Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Green Hornet


The Green Hornet is a 2011 superhero comedy film, based on the character of the same namethat had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television seriescomic books and other media. Directed by Michel Gondry, the film stars Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the screenplay with Evan Goldberg. Supporting actors include Jay Chou as Kato,Christoph WaltzCameron DiazEdward James OlmosDavid Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson.
The film was released in North America and the United Kingdom on January 14, 2011, in versions including RealD Cinema and IMAX 3D.
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is the 28-year-old old son of widower James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), publisher of the Los Angeles newspaper The Daily Sentinel. Britt is a playboy slacker who only cares about having fun. This changes when James is found dead in his mansion from an allergic reaction to a bee sting. After the funeral, Britt fires the staff aside from his maid and Kato (Jay Chou), James' mechanic and a skilled martial artist.
Britt and Kato get drunk together and, upon agreeing that they both hated James, visit the graveyard to cut the head off James' memorial statue. After they succeed, they see a couple being mugged, and rescue them. Britt and Kato are themselves mistaken by police for criminals and chased through the streets, but Kato evades them and he and Britt return to the mansion.

Britt convinces Kato they should become crimefighters who pose as criminals in order to infiltrate real criminals, and also to prevent enemies from using innocents against them. Kato agrees, and develops a car outfitted with several gadgets and weapons, which they call the Black Beauty. Britt plans to capture Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), a Russian mobster who is uniting the criminal families of Los Angeles under his command, and whom his father was trying to expose. To get Chudnofsky's attention, Britt uses the Daily Sentinel as a vehicle to publish articles about the "high-profile criminal" the Green Hornet.
Britt hires Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), who has a degree in criminology, as his assistant and researcher, and uses her unwitting advice to raise the Green Hornet's profile. Britt and Kato blow up several of Chudnofsky's meth labs, leaving calling cards so that Chudnofsky can contact them. Throughout all this, Daily Sentinel managing editor Mike Axford (Edward James Olmos) fears this single-minded coverage will endanger Britt's life. Meanwhile, District Attorney Frank Scanlon (David Harbour) worries he is looking incompetent for not stopping the Green Hornet.
Britt asks Lenore out, but she rebuffs him and instead invites Kato to dinner, making Britt jealous. Kato learns from her that mobsters often offer a peace summit to their rivals in order to get close enough to kill them; Britt then tells Kato that Chudnofsky has offered them such a meeting. Kato tries to dissuade him, but Britt, feeling overshadowed, decides to follow his instincts. This nearly proves fatal when Chudnofsky tries to kill them.
Barely escaping to the mansion, Britt and Kato argue and fight, and Britt fires both Kato and Lenore, whom he believes are in a relationship. Later, Kato receives an email from Chudnofsky on the Hornet's calling-card email address, offering $1 million dollars and half of Los Angeles if he kills Britt. Meanwhile, Britt discovers Scanlon is corrupt, learning that he tried to bribe James into downplaying the level of crime in the city to help his career.
Scanlon invites Britt to meet in a restaurant, where he reveals he murdered Britt's father. Kato arrives, and instead of killing Britt, he attacks Chudnofsky's men, allowing him and Britt, whom Chudnofsky deduces is the real Green Hornet, to escape. They head to the Daily Sentinel, where Britt intends to upload a recording of Scanlon's confession onto the Web — and belatedly discovers he did not manage to record it. Chudnofsky and his men follow the duo there, where a firefight ensues. Kato ultimately kills Chudnofsky in self-defense, and uses the remains of a nearly demolished, second Black Beauty to run Scanlon out the 10th-floor window, killing him. A SWAT team appears and fires at the Green Hornet and Kato, who flee to Lenore's house. She learns their secret identities and that she has been the accidental mastermind behind the Green Hornet's plots. Despite being furious, she helps them hide from the police and tends to Britt's shoulder gunshot wound.
The next morning, Britt promotes Axford to editor-in-chief and stages being shot in the shoulder by Kato, further establishing the Green Hornet as a threat (and allowing Britt to get treated by professionals in a hospital). Later, the two weld James's stolen bust back onto his memorial statue. Now with Lenore to aid them, Britt and Kato vow to continue protecting the law by breaking it.

Cast



James Franco has an uncredited cameo early in the film, playing a rival drug dealer in a scene with Waltz as Chudnofsky.
Sony replaced the film's June 26, 2010 release date with Grown Ups, which moved The Green Hornet to July 9, 2010. Sony then scheduled the film for December 22, 2010, before announcing on April 23, 2010, that it was pushing to January 14, 2011, to secure more time to convert it to 3D.
In July 2009, Sony presented a panel at San Diego Comic-Con International, where Seth Rogen and director Michel Gondry unveiled the first look for the Black Beauty.The first trailer was released online on June 24, 2010,and was attached to screenings of The Town, Grown Ups, Salt, The Other Guys, The Expendables, Machete, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Red, Skyline, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, and Tron Legacy. In the UK, the trailer was attached with showings of The Social Network

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