Finally got out to another advance screening the other night: The Green Hornet! But when I sat down to write the review, I found that fellow writer and friend across the pond, Ben Bussey, had already written a review. And not only that, but his thoughts pretty much mirrored my own. What a guy.
Well, anyway, I'm going to save myself some typing time by just sending you over to Ben. Go check out Ka-Boomski! Its his awesome action blog, where you can read about Green Hornet, and all of the guilty pleasure of the action genre. Explosions abound!
KA-BOOMSKI!
A couple of quick additions, before you go:
- My preview was in 3-D, and I have to say that the 3-D is not worth the extra money here. There are very few sequences where its noticeable, and even when it is, you can tell it was added as an afterthought. The 'Kato-Vision' sequences work, but the rest is forgettable. Save the money, see it normally.
- The beginning is really, really choppy. One minute Seth Rogan is getting yelled at by his dad, hung over from a party, and then a cut and Seth Rogan is coming home from a party, and finds out his dad is dead. It seems like a bunch of establishing scenes were cut out. There's also references to the Green Hornet blowing up traffic cameras before a scene that appears to be the first time they actually do that with the car's missiles. It seems like the studio did a lot of re-cutting and trims. It moves quickly, but feels awkward. But then, it is 2 hours as is...
- I really wish they would have given a more definite ending to the film. I mean, it ends, the story resolves, but The Green Hornet never really evolves as a character. A final action sequence with he and Kato both able to fight as equals, set over the Green Hornet theme, would have been awesome. It really is Kato's film.
Well, between myself and Ben, I think you are now prepared. Green Hornet isn't a great film, but its worth seeing. A fun distraction. And after the studio had written it off as 'disaster' in their usual political games, that's a pleasant surprise.
Much obliged, sir. I too saw it in 3D (in what they're passing off as an IMAX screen), and agree that it adds nothing. But honestly, I rather take it as a given now that 3D adds nothing, hence I didn't bother mentioning it in my review. This whole notion of a more immersive viewing experience is such balls. It just doesn't do what it promises to do. Unless there are significant technical advances in the near future, I can't believe 3D's going to last.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're absolutely right about the choppiness & excessive running time. I suspect there will be a great many deleted scenes on the DVD (even if at least 30% of them consist of Rogen ad-libbing).