The Green Hornet - Blu Ray

Film: Michel Gondry, director of more avant-garde films like Science of Sleep or Forget My Not, isn't necessarily the first person you'd think of to direct a major superhero movie. But with The Green Hornet, Gondry proves that his somewhat particular style can certainly be reconciled with genuine entertainment cinema for a broad audience.

After the death of his father, L.A.'s biggest media mogul, the days of big parties are over for Britt Ried (Seth Rogen). He's expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, with whom he hasn't had a particularly good relationship, and he has a hard time coming to terms with the idea. But when he meets Kato (Jay Chou), an extremely resourceful employee of his father, the tide turns. Because with the help of Kato's ingenious inventions and his extremely well-trained fighting skills, Britt fulfills a big dream and becomes the masked hero Green Hornet, who wants to take the fight to the bad guys of Los Angeles. But when Britt and Kato step on the toes of supervillain Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) in the process, the crazy idea of playing superhero turns bloody serious...

The Green Hornet may be nowhere near as popular, especially in this country, as his fellow Spider-Man or Batman. Even though the character was brought to life as early as the 1930s for a radio series, then enjoyed success as a comic book hero and finally became a cult figure as a TV series from the 60s, at that time starring the still largely unknown Bruce Lee in the role of Kato, only die-hard fans actually know the Green Hornet. That in no way detracts from the high entertainment value of this action comedy. Because both the screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who already co-wrote the surprise hit Superbad, and the direction by Michel Gondry ensure that The Green Hornet stands out from the crowd of other superhero movies in a pleasant way.

It is particularly original that here the sidekick and not the title character is the actual superhero. Because without Kato, the Green Hornet's sting would be pulled real quick. Especially at the beginning, Britt Reid is just a spoiled jerk who has a big mouth and definitely shows grit, but then goes down too quickly for a real superhero. Not so Kato, who not only creates and builds ingenious inventions to hunt down criminals, but is also a true fighting machine. So it is the not always easy relationship between Britt and Kato that makes this film so worth watching and provides for quite a few good laughs.

But Oscar winner Christoph Waltz also scores again as the villain. While his Chudnofsky is nowhere near as fearsomely brilliant as his Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds, his over-the-top nasty acting makes every scene Waltz appears in a real treat. Cameron Diaz, who effectively plays the fourth lead, on the other hand, falls a bit flat and is relegated to being an attractive accessory. While this doesn't really detract from the overall work, it is a bit of a shame due to the few scenes in which Diaz gets to show off her comedic timing.

Visually, the film is absolutely fine. In a few moments Gondry lets his slightly surreal style show through here, otherwise effects are offered on the most modern level. Especially the ingeniously used slow motion sequences and the moments presented in Kato-Vision can inspire. As for the 3D effect, which was seen in many cinemas (and can also be found on 3D Blu-Ray), it turns out to be a big disappointment. Because except for a few very isolated moments, 3D is completely unnecessary here. Here, 3D is again just a cheap gimmick and not, as in Avatar, an integral part of the film. No question: Without glasses, the film is just as much fun. So reaching for the more expensive 3D Blu-Ray variant is rather unnecessary.

Either way, The Green Hornet is fun entertainment cinema that doesn't take itself too seriously and comes across as pleasantly playful. The cast is fun to watch, with Jay Chou and Christoph Waltz in particular leaving a lasting impression. Therefore: Turn off your brain, have popcorn ready and enjoy two hours of pure entertainment. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: In technical terms, there is little to complain about the Blu-Ray. The picture is absolutely clean and crisp in most scenes. The coherent contrasts and the appropriate coloring also contribute to the fact that the picture of the Blu-Ray is a real pleasure. The same can be said for the audio, which provides rich bass and dynamic sound effects for listening pleasure. Very good!

Extras: The Blu-Ray can also score points with the bonus material. It starts with a very whimsical, optionally German subtitled audio commentary by Michel Gondry, Seth Rogen, co-writer Evan Goldberg and producer Neal Moritz. Here you learn, among other things, that Nicholas Cage was initially intended for the role of the villain and why he did not get the role or that the brief guest appearance of James Franco was shot on the set of the movie Burlesque. The commentary also highlights the numerous references to the classic The Green Hornet TV series. An amusing as well as interesting commentary and therefore absolutely recommended for fans!

Continue with just under 26 minutes of cut scenes. Beside some smaller moments the longer version of the final chase stands out clearly. This sequence lasts a full 14 minutes. While there are always some very amusing moments, the bottom line is that it's a very good thing that Gondry applied the scissors here and presents a much tighter version of this scene in the finished film.

A gag reel lasting just under 7 minutes and short documentaries worth watching on the director (approx. 9 mins), the script (approx. 10 mins), the cool car (approx. 7 mins), the stunts (approx. 7 mins), the search for the perfect Kato (approx. 6 mins) and the destructive action (approx. 14 mins) are also on the programme. The featurettes are somewhat promotional in nature, but are entertaining throughout and offer a decent look behind the scenes. A good bonus package overall, which makes the Blu-ray clearly superior to the much more meagerly equipped DVD.

Conclusion: The Green Hornet is a somewhat special, but thoroughly entertaining superhero film. Whether in the simple version, or in the more expensive 3D version, the Blu-Ray of Michel Gondry's action comedy can convince both in terms of technology, as well as in the extras. Therefore, this disc is also: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp