain in the ass split scene sequence), the soundtrack is all over the place and great including Chou's rap over the end credits. And finally Black Beauty and the action and stunt sequences are solidly entertaining. Just wish the rest of the parts mixed as well.
Mahalo
