Green Hornet
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So the new trailer for the upcoming Green Hornet film is lighting up the interwebs today and it presents an interesting take on the trenchcoat-wearing vigilante.
(Side note: Kevin Smith was supposed to write and direct this Green Hornet feature but bowed out due to a combo of angst and pressure. He’s since adapted his take into a comic-book series being put out by Dynamite Entertainment.)
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To me, it does the important thing a post-Bruce Lee Green Hornet is supposed to do: show that Kato runs shit. The martial-arts sidekick in question here is Jay Chou, a Taiwanese actor who’s a relative unknown to American audiences. It basically reads as a buddy-cop movie with masks. Not a bad thing, but I want more of director Michel Gondry’s signature quirkiness. That said, the action seems well-shot and the Hornet’s trademark car of jusice Black Beauty looks bad-ass. Muscle car tricked out with machine guns and missiles? You’ve piqued my interest.
Tom Wilkinson plays James Reid, Britt Reid’s father, who’s apparently been crusading against crime unbeknownst to his son. This is a big difference with the way Britt Reid has been traditionally portrayed, which is as a man who’s been proactive enough to chase justice in every aspect of his life. Judging from the trailer, there’s going to be a bit more coming-of-age to this film’s take on Britt Reid.
The crucial question facing the movie studio is “will anyone care?” The Green Hornet started as a radio-drama character that was linked back to the Lone Ranger, making him one of the earliest heroic legacy characters in the vein of the Phantom. He’s been in movie serials, TV shows and tons of comics since the 1930s but the Hornet’s never been in the upper echelon of public awareness when it comes to recognizable crimefighters. Still, Rogen’s a big draw for the movie’s action-comedy take on the character and Chou looks like he’s up for lots of stunts and wire-fu. Right now, color me curious.
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