It’s extremely pleasant to come by a superhero film that doesn’t fall into the ideal trappings of the genre. This is a group that’s already starting to become tired to the point of satires and deconstructions. Just look at Kick-Ass, Watchmen, and Defendor. Nearly all mainstream superhero films have far too much in common, especially “origin” stories. Michel Gondry and writing duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have skipped over most of those cliches and have delivered a fresh, unique take on the superhero genre.
This may not be what everyone would have wanted from Gondry superhero film or what he’d be expected to do with the material, but this still feels like a Gondry film. There are his creative, lovable small visual touches that fans will recognize as the director’s own. This may be his most tame film to date, but he has still packed some ambition in. This is a film that will be labeled as formulaic, but underneath the surface, it’s a little more than your average superhero film.
We don’t get an in-depth and poetic look at the life of a superhero. This isn’t ambitious in the Terrence Malick sense, but more so for the superhero genre. It’s established early on that our protagonist, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), is no average hero. Britt is a man-child. The fresh part of this take is that Britt stays that way for the whole film. Even during the climatic battle, there’s no grand triumph for him or an absolute change of heart. Britt literally spends the final action set-piece sitting at a computer, while Kato (Jay Chou) does the actual fighting. Some may be turned off by such an obnoxious and misogynistic lead, but if one can embrace originality, then it’s not difficult at all to have fun with the hilariously unlikable titular character.
When it comes to the origin story angle, it handles the set-up better than most first installments. The lead up to seeing the duo in action doesn’t feel drawn out, and the film never rushes to it either. When it gets to the action, ironically, it’s mostly Kato doing the fighting. He is the actual hero of the two. Kato’s partnership with The Green Hornet doesn’t start off in the expected cliche way either; these two totally opposite guys actually like each other. Their decision to go into vigilantism isn’t based on a revenge plot, but comes from a spontaneous moment of basically wanting to do something adventurous, in an almost egocentric way.
The script takes the well-known tropes of the genre, and then goes into the opposite direction or, at the very least, puts a spin on them. There is the blatantly unneeded love interest, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), that Britt is interested in. But unlike most heroes, his intentions for Lenore are not from a place of love. Britt is a sleazy guy, and Lenore and everyone else recognizes that. This isn’t a dynamic that ends with a kiss and them falling madly in love with each other. Although this is an interesting take on the female love interest, she’s a disposable character. Diaz, while not bad in the role, feels completely out-of-place. All of Lenore’s scenes are roadblocks in an overall smooth and brisk narrative.
When it comes to the nemesis, we got a midlife crisis villain, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). Chudnofsky is, despite the terrible acts he commits, almost more likable and empathetic than Britt. There’s something sad about a villain grasping for his old touch of menace. Waltz brings a heightened sense to the role and goes further out of the realm of reality than the rest of the cast, but Chudnofsky makes for a fun nemesis. Sadly though, as an antagonist, he doesn’t pose as great as a threat that he should. The script leaves Chudnofsky in the dust. There’s no genuine menace or threat to him. Chudnofsky never even interacts with The Green Hornet for more than a few seconds.
3D wise, very little is added. There’s a few playful moments every once in a while, but it comes off underused. There’s no reason to see Gondry’s aesthetic and impressively choreographed action set-pieces in a dimmer view. Gondry’s venture into the superhero world has its fair share of problems, but ultimately, The Green Hornet is a hilarious shot in the arm of superhero originality.