New Hornet Is No Hero
Not long ago I wrote a review of a short story collection featuring the adventures of the popular old hero of radio, television, movie serials and comic books, The Green Hornet.
That book - "The Green Hornet Chronicles" - is made up of stories featuring the Green Hornet as portrayed in the television version of the 1960s, featuring Van Williams as the Hornet and martial arts legend Bruce Lee as his sidekick, Kato. My review briefly noted the character's origins as the lead character in a radio series (created by the same two men who gave us the Lone Ranger, no less). However, that review did not mention the new "Green Hornet" theatrical film which opened in theatres last weekend.
A number of readers took note of this omission and contacted me to inquire as to the reason. One went so far as to suggest that the book might actually sell better had its editors chosen to tie it in with the new movie rather than (and I'm quoting here) "some tired old TV show no one remembers or cares about anymore."
I had to assume from the tone and language of that particular indvidual's letter that he is (a.) a huge fan of Seth Rogan, the alleged "comedian" who plays the Hornet in the new movie; and/or (b.) not terribly familar with the Green Hornet character as originally created or his place in 20th century mythology. But to answer his question: I did not write about the new Hornet movie at the time because, as a decided NON-fan of Seth Rogan, I was highly concerned that his take on the character would not be a very good one.
I wasn't the only fan of the character to have harbored such fears prior to the film's release; those familiar with Rogan's work in past films (something I have to confess I was not, since he seems to specialize in the sort of crude comedies I didn't find all that funny even as a teenager) were able to point to those earlier movies as perfect examples of why he was all wrong for the role. Of course, Rogan's fans were quick to counter by pointing out the concerns of Batman fans back when it was announced that Michael Keaton had been cast as the Caped Crusader in Tim Burton's 1989 film.
It was a point well taken; Bat-fans at the time who were looking for something a little more serious than the old 1960s TV version of their hero were quite vocal with their fears that Keaton's involvement with that project meant a return to Adam West territory.
But others were willing to give Keaton (who by then had already proven his chops as a dramatic actor in a film entitled "Clean and Sober") a chance. And, as they say, the rest is history; though certainly overshadowed in the film by Jack Nicholson's Joker, Keaton nailed the role so well that a great many people (myself included) still feel he is the definitive film Batman. As I wrote in my review at the time (one of my first as a professional journalist): "Keaton's comedic background provides the off-center touch necessary for making believable a story about a man who fights crime dressed as a bat."
And now here I was, a little over two decades later, having exactly the same misgivings about Seth Rogan that so many fans had expressed about Michael Keaton. Reminded of that earlier example, then, I decided to set aside any preconceived notions I might have had and give Rogan as the Green Hornet a chance.
And then I drove home from the theatre a couple of hours later wishing that I hadn't.
Turns out my original fears were justified. Oh, the film has its moments, but Rogan - who also co-wrote the movie, which probably explains its many deficiencies - gives us a character who is so UN-heroic and such an amoral, unlikeable buffoon that I almost found myself hoping the bad guys would win in the end.
Rogan portrays Britt Reid - the Hornet's alter ego, originally a crusading newspaper owner-publisher - as an spoiled rich brat who hasn't grown up, and who only begrudgingly assumes ownership of the Daily Sentinel after the sudden death of the father he despises. Earlier incarnations portrayed the Hornet as a seriously dedicated masked crimefighter who, with the aid of the local district attorney, actually poses as a criminal kingpin as a means of infiltrating and putting an end to the actual criminal activities plaguing their city.
Rogan's version of the character dons his mask not out of any such sense of justice, but simply because he's looking for some new kind of adrenaline rush - something that he knows would have been offensive to his late father, whose death he refuses to mourn because he thinks the man was such a jerk. (Actually that's not the word Rogan's character uses, but I like to think that I'm writing for a family audience here...)
And so Rogan spends the rest of the movie doing exactly what he does in all of his movies: making stupid faces and crude jokes, cheerfully betraying himself as the stupidest guy in the room, and more often than not talking way, WAY too loud. Only this time he does it in a really awful version of the costume Van Williams wore as the TV Hornet; his hat seems to be a couple of sizes too small and his coat looks like something he picked up from the reject pile at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store. You'd think a guy with the kind of money his character was earlier shown throwing away on party girls and trashing motel rooms would have taken the time to have found himself some decent threads...
In short, Seth Rogan is no Michael Keaton. Keaton is a talented, intelligent actor who proved that he WAS Batman; Rogan, onscreen and off, is just a big, goofy kid in a poorly fitting Halloween costume. And in the opinion of this longtime fan of the character, Rogan's performance defames and besmirches the reputation of one of the great heroes of modern pop culture.
But Rogan's performance isn't the only problem with this movie.
As played by Cameron Diaz, the character of Lenore Case - Britt Reid's loyal secretary, who in the radio amd TV versions not only knew that her boss was the Green Hornet but was an important member of his team - serves little purpose other than to be the subject of Rogan's constant leering and adolescent attempts at humor. It seems simply a variation of her role in "There's Something About Mary," which is a shame because both the character and the actress deserve better.
Jay Chou as Kato is almost as unlikable a character as Rogan's Hornet, if for no other reason than agreeing to become the man's partner in the first place. (Portraying the sidekick as the real brains of the operations was a nice touch, but even that idea has been better utilized in such films as the Sherlock Holmes spoof "Without A Clue.") And the final battle between the Hornet and the villains, while visually exciting, is so unbelieveable it makes the worst Saturday morning cartoons from my childhood look like the Discovery Channel by comparison.
But perhaps the worst offense of all (and consider this a spoiler alert if you haven't seen the film and are still thinking about doing so) is the decision by Rogan and co-writer Evan Goldberg to take another of the Hornet's trusted allies from previous versions - District Attorney Frank Scanlon - and turn him into one of the film's villains. It's the same mistake filmmakers made with the character of Jim Phelps in the first "Mission Impossible" movie, but it somehow manages to be even less effective and more offensive here.
There are a few good things about the film - particularly a couple of nice homages to the television version. including a tip of the hat to the memory of Bruce Lee and the use of the TV series theme music and logo in a scene near the movie's conclusion. That scene itself - involving a quickly-hatched plan to keep the police from learning that Britt Reid and the Green Hornet are one and the same - was lifted almost verbatim from one of the TV episodes. Which means that Rogan and Goldberg deserve at least some credit for having done a little homework.
And in all fairness to those who liked the film, there's no denying that "The Green Hornet" made a ton of money in its opening weekend - although that to me says far more about those who like paying good money to see Seth Rogan movies than it does about the quality of this particular film. For me Rogan is one of that crop of modern film comedians - along with Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Mike Myers - whose popularity simply escapes me. But then my idea when it comes to GOOD film comedy is the Marx Brothers and Abbott & Costello, so...
What makes the whole experience all the more depressing for many of us long-time Green Hornet fans is the fact that George W. Trendle Jr., son of one of the character's co-creators, is listed as one of the film's executive producers. It may well be that this was done only to meet certain contractual obligations and as such represents the extent of Trendle's actual involvement with the project; that said, I'd like to think that if my father had helped create one of the best-known, most-loved characters in heroic fiction of the past century, and that protecting the legacy of that creation had fallen on upon my shoulders, I would have been willing to move heaven and earth to make sure the filmmakers had gotten it right.
Trendle didn't do that here, and only he can tell us why.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to a good spoof of heroic fiction - when it's done right. I'm still a huge fan, for example, of the aforementioned Adam West "Batman" series, and likewise of Don Adams in "Get Smart." Those, in my opinion, were spoofs done right.
On the other hand, I have no love whatsoever for Myers' "Austin Powers" trilogy, and thought that Steve Carell's film version of "Get Smart" lacked the wit and charm that made the original show so endearing.
In my opinion, Rogan's "Green Hornet" falls somewhere in between those latter two examples. It isn't nearly as distasteful as "Austin Powers" (few films I can think of are, frankly), but somehow manages to be even less entertaining and less faithful to the spirit of the original source material than the "Get Smart" remake.
In the final analysis, the best thing I can say about this version of the Green Hornet is that it has left me hoping for a DVD collection of the TV show, just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
(Copyright 2011, by John A. Small)
That book - "The Green Hornet Chronicles" - is made up of stories featuring the Green Hornet as portrayed in the television version of the 1960s, featuring Van Williams as the Hornet and martial arts legend Bruce Lee as his sidekick, Kato. My review briefly noted the character's origins as the lead character in a radio series (created by the same two men who gave us the Lone Ranger, no less). However, that review did not mention the new "Green Hornet" theatrical film which opened in theatres last weekend.
A number of readers took note of this omission and contacted me to inquire as to the reason. One went so far as to suggest that the book might actually sell better had its editors chosen to tie it in with the new movie rather than (and I'm quoting here) "some tired old TV show no one remembers or cares about anymore."
I had to assume from the tone and language of that particular indvidual's letter that he is (a.) a huge fan of Seth Rogan, the alleged "comedian" who plays the Hornet in the new movie; and/or (b.) not terribly familar with the Green Hornet character as originally created or his place in 20th century mythology. But to answer his question: I did not write about the new Hornet movie at the time because, as a decided NON-fan of Seth Rogan, I was highly concerned that his take on the character would not be a very good one.
I wasn't the only fan of the character to have harbored such fears prior to the film's release; those familiar with Rogan's work in past films (something I have to confess I was not, since he seems to specialize in the sort of crude comedies I didn't find all that funny even as a teenager) were able to point to those earlier movies as perfect examples of why he was all wrong for the role. Of course, Rogan's fans were quick to counter by pointing out the concerns of Batman fans back when it was announced that Michael Keaton had been cast as the Caped Crusader in Tim Burton's 1989 film.
It was a point well taken; Bat-fans at the time who were looking for something a little more serious than the old 1960s TV version of their hero were quite vocal with their fears that Keaton's involvement with that project meant a return to Adam West territory.
But others were willing to give Keaton (who by then had already proven his chops as a dramatic actor in a film entitled "Clean and Sober") a chance. And, as they say, the rest is history; though certainly overshadowed in the film by Jack Nicholson's Joker, Keaton nailed the role so well that a great many people (myself included) still feel he is the definitive film Batman. As I wrote in my review at the time (one of my first as a professional journalist): "Keaton's comedic background provides the off-center touch necessary for making believable a story about a man who fights crime dressed as a bat."
And now here I was, a little over two decades later, having exactly the same misgivings about Seth Rogan that so many fans had expressed about Michael Keaton. Reminded of that earlier example, then, I decided to set aside any preconceived notions I might have had and give Rogan as the Green Hornet a chance.
And then I drove home from the theatre a couple of hours later wishing that I hadn't.
Turns out my original fears were justified. Oh, the film has its moments, but Rogan - who also co-wrote the movie, which probably explains its many deficiencies - gives us a character who is so UN-heroic and such an amoral, unlikeable buffoon that I almost found myself hoping the bad guys would win in the end.
Rogan portrays Britt Reid - the Hornet's alter ego, originally a crusading newspaper owner-publisher - as an spoiled rich brat who hasn't grown up, and who only begrudgingly assumes ownership of the Daily Sentinel after the sudden death of the father he despises. Earlier incarnations portrayed the Hornet as a seriously dedicated masked crimefighter who, with the aid of the local district attorney, actually poses as a criminal kingpin as a means of infiltrating and putting an end to the actual criminal activities plaguing their city.
Rogan's version of the character dons his mask not out of any such sense of justice, but simply because he's looking for some new kind of adrenaline rush - something that he knows would have been offensive to his late father, whose death he refuses to mourn because he thinks the man was such a jerk. (Actually that's not the word Rogan's character uses, but I like to think that I'm writing for a family audience here...)
And so Rogan spends the rest of the movie doing exactly what he does in all of his movies: making stupid faces and crude jokes, cheerfully betraying himself as the stupidest guy in the room, and more often than not talking way, WAY too loud. Only this time he does it in a really awful version of the costume Van Williams wore as the TV Hornet; his hat seems to be a couple of sizes too small and his coat looks like something he picked up from the reject pile at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store. You'd think a guy with the kind of money his character was earlier shown throwing away on party girls and trashing motel rooms would have taken the time to have found himself some decent threads...
In short, Seth Rogan is no Michael Keaton. Keaton is a talented, intelligent actor who proved that he WAS Batman; Rogan, onscreen and off, is just a big, goofy kid in a poorly fitting Halloween costume. And in the opinion of this longtime fan of the character, Rogan's performance defames and besmirches the reputation of one of the great heroes of modern pop culture.
But Rogan's performance isn't the only problem with this movie.
As played by Cameron Diaz, the character of Lenore Case - Britt Reid's loyal secretary, who in the radio amd TV versions not only knew that her boss was the Green Hornet but was an important member of his team - serves little purpose other than to be the subject of Rogan's constant leering and adolescent attempts at humor. It seems simply a variation of her role in "There's Something About Mary," which is a shame because both the character and the actress deserve better.
Jay Chou as Kato is almost as unlikable a character as Rogan's Hornet, if for no other reason than agreeing to become the man's partner in the first place. (Portraying the sidekick as the real brains of the operations was a nice touch, but even that idea has been better utilized in such films as the Sherlock Holmes spoof "Without A Clue.") And the final battle between the Hornet and the villains, while visually exciting, is so unbelieveable it makes the worst Saturday morning cartoons from my childhood look like the Discovery Channel by comparison.
But perhaps the worst offense of all (and consider this a spoiler alert if you haven't seen the film and are still thinking about doing so) is the decision by Rogan and co-writer Evan Goldberg to take another of the Hornet's trusted allies from previous versions - District Attorney Frank Scanlon - and turn him into one of the film's villains. It's the same mistake filmmakers made with the character of Jim Phelps in the first "Mission Impossible" movie, but it somehow manages to be even less effective and more offensive here.
There are a few good things about the film - particularly a couple of nice homages to the television version. including a tip of the hat to the memory of Bruce Lee and the use of the TV series theme music and logo in a scene near the movie's conclusion. That scene itself - involving a quickly-hatched plan to keep the police from learning that Britt Reid and the Green Hornet are one and the same - was lifted almost verbatim from one of the TV episodes. Which means that Rogan and Goldberg deserve at least some credit for having done a little homework.
And in all fairness to those who liked the film, there's no denying that "The Green Hornet" made a ton of money in its opening weekend - although that to me says far more about those who like paying good money to see Seth Rogan movies than it does about the quality of this particular film. For me Rogan is one of that crop of modern film comedians - along with Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Mike Myers - whose popularity simply escapes me. But then my idea when it comes to GOOD film comedy is the Marx Brothers and Abbott & Costello, so...
What makes the whole experience all the more depressing for many of us long-time Green Hornet fans is the fact that George W. Trendle Jr., son of one of the character's co-creators, is listed as one of the film's executive producers. It may well be that this was done only to meet certain contractual obligations and as such represents the extent of Trendle's actual involvement with the project; that said, I'd like to think that if my father had helped create one of the best-known, most-loved characters in heroic fiction of the past century, and that protecting the legacy of that creation had fallen on upon my shoulders, I would have been willing to move heaven and earth to make sure the filmmakers had gotten it right.
Trendle didn't do that here, and only he can tell us why.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to a good spoof of heroic fiction - when it's done right. I'm still a huge fan, for example, of the aforementioned Adam West "Batman" series, and likewise of Don Adams in "Get Smart." Those, in my opinion, were spoofs done right.
On the other hand, I have no love whatsoever for Myers' "Austin Powers" trilogy, and thought that Steve Carell's film version of "Get Smart" lacked the wit and charm that made the original show so endearing.
In my opinion, Rogan's "Green Hornet" falls somewhere in between those latter two examples. It isn't nearly as distasteful as "Austin Powers" (few films I can think of are, frankly), but somehow manages to be even less entertaining and less faithful to the spirit of the original source material than the "Get Smart" remake.
In the final analysis, the best thing I can say about this version of the Green Hornet is that it has left me hoping for a DVD collection of the TV show, just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
(Copyright 2011, by John A. Small)
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