Green Hornet is a Big Mess

This was a dumb movie.

Gawd, this was a dumb, dumb movie.

There's no other way to describe it. Everything about it is just a practice of stupidity which should never have made it to the big screen.

Because of the development hell it went through, a real grinder, the 2011 film looked every bit of a mess that the writers, directors and actors put it through. “The Green Hornest” was a movie that should never have been made.

Because it was made a comedy rather than action film.

But here are some of the decent actors/actress in the film: include Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour and Tom Wilkinson. So what are they doing in this movie?

But the biggest mistake was casting Seth Rogen in the leading role. He's generally a talented guy with a lot of good ideas with writing and producing. But not this. But I don't blame him entirely for the film.

The “Green Hornet” went through the same problems as did the “Batman” TV series way back in the 1960s. For some reason, against all good judgment, someone decided to make the “Green Hornet” campy.

It wanted to be funny when it wasn't. It wanted to be hip when it wasn't. It wanted to be a comedy when it wasn't supposed to be.

The original source material for the “Green Hornet” started out in the 1940s radio show playing it straight. When the “Green Hornet” came to the TV screens, introducing the very young Bruce Lee as Kato, it was played straight.

So why was the film “The Green Hornet” made campy? There was no real reason for it if the production crew wanted to capture a piece of nostalgia. Anyone who remembers the “Green Hornet” will tell you it was a straightforward action yarn.

Sounds familiar?

The same thing happened with the Batman TV series. It was a popular fad which limped through three seasons of campy material that is far too embarrassing to watch. The original source for Batman was the comic book which started out as a straightforward action story with a dark side to it. The stories were set at night where the Batman would go through his vigilante acts to bring criminals to justice.

The TV series took a 180 degree turn from the original source and made the Batman into a comedy of errors. It was god-awful.

You see it in “Green Hornet” film. Why campy? You were left wondering if any people in the production crew had any respect for the “Green Hornet” source material. Did they even care how to create this film? There was some potential.

Yet the "Green Hornet" flunked.

Tom Wilkinson was in the film for a couple of brief scenes, and his character was written out after being shot. Wilkinson was smart enough to leave this mess behind when he did. He probably just came in to pick up the paycheck. That's about it. The others in the film weren't so lucky.

The critics of this movie knew exactly what it was about. It was bad trash.

It was mostly mixed reviews. In fact, it was mostly bad reviews. People who still remembered the Green Hornet series of old will be mystified by the sudden turn to campy in the film. This movie was geared towards more adolescents with raging hormones.

I wanted to punch a hole through the movie because it treated me like I was stupid. I can't stand that.

Being old enough to remember the old shows, Roger Ebert gave the headache film one star and wrote it as "an almost unendurable demonstration of a movie with nothing to be about.” That was a spot on review. I could add that you'll want your money and two hours of your life back. But I was smart enough to stop the DVD about halfway because I couldn't get through it anymore. The folks in the theaters weren't so lucky. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post wrote it as "an overblown, interminable and unfunny update.”

The comedy theme seems to keep cropping in the reviews. It wasn't supposed to be a comedy. And Lumernick added that star Rogen was miscast. Film crtic Richard Roeper gave it a D+. That's like the film nearly failed on every single level.
A lot of people were unhappy.

So was I.

It's one thing that people in Hollywood like to do these days. They like to take something something from the old days, something nostalgic, and turning it into a train wreck. All for the sake of a simple profit.
Movies shouldn't be made for profit.

They should be made out of respect for work and craft.

The “Green Hornet” failed on those accounts.

What was it like seeing this film? It felt like my brains was splashing around in a blender. I felt like someone was standing on my head with high heel shoes during the whole time. I felt like my head were being squeezed by the awfulness of the film. And that was the first half hour of it. I wouldn't watch this movie again if you gave it to me for free.

Yes, I found it to be a waste of time. Was there anything good in it at all? Well, I thought the darkly painted Imperial the Black Beauty was pretty cool. But that's not saying much.

Hollywood needs to start thinking about showing respect and endearment to old franchises. “The Green Hornet” suffered a horrible round of people being greedy for making a profit. I don't want it to happen to other shows that may have an affectionate fan following. But you know that Hollywood simply doesn't care. And neither should you if you ever come across this travesty in a video store.