The Green Hornet (2011)

Following the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father's large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

Director:

Michel Gondry

Writers:

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg,

Stars:

Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Seth Rogen	...	Britt Reid / The Green Hornet
Jay Chou	...	Kato
Cameron Diaz	...	Lenore Case
Tom Wilkinson	...	James Reid
Christoph Waltz	...	Chudnofsky
David Harbour	...	D.A. Frank Scanlon
Edward James Olmos	...	Mike Axford
Jamie Harris	...	Popeye
Chad L. Coleman	...	Chili (as Chad Coleman)
Edward Furlong	...	Tupper
Jill Remez	...	Daily Sentinel Reporter
Joe O'Connor	...	Daily Sentinel Reporter
Morgan Rusler	...	Daily Sentinel Reporter
Joshua Erenberg	...	Young Britt (as Joshua Chandler Erenberg)
Analeigh Tipton	...	Ana Lee

Storyline

Playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) becomes the new publisher of Los Angeles' "The Daily Sentinel" after the sudden death of his father. Britt's party life is about to change when he and his driver and kung fu expert, Kato (Jay Chou), stop a robbery. With the help of Kato, Britt starts a new career of fighting crime as the masked superhero "The Green Hornet".

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | superhero | crime boss | vandalism | party | 

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Taglines:

Protect the law by breaking it.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

14 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Green Hornet

Filming Locations:

2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,878,905 (UK) (14 January 2011)

Gross:

$98,780,042 (USA) (15 April 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kato says he's from Shanghai, to which Britt replies that he loves Japan. Kato was originally Japanese in the radio series.

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Goofs

When Kato first reveals the upgraded Black Beauty, she had been hanging upside down under the flip floor. This means the engine oil would have pooled in the headers and none would be in the pan; starting her seconds after the flip would ruin the engine.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jack Reid: [on the phone] Tell the Mayor, I'm insulted. I would never jeopardize the journalistic integrity of this newspaper for some rent-a-mayor's political agenda.
Jack Reid: [to his son] So Britt, here we are again. Sent home after another schoolyard fight. I know you miss your mother. So do I. But I have to take care of 750 employees, and you have to take care of yourself. Still that seems to be asking too much.
Young Britt: But I was trying to stop some bullies...

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Connections

Referenced in Conan: Baa Baa Blackmail (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Live With Me"
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Performed by The Rolling Stones
Courtesy of ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.

User Reviews

The hornet is back...

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.