"The Green Hornet" isn't "Iron Man"

[quade 4]

I hereby promise no spoilers follow.

To me the one thing a protagonist needs to be is somebody the audience can identify with. The audience absolutely has to be able to put themselves into the shoes of the protagonist and walk around in his dream world for a couple of hours.

I hate stupid protagonists.

I can forgive a lot of character flaws. The arrogance of Tony Stark in “Iron Man” I think is a good example. Frequently those flaws add depth to the character, however, as Ron White says, “you can’t fix stupid.”

I could have forgiven Seth Rogen for making Britt Reid a bit of a foolish frat boy that never grew up as long as it stayed in the first act or at the very worst the mid-point of the film, but to continue it all the way to the final frame is, to me, an unforgivable sin.

I don’t want to be stupid and if I am, I sure as hell don’t want to think I’m going to be stupid my entire life. I want to believe a positive change could take place.

“But, he wises up in the third act when he finally figure out what was going on,” you say.

No. He doesn’t. He’s simply puts two and two together on one particular item; even a blind squirrel finds an occasional nut. Nothing else about him has changed.

“What about ‘Forest Gump,’” you ask?

Forest Gump wasn’t stupid. He was a simple man with a lower than average IQ, but functioned as highly as he could under the circumstances. The same can not be said for Britt Reid. In fact, it seems that at almost every moment during the story he’s functioning well below what he’s capable of.

It’s ironic too because at one point in the film he’s pleading with Kato to join him and for Kato to live up to his full potential. I believe this is, in fact, the “theme stated” beat of the film (no matter where it actually fell in the page count), but sadly it also seems Seth Rogen himself didn’t heed that bit of advise in creating the character.

I think this could have been a great new franchise, but because this first film didn’t live up to its potential, I’m not so sure it will be.

Don’t get me wrong, the film isn’t a complete and utter waste of time, it’s just that it could have, should have, been so much better.

Jay Chao makes a nice Kato with a lot of respect for, but without doing a hack imitation of, Bruce Lee.

Cameron Diaz is a nice, if not a bit too old to play, Lenore Case. One note on that: I’d have to refer back to the screenplay, but Young Britt in the very first shots of the film couldn’t be more than 13. After that we jump, “20 years later” which should mean Britt Reid is in his early 30s at worst. Lenore, therefore should have been no older than Britt, yet has a stated age in the film of “37.” Diaz is actually 39. While she could easily fit into a cougar role, I believe her sex kitten days are behind her.

Edward James Olmos has an awesome cameo as Axford.

Unfortunately, Christoph Waltz’s is given some horrible material in the role of the villain, Chudnofsky which also suffers from being just an incredibly stupid character with little or no actual motivation other than to “be scary.”

Kudos to costume designer Kym Barrett for taking so many cues from the TV series especially when it came to the street clothes of Britt and Kato. The “hero” costumes were obligatory, but the street clothes giving a nod to the TV show was a very nice touch. Just enough to work, not too much as to be campy.

Likewise, whoever worked on the Black Beauty cars did an excellent job and stuck with the look and feel of the Dean Jeffries version of the Chrysler Imperial. I didn’t see a credit scroll by, but they were obviously labors of love and were truly beautiful.

I’m sorry, but I can’t recommend this one in theaters. Save it for Netflix.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[airtwardo 7]

Jay Chao makes a nice Kato with a lot of respect for, but without doing a hack imitation of, Bruce Lee.

[quade 4]

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Jay Chao makes a nice Kato with a lot of respect for, but without doing a hack imitation of, Bruce Lee.

Glad to hear that, very tough role to step into, I wondered if he would/could make it his own.

Hey, have you seen True Grit yet?

[airtwardo 7]

Good to hear...we don't go to a lot of movies anymore but I was thinking True Grit would be worth it on the big screen.

I'd heard it was so good one Roster wasn't in the shadow of the other...I'll try to check it out Monday.

Social network, while I've heard it too is a good movie, it's one that I'll likely watch at home...whenever.


Any other 'Quade thumbs up' we should consider seeing?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[quade 4]

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Any other 'Quade thumbs up' we should consider seeing?

"Black Swan" is also excellent and I'd say worth watching in a theater. Portman wins "Best Actress" for this hands down. Lots of psychology to the story in that one and very nicely handled.

I'm going to a screening and Q&A of "The King's Speech" tonight in LA. I hear great things about it, but I haven't seen it yet.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[AggieDave 6]

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It will be interesting to see which movie wins "Best Picture" this year, but "True Grit" is almost a lock for a nomination and if it wasn't for "The Social Network" I'd say it was a lock on the win as well.

The kiddo had some grandparents in town, so we snuck away and watched "True Grit" this afternoon. Having been raised on the John Wayne version, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this version, but I'm a big Coen brothers and a Jeff Bridges fan. Although no one pissed on his rug, it was an outstanding movie! The dialog was enjoyable and the adapted hymns used for the soundtrack was a neat touch.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[airtwardo 7]

Any Marmots?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[AggieDave 6]

Nope, although I'm not sure that they won't "meet a stranger in the alps," when it gets edited down for TV...

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[kallend 2,150]

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Jay Chao makes a nice Kato with a lot of respect for, but without doing a hack imitation of, Bruce Lee.

Glad to hear that, very tough role to step into, I wondered if he would/could make it his own.

Hey, have you seen True Grit yet?

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Hey, have you seen True Grit yet?

Seen 'em both. Loved True Grit, except they could have skipped the rattlesnake/run-the-horse-to-death bit, but a great Western.

Green Hornet? I agree with Quade. The protagonist was a dork. He could have been more a Bruce Wayne, reformed playboy, but not a chump. Flawed heroes, yes, but not fools for heros. The villain? Boring. Should have had a better part written for him. Also, I guess I have a hard time mixing comedy with gratuitous violent gunplay. It just seems like the movie can't make up it's mind what it wants to be.

[MikeJD 0]

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Unfortunately, Christoph Waltz’s is given some horrible material in the role of the villain, Chudnofsky which also suffers from being just an incredibly stupid character with little or no actual motivation other than to “be scary.”

Haven't seen The Green Hornet and I wasn't planning to, but I was curious to see how Waltz would fair. I guess his first couple of movies after Inglourious Basterds could either make him permanently in Hollywood, or see him disappear without trace. From the sound of it, I hope he gets better roles than this.

Whatever one thinks of Tarantino, he's created some of the greatest parts for actors who've never been as good before or since.

[kallend 2,150]

[reply The protagonist was a dork..

[airtwardo 7]

...except they could have skipped the rattlesnake/run-the-horse-to-death bit, but a great Western.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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OT, but that reminded me: in the novel "Snow Crash", the protagonist's name is Hiro Protagonist.

Now that's an efficient way to establish the characters.
"I'd like to present my nurse, Mrs. Gobetween."

[airtwardo 7]

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OT, but that reminded me: in the novel "Snow Crash", the protagonist's name is Hiro Protagonist.

Now that's an efficient way to establish the characters.
"I'd like to present my nurse, Mrs. Gobetween."

Nuthin' like a sidekick named Tonto!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~