The Green Hornet

Are super hero films starting to loose their touch, or are they still just as entertaining as they were last year? Many people have many different opinions but this year could provide the answer to the debate. For me, 2011 is the year of super-hero films with at least five of them being released and what a better way to kick it off ASAP with the new super hero comedy, "The Green Hornet."

James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) spends his days writing about the crime and corruption of Los Angeles in his newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, while his son, Brit (Seth Rogen) parties every night showing no concern for his father's passions and frankly no concern for his father at all. That is until he learns of his father's death. The day after the funeral, Brit fires all of his father's staff except for the maid and a man named Kato (Jay Chou) whom Brit begins to form a friendship with. One night, when both men are a little tipsy, Brit decides to go to the cemetery and cut off the head of his father's statue to get back at his dad one last time. So the two dress in masks and do just that. But on the way back, Brit and Kato come across a mugging and together they intervene and take down a group. After that night, the police declare the two unknown men criminals and Brit uses his influence at his father's paper to give his secret identity, which he deems The Green Hornet, some publicity. But the publicity gives the two more trouble than they wanted when the big crime bosses of the city start to see them as threats.

The first time I saw the trailer for "The Green Hornet" I had a hard time taking it seriously because of two reasons.

One...Seth Rogen. "Really, Seth Rogen is going to be playing a super-hero? He can't be serious." At least that's what I thought at first. I was predicting the film to be cheesy and to have bad acting but being the super-hero lover that I am, I kept an interest in the film. Then I began to see more and more advertisements for "Green Hornet" and my enthusiasm started to go up. Then last Friday I finally saw the movie and I was so surprised at what I saw. Seth Rogen is hysterical and fits the role so well, I take back everything I said beforehand. He IS the Green Hornet (and he can kick butt too).

The second reason I was feeling unenthusiastic was because I thought the story was going to be very unoriginal. From the trailers, the story looked very similar to "Iron Man"...a millionaire playboy who has a change of heart and devotes the rest of his life to helping people as a super-hero. So I got to the theater and...I was right. Unfortunately, while "The Green Hornet" might have good laughs and good action, it doesn't bring anything new to the table, and in a time like this where super-hero films are coming out every few months, the only way to stand out is to be original and exciting (think "Iron Man", "The Dark Knight"). "The Green Hornet" was neither of these things.

So what impression did "The Green Hornet" give? While entertaining and funny, Rogen couldn't deliver anything that truly stands out. But "Hornet" is still a fun ride that I would recommend to any lover of the super-hero genre (and don't see it in 3D). I give it two stars out of 4.

"The Green Hornet" has a running time of 119 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence, language, sensuality and drug content.

Season of the Witch

Oh the wonderful world of advertising...it can make the worst of films look like the most exciting blockbuster. This is exactly the case for Nicolas Cage's new film, "Season of the Witch." Whenever I told someone that I was going to see this movie, almost every answer was the same, "Oh, the trailers for that look really good!" CURSE YOU MARKETING...and your ability to fool the moviegoer. Indeed, the previews did manage to make "Season of the Witch" look quite entertaining, save for seeing Cage in another disappointing role, but I soon found out what the film was really like.
It is the time of the crusades and two knights, Behmen (Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) have been ravaging cities and fighting in battles for years. For the most part they enjoy the killing, but when Behmen accidentally kills a woman during the siege of a city, he realizes all of the innocent lives they have taken during the wars and chooses to leave with Felson, making them outlaws. In their travels through England, the two see how the Black Plague has spread over the country. Arriving in one town, the two are identified and taken prisoners. A priest approaches them and takes them to a man named Cardinal D'Ambroise. The Cardinal and the priest believe that the Black Plague is from Hell and is being caused by a witch that they have captive. The Cardinal tells Behmen and Felson that if they escort the witch to a monastery (where she will most likely be killed), he will pardon both men. Of course they agree and set out with the priest and several other men on a journey that will pit them against ghosts, zombie dogs, and other creatures the don't exist like the undead priests infected with the Black Plague.
Now c'mon Cage, I love some of your movies, but I hate a lot more, why are you so inconsistent? The same thing for you Ron Perlman. You had a good thing going with the Hellboy franchise and now you decide to be in this movie? Before I go on, I do think that both of these men are very good actors, in fact its not the acting in "Season of the Witch" that I have a problem with. The problem is the script, which ends up making the two lead actors look bad with its cheesy dialogue. Not only is it corny, but it tries too hard to sound like "The Lord of the Rings" and it doesn't work, especially when curse words are involved. Did people really say, "Oh s--t" back then? I don't think so. Strike one!
Strike two...the plot line is so poorly developed. First of all, the film is only 90 minutes and is an action film so looking at that there is a good chance that the makers of the film won't consider the story very important. Sure enough, the film does a lackluster job of telling a gripping, creative story and tries to throw in unnecessary twists and turns that end up making it even less impressive.
Strike three (I'll try to pick a good one from my long list)...no character development. The script gives no effort whatsoever to connect the audience with its characters. In fact many of the character's names are never even given. Some are just thrown in and (SPOILER ALERT) five minutes later, they are dead (am I sad? NO!).
Three strikes Cage, your latest attempt at the action genre has struck out (again). There is truly nothing to be praised in "Season of the Witch," if anything it is the action. If you need a second opinion just go ahead to rottentomatoes.com to see the little 5% (out of 100%) hanging on by a very thin thread. But, since I wasn't burning in agony throughout the whole film, I guess I can at least give it one star out of four.
"Season of the Witch" has a running time of 98 minutes and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence, and disturbing content.