Myth confirmed: The Green Hornet is awesome + MythBusters DVD Box Set Giveaway!

The Green Hornet

LIZZ: Okay, where do I begin? First of all, let me state that beyond knowing who the characters were and how it made Bruce Lee's career, I had little to no knowledge of the original Green Hornet. I heard it was like the old Adam West Batman series except less campy, so I went into the theater with an open mind and expected to be entertained. I think Seth Rogen is pretty damned brilliant, but suffice to say that I have mixed feelings about some of his movies. (Knocked Up > Pineapple Express). I do appreciate his sense of humor however, and I was wondering how he'd deal with playing Britt Reid- superhero extraordinaire. I guess I needn't have worried, because he played it like he played many of his more popular characters-- like a well-meaning dumbass.

This isn't to say that this is a bad thing, of course, as he plays the well-meaning dumbass stereotype incredibly well. The Green Hornet was a crazy fun flick with plenty of action and plenty of laughs, and I'm happy to admit that I laughed harder than I had in weeks (I'm looking at you, "Black Swan".) All in all, I found it a highly entertaining movie that makes for an interesting addition to the superhero movie genre. It's not as fantastic as, say, Kick-Ass, but it's definitely entertaining. I'd take this over Fantastic Four (1 AND 2), Wolverine, Spider-Man 3, and even X-Men 3 on any given day of the week. I recommend watching this if you're in a bad mood, as it will definitely cheer you up! :D




JOSH: The Green Hornet got mostly lukewarm reviews from critics (46% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it's not hard to guess why. The movie relies more on slapstick and juvenile jokes than wit and subtlety, which makes it the kind of movie many serious critics despise.

But I'm not a professional critic. I'm just an average moviegoer. Unlike film connoisseurs, I don't go to the cinema to admire artistic excellence or to have my soul touched. I only want to:

1) be entertained, and
2) stuff my face with popcorn.

I achieved both goals while watching The Green Hornet last night, so I'm happy.

The Green Hornet doesn't even follow the superhero movie formula of transforming an average Joe into an awesome hero who then performs amazingly heroic acts of courage and awesomeness. Seth Rogen's Green Hornet was a bumbling goofball from start to finish, and I loved that. Many fans are apparently not too pleased by the sharp departure from the more serious tone of the original 60s TV series. (Or so I've heard. I've never seen the show... I'm not THAT old.) But I'm glad that Seth Rogen played to his strength as a comedic actor instead of going the "I want to be a serious actor" route--I don't think that would have worked.

The Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato, played by a young Bruce Lee in the original series, is played here by Harold from the Harold and Kumar movies some dude named Jay Chou. He doesn't have Bruce Lee's magnetic screen presence and seemed to have trouble delivering some of his lines, but his performance was adequate for this light-hearted movie. And he did have good bromantic chemistry with Seth Rogen.

To sum things up, this movie isn't going to win any Oscars, but it's good silly fun. Just sit back with a big bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.

If you're a Mythbusters fan like I am, don't miss the Mythbusters Green Hornet Special on the Discovery Channel on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 at 8 PM. In this episode, Seth Rogen joins the Mythbusters to recreate some scenes from the movie, this time without the help of Hollywood movie magic.



Mythbusters airs every Friday at 8 PM on Discovery Channel South East Asia, with a replay at 1 AM.

One more thing before we go....

We're giving away this 2-disc Mythbusters Mega Movie Myths DVD set to one lucky reader. If you want it, just leave a comment with your name and email address on or before Feb. 1, 2011. We'll pick a winner at random.