Just saw the trailer for the latest in the spate of remakes, The Green Hornet, out in 3D in January.Starring ... Seth Rogen as Britt Reid.
Seth Rogen. As an action hero.
And -- oh, man -- played for laughs. Sure, Iron Man and Spidey and even Supe and Bats have plenty of funny moments onscreen, but ... c'mon!
Another classic radio drama that has been transplanted to the theater and/or tube, and each time, there are more winks at the audience, more tongues so jammed into cheeks that you need a battleship's anchor motor to pull them loose.
The Reid/Hornet character was originally the Lone Ranger's great-nephew, and came into being as part of what has become a classic trope, hearkening to Zorro, the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Shadow -- that of the rich playboy whose secret identity is that of masked vigilante. The best-known of these is, of course, Bruce Wayne as Batman.
But: Seth Rogen. Yeah, he's funny. He writes funny stuff. But as an action hero? At least Adrian Brody has gotten buffed up for the next Predator movie ...
It's enough that I have to worry they are going to butcher Green Lantern. I won't be going to see this one. Bruce Lee is probably spinning in his grave like an atomic-powered gyroscope.
yeah - that looks pretty lame. I don't watch a lot of movies anymore as most are worth my time.
ReplyDeleteA lot of "look what my computer can do," has led to lacking of stories.
The release date says it all: the studio thinks it sucks. And the primary conceit - hey, look, he's the taking over the helm of the superhero - has been done before, and better.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't we ever get a superhero mid-stride? I want another Buckaroo (or Doc Savage), where you're on mission #258, the backstory is mentioned in passing, and it's _incomplete_.
In the vast universe of stuff I want to write is a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai -- they even named it already, "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League."
ReplyDeleteFailing that, I'm grabbing the title. A segment of a book I'm working on is called "FatSam Against the World Crime League."
I haven't seen the trailor. But I'm reminded of all the furor over Michael Keaton as Batman... I recall seeing comments that Rogen put the time in the gym to play the role... Not certain, and not necessarily accurate. And I DO NOT want to see them take The Green Hornet and play it for laughs -- not even in the camp Batman of the Adam Ward Batman series.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see someone do a GOOD version of The Shadow, too...
I'll probably see it - maybe at the 2 buck theater. It would be nice to see a movie with some better action (Bourne Identity - apartment fight scene) rather than the later Greengrass school of action filming that everyone seems to be loving and doing in film now - splice bits and peices of miliseconds of some sort of movement/action with some light flashes that really don't show much and call it a great movie or at least a moneymaker. (Oh - and throw in a few huge explosions) Can't see Rogan and Chou being real technical and Greengrass or like is probably directing - welllll, maybe I won't pay two bucks. Hope I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteHollywood does it's fight scenes with choppy editing and in poor light to make up for the lack of fighting skill from the actors I think.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure to see someone like Matt Damon actually take the time to train a little, just so he can give a credibly choreographed brawl.
I haven't seen the trailer for Green Hornet, but I'm curious for Green Lantern. I'm sure they will have something to show off at SDCC this year.
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