Title: The Green Hornet
Year Released/Rating: 2011 PG-13
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Tom Wilkinson, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz
Directed By: Michel Gondry
Written By: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Star Rating: 4 /5 stars
Trivia: Asian pop star Jay Chou got the role of Kato after a video conference with Seth Rogen was set up. He was invited to do a screen test - the filmmakers did not know he was a famous singer in Asia up until the last moments.
J's pick for last night. Before I get to the movie review, I must say we have a ton of mob/mafia movies for the letter G: Get Shorty, Goodfellas, The Godfather. It's a bit weird...
So I am not ashamed to admit that I like this movie. I like Seth Rogen. I like Jay Chou. I like Christoph Waltz (he always plays good villans). I like the look of the film. I like the action sequences. I love the James Franco cameo (priceless!). This is a really fun film. It doesn't have the serious superhero finding himself tone that so many others do. But I'm okay with that. It's just Britt Reid trying to make his father proud. And he does it in a spectacularly silly fashion. I just love Seth Rogen. My favorite parts are all the parallel shots. Gondry repeats so many scenarios and setups throughout the movie. To me, it makes it even more like a comic book. We get frames instead of huge wide shots. We get short snippets of action. We get fun one-liners instead of huge conversations. I love all those. Overall, a good fun film.
Best Bits:
[repeated line] Britt Reid: Let's roll, Kato!
~~
Kato: I was born in Shanghai. You know Shanghai?
Britt Reid: Yeah, I love Japan.
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Mike Axford: You are blowing this guy completely out of proportion.
Britt Reid: I will blow this guy in any proportion I want!
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Danny 'Crystal' Clear: I've got a see through piano.
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Chudnofsky: You said I was boring. My gun has two barrels, that's not boring.
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Britt Reid: Kato, I want you to take my hand, and I want you to come with me on this adventure.
Kato: I go with you, but I don't want to touch you.
~~
Britt Reid: The Green Hornet and his reliable partner, The Blue Wombat.
Kato: [smacks him]
Britt Reid: Oh! Oh man. Okay. How 'bout, um, the Red Hippopotamus? No? Not Red Hippopotamus?
Kato: Because I'm not red.
Britt Reid: I don't know. Why don't you tell me! The uh, Origamitrix...