Michel Gondry’s GREEN HORNET feature is so weird that it’s been consigned to January release date hell by the studio, but actual approved pictures of a slim Seth Rogen and adorable Jay Chou have appeared online, as has a trailer, which looks…well, sort of what you’d expect if Seth Rogen made a superhero picture. Jay Chou totally steals it however. (Trivia: Chou, a Taiwanese pop star, learned English during filming.)
What do you think, peanut gallery?
Sure. Why not.
This trailer looks substantially more entertaining than Jonah Hex or Catwoman.
I think it looks pretty cool. It also does what a Superhero flick should look like. It doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Looks cheesy but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.
Certainly looks better than I ever would’ve thought.
Looks surprisngly entertaining… so yeah, I’ll give it a shot.
I dunno – the trailer is by the numbers. It looks like a cliche superhero origin story with the hero screaming, “Yeah!” a lot. I trust Gondry, so I’m sure it’s better than the trailer makes it look.
I think it looks fun, just think the studio is confused with what they have.
I’m actually a little bit excited for this after seeing the trailer. Like you said, exactly what you’d expect from a Seth Rogen superhero movie.
wow! a superhero movie I may actually pay to see.
I’m going to be the cranky old man here and say this movie should be titled “Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet.”
Which pretty much says it all…
Bill,
I agree with your “old man” assessment, as much as I like watching Seth Rogen. In fact, I’m really surprised that Gondry got the Hornet assignment, over Kevin Smith. Also, a little surprised and happy to say that I like his Dynamite comic based on his original script far more than the trailer… Wayne
That looks like a lot of fun!
Looks a bit too goofy, plus does Seth Rogan really have to play the same character in every movie he’s in? It has all the Green Hornet tropes but doesn’t look very exciting. I remember that a year ago this film was announced for Summer 2010. Pushed back to January 2011 isn’t a good sign as January is traditionally a dumping ground for films.
Which one’s the sidekick?
I like Kevin Smith, but I don’t think he could handle the action sequences for this kind of flick.
I was on board with Seth Rogen, and I was fine with them making it a modern take on The Green Hornet, even though I would have rather seen something set in the 1930s. But Cameron Diaz?? Really????
@David
I was thinking the same thing. As I was watching the trailer again, trying to reevaluate it, I thought the Kato character looks a billion times more interesting than the Green Hornet. In fact, I’d rather see a Kato movie based on the trailer.
Looks to be very entertaining, fun and enjoyable with popcorn. Probably what more super hero comic books should be as far as “feel” and with a little bit of humor.
Beau Smith
The Flying Fist Ranch
You know if it was anyone else but Seth Rogen I might actually like this trailer. The same trailer with a less goofy delivery might actually look like the Green Hornet.
A little surprised to see the ‘Hornetmobile’ rotating from under the garage floor as in the old TV show.
One would think that being suspended upside down would have a deleterious effect on the delicate mechanisms.
Shrug.
Hell, no.
It looks like Pineapple Express albeit explosions.
~
Coat
Hey, Daggle, it’s Black Beauty, not the Hornetmobile! ;)
I agree that superhero movies shouldn’t take themselves so seriously (koffchrisnolankoff!), but Seth Rogen as the GH is just wrong.
And it’s true, Kato looks to be the hero, while Rogen is the goofy sidekick.
Jeff P.: Don’t you think the Kato/GH alpha male flip isintentional?
Kevin: Ditto on the KS concerns, but I think he’d be much better than Gondry, especially after seeing the trailer.
James VH: Like Rogen, but ditto your concerns about him playing his same fish-out-of-water doofus in Green Hornet.
I grew up watching and loving the 60s Green Hornet TV series far more than the campy Batman, so making a modern Hornet adaptation more campy… not so good, especially in 3D!
No. Do not want.
Strange that in the 60’s Batman was treated as camp and the Hornet was played straight, and now it seems the reverse is true.
Looks simply Awful. I guess Will ferrell is still in hiding from “The Land of the Lost” so they cast Seth Rogan in this instead.
Thanks, Hector. I had blotted Land of the Lost from my memory and was trying to recall what other abysmal films starring comedians there were…
I just look at this GH movie and Land of the Lost and see missed opportunity.
To me, I just want to see what someone like David Fincher or Michael Mann could do with the character. I also understand that many moons ago, Christopher McQuarrie was hired to write a GH movie.
Where did THAT script go, and how can I read a copy of it?
Your cranky old man in the box seats,
Bill
What can you really tell from a trailer? I remember people cheering the previews for Godzilla, while Goodfellas looked like some tiresome comedy.
Time will tell.
Hmmmm… Rogan is looking better than expected, but still comes across a bit too often as him or his other slacker characters. Then again, it seems they’re playing up Brett being a playboy and Kato being the main badass.
I hope they don’t go overboard with it. We don’t need another TV show turned into a slapstick comedy. Stuff like Starsky and Hutch or Dukes of Hazard weren’t gritty dramas, but they weren’t the out an out comedies the horrible movie remakes made them out to be.
Then again Gondry doing a superhero action flick has me intrigued. Plus Christoph Waltz is the villian. Nice. Chou seems pretty good in the role despite the huge shoes to fill.
Trailer looked better than I expected.
Isn’t part of the delay because of the decision to switch it to 3D which affects release dates by trying to find a slot without 3D competition? Most theaters only have a limited number of screens for 3D. Maybe January will allow the Hornet to find those screens available.
Although, I’m personally tired of the whole 3D thing at this point.
from looking at the trailer it would seem that they have seth rogan playing this both for laughs and drama (not too serious tho’). maybe if rogen was a little more buff he would be taken seriously as an action hero (he still kinda has a baby face). we’ll see how much butt kicking rogen gets to do in this flick to see if he’s convincing as an action hero. but i do wonder who else could have played this role, leaving the humor in , but having it come off as sly (ala bruce willis), and not as comedic as rogen sometimes can come off. we’ll have to see,he might surprise us all. on the up side, they did leave in all the cool stuff (the black beauty,all kinds of gadgets,the masks,the green suit and coat, kato kicking ass), that makes the green hornet, the green hornet. wonder if they’ll use any or all of the al hirt theme song?
Slacker turned super-hero? No… we’ve seen this blend of comedy and drama (“dramady”) done in SPIDER-MAN and IRON MAN … and done better.
Film the GREEN HORNET with half the budget, a better (more appropriate) actor, and make it a nice little noir-thriller with a masked crimefighter.
It has Jay Chou in it. It will therefore by definition be amazing.
(And yes I am completely ignoring every film JC has made save Golden Flower in this ‘analysis’).
Oh dear – I am ‘anonymous’.
This is why I don’t usually post comments here, there or anywhere. I am unusally incompetent at it.
Keep on posting please! I didn’t even know you could DO smileys in comments!
Michel Gondry?
there isn’t anything remotely close to Michel Gondry in that trailer.
Michel Gondry was the only thing that had me remotely interested in this movie.
not any more.
As a martial arts fan I expected more from Kato. Bruce Lee created a template for the way the character moved – sharp, crisp bursts of speed and power – minimal arcs in between the attacker’s moves. He actually only used a handful of signature moves for Kato. Lee had a form language that was distinct for Kato – this was not it. They could have riffed from that and evolved for today. This looks like every wirefu film out there and its not even as exciting as the UFC.
As a Green Hornet fan, I didn’t expect much with Rogen. I like all the talent but they are in the wrong movie.
Honestly?
It doesn’t look half-bad.
That shot of Rogen and Chau firing gun from both sides of the Black Beauty was pretty un-Rogen. Meaning it was action-movie escapism cool.
Yeah, I’m actually going to see this one.
Lance Roger Axt
The AudioComics Company