Grade: FINE PLUS (F+) 6.5 Out of a 10.0 Possible Comic Book Grading Scale.
Vinnie's 'Take':
(From a tween's POV)
We just came out of a mid-afternoon viewing of "The Green Hornet," and these are my thoughts on it.
When reading this, you should know that I have not had much prior knowledge of the Green Hornet. The only knowledge of it I have is from the few episodes I have seen with my father. These were from the 1967 Green Hornet TV series starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee.
What I liked about this movie was the humor and the action.
I will admit that most of this humor was adult orientated, but I still found it funny. I also found it funny that the Green Hornet was kicking or hitting enemies that Kato knocked out or killed already, and he would exclaim sbout how awesome he did, although in reality, he did little to nothing.
My favorite parts about the action were mainly the fight scenes, but a few of the chases I enjoyed as well. What made me most enjoy the fight scenes was when Kato was fighting, and time "slowed." It didn't actually slow, but he felt it did as he concentrated. During this time, he was able to identify any weapons, and he easily manuevuered himself to react to anything the opponents did. It was as if he was "in the zone," you could say. Besides that, he was just awesome.
I can honestly say that there was nothing I didn't like in this movie. I loved the filming, casting, and even the songs used, although some may argure they weren't the best.
Although the rating is PG-13, I don't think I would recommend this to someone under at least 15. There was just a lot of adult humor, strong language, most of which was for no reason or purpose, and quite a bit of violence and blood. You wouldn't even have to to be a "hardcore" Green Hornet fan to enjoy this movie; just some interest in action films and you would enjoy this.
As you can see that I am overly thrilled by this movie, it shouldn't be a surprise that I am giving this movie, "The Green Hornet," a NEAR MINT (NM) a 9.4 out of a 10.0 possible comic book grade scale.
Michael's Take:
Well... I've hinted in this Blog a few times that I would love to see the 'Black Beauty' in action in this film. Especially after being up close to it back at the Comic-Con International: San Diego way back in 2009! Yeah, THAT long ago!
Sheesh! (See the two pics at the bottom right of this blog post for pics of Tina and myself in front of the Black Beauty at that 2009 SDCC!)
So, when my youngest son expressed his desire to see this film, I talked Tina into viewing it today at a mid-afternoon Saturday Matinee. As we are both still sick from a really bad cold we both caught in Las Vegas... Well, I thought it would be better to attend an earlier showing, without coughing and hacking away, interferring with the film.
Well... I was definitely pleased with the 'Black Beauty' in this film! Or should I say 'Black Beauties'! As there were at least three of them in the Reid Garage at the mansion.
The 'Black Beauty' was the highlight of the film for me. It was really cool to see it in action! And I'm NOT that much of an auto freak!
Kato, played by Jay Chou, came across really well in the film.
Britt Reid, a.k.a. The Green Hornet, played by Seth Rogen, was defintely NOT 'My' Green Hornet! Van Williams will stay that for me!
Lenore Case, 'Casey', played by Cameron Diaz, was both 'Hot' and 'brainy'. She just didn't see enough 'air time' IMO.
Christoph Waltz as Benjamin Chudnofsky, the villain, actually did pretty darn good in this film. Although the film was played for ;laughs', he actually rolled with the drama / comedy / action scenes.
David Harbour as D.A. Frank Scanlon... Well, it's NOT his fault that the film re-wrote his role that I 'knew' him as in the 1967 TV Series...
There was a 'nod' to the TV Series... Edward James Olmos played Mike Axford...
Tom Wilkinson as James Reid, Britt's wealthy father and successful newspaper publisher was a 'new' bit for me... But vital to the storyline.
Yet even with all of the above characters, and a lot more included, the overall film for me had a LOT of ups and downs.
Maybe I'm getting a little older... But I'm really starting to get annoyed with younger creators taking time honored and revered characters of yesterday and 'playing' with them, 'updating' them, and siccing them onto today's younger audiences as being 'THE' character.
We stayed till the very end of the credits, so yeah, I did see that this film was 'based' on the Green Hornet 'radio series', not the 'film serials' of before my time even, and definitely not the 'TV Series' of 1967.
Yet, that is what caused me to even want to see this film in the first place. Especially after seeing the 'souped up' Black Beauty at the July 2009 San Diego Comic Con!
To wait this long... (Read the Wikipedia entry for the Green Hornet film here as to why...!) And then end up with this uneven film... Well, I'm surprised myself as to the comic book grade I'm going to post here in a couple of paragraphs!
Did I enjoy seeing the film on the 'Big Screen'? Well yes, but I would have enjoyed it more if it was 'Brand New', and NOT building or destroying on time honored traditions of the Green Hornet, IMO.
Would I have gone to see this film if it didn't have that 'Green Hornet' tie-in? Probably not... Because of Seth Rogen's take on the title character, and seeing the trailers beforehand would have made me not really care to see the film.
The Black Beauty and Kato were the best things in this film for me.
Which are two of the three reasons I even re-play the 1967 TV Series episodes at times for Vinnie and myself. It's a shame that Britt Reid and the Green Hornet were 'dumbed down' so much.
I'm giving this 2011 Green Hornet film a VERY FINE MINUS (VF-) 7.5 on a comic book grading scale.
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The above reviews were from three people, from different age groups, (late baby boomer / a late tween / early baby boomer), and different levels of exposure to the 'Green Hornet' history, (a child during 1967 TV Series / not yet born / a teenager who loved the 1967 TV series).
Thus I believe the reason for the wide variance in 'comic book grading' this film!
Take the above, compare it to your level of knowledge of the Green Hornet, and decide for yourself as to whether or not to see it on the 'Big Screen' / '3D' it / or wait for the video. It cost us $25 in tickets to see this film, and it wasn't the 3D version...