Blu-ray Review: The Green Hornet (2011)

Upon learning that a superhero film has been co-written by Seth Rogen (with Evan Goldberg, the pair having previously written the likes of Superbad and Pineapple Express), and features him in the title role, it seems pretty clear what you can expect: a bawdy, foul-mouthed comedy. That is, to an extent, what you get with The Green Hornet, though the language is slightly toned down from his usual tendencies (it's a PG-13, but only just). What may not be expected - though perhaps isn't so surprising after Pineapple Express - is that it also works as a pretty great action movie, and even something of a breath of fresh air in the stale superhero genre. It is yet another origin story, but mercifully the telling of the origin feels neither perfunctory nor extraneous. That's in large part thanks to the likeable sense of humour and an unabashed quest for fun, not to mention the sparky pairing of its lead duo.

The Green Lantern is a superhero in the mould of Batman, in that he has no powers but is rich enough to finance all manner of gadgetry. This Batman is not without his Robin, though, and indeed, the relationship between Rogen's Britt Reid and Kato, played with undeniable cool by Asian multi-hyphenate (director-writer-actor-popstar) Stephen Chou, is central to the film and key to its success. To some extent it follows the usual buddy movie template, but it is livened up by some key twists on the relationship. Here, Reid brings the money and no shortage of enthusiasm, but Kato is the brains and, indeed, the brawn (and makes a killer coffee to boot). His fighting skills are demonstrated by an eyecatching twist on Matrix bullet time, in which Kato continues to move in normal time while his adversaries slow down. Chou's English sometimes struggles but it's no real hindrance and even makes him a bit more endearing, while his evident star wattage means that he capably fills the shoes of Bruce Lee, the original Kato.

Also important in these films is of course the villain, and in this respect the film stutters slightly. Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz is Chudnofsky, and is often enjoyable but the character never seems quite developed. Waltz was a last minute replacement for Nicolas Cage, who was apparently going to play the character with a Jamaican accent (!), so the casting change necessitated some late rewriting, resulting in a character that's never quite as defined or funny as he could be. His most memorable trait is his nifty double-barrelled pistol. Having said that, Chudnofsky's introduction in a scene with a cameoing James Franco lays a great foundation.

Pleasingly, there are no apparent budgetary constraints here: the film does not skimp on the action and pyrotechnics. Most of these sequences are very well handled, nixing any concerns that director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) may have shortcomings in that regard. Admittedly Gondry's freeform styling is less evident than usual - for one thing, he tends to keep the camera stable and grounded here - but the director still brings some innovative touches, such as a nifty split-screen sequence in which the frame is continually divided into ever smaller windows. The film does fall down slightly in the final stretch - the previous emphasis on character descends into a predictably messy finale - but the wit remains present throughout, which pulls the film through any rough patches.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: B / Version: N/A (2D release) / Discs: 1 / Distributor: Sony

Presentation
A reliably solid presentation from Sony, Green Lantern comes equipped with a very appealing, colourful transfer and a lively audio track in which all the speakers are continually active. Typical of a modern action film, the sound effects are on the loud side which does swamp dialogue, but it's never less than crisp and weighty. The picture seems unmolested, retaining subtle grain and a gratifyingly tangible look.

Extras
A fairly standard, but far from poor, selection covers all the usual bases. The commentary includes four participants - Rogen, Goldberg, Gondry and producer Neal Moritz (before he has to leave for a meeting) - is a raucous, honest affair and is an enjoyable listen. It is completely dominated by Rogen, who has an annoying habit of interrupting the others and talking over them, but whose passion is palpable and infectious. The half-hour's worth of deleted scenes mostly comprise added character beats and a much extended version of the car chase in the finale (some of the footage was repurposed for a montage in the finale film). A bunch of featurettes look at the writing, directing and so on, a highlight being "The Stunt Family Armstrong", focusing on the family of stuntmen who worked on the film, including the legendary Vic (Harrison Ford's double as Indiana Jones, amongst many others). It also becomes clear just how many of the set-pieces were done practically, which really adds to their impact. There's also a feature called the Cutting Room, which Sony are evidently very proud of, which lets you make you own edits of certain scenes in the movie. It's surprisingly complex and makes full use of Blu-ray technology, but is only mildly diverting for a short while.



Summary
A completely enjoyable, fresh take on an oversubscribed genre, The Green Hornet may do little revolutionary but it's laugh-out-loud funny at times thanks to a great central pairing.