In the week to come, we will FINALLY see the release of a modern adaptation to the iconic hero the Green Hornet. As you may know, the Green Hornet is not really a new, original character, but one ranging as far back as the early radio days when they would send him on journeys. Since, he has been in a TV show, a handful of movie spin-offs, an epic four parter on Batman, and comics. If you don't know the Green Hornet, you'll at least know Kato, played by the then lesser known Bruce Lee.
There you have it... how do you top Bruce Lee?I'll get back to you on that when we have an answer.
How do I feel about a Green Hornet movie? Simultaneously excited, nervous, and disappointed.
So that we can better understand my reasoning, let's discover my origin with the character and what he personally means to me.
It was about three years ago. It was a Friday and the Simpsons had just ended as it always has on FOX. Flipping through, I landed on a now extinct channel called American Life. There, I discovered something campy, something beautiful... it was called Batman (starring Adam West and Burt Ward) and even though I was laughing at the awkward trappings of it's age, it was so amazingly done that it more worked to regress me to a childhood state.
From there, I sang the theme song, acted out the onomatopoeia, and found out where I would be every Friday from then until it's eventual cancellation. I can recall the guest stars, the terribly cheeky narration, and everything that made it campy by today's standards. It's pretty much a show to have guilt-free fun.
However, it was the show that was wedged between Batman and the lesser the Color Honeymooners called the Green Hornet that I fell in love with. Following my first Batman, I had no idea what to expect. The senior high school students were not talking about him. Would it be in the same campy vein? It does have Bruce Lee, who at that point I had thoroughly enjoyed in Enter the Dragon.
It was quite a transition. There weren't a million colors, heavy narration, or a slew of guest stars. The jokes (if any) were never blatantly camp. It was the serious, cool counterpart to Batman. It worked more as classic noir, using several elements, though landing a little short of Edward G. Robinson. While the technology seemed primitive, it didn't seem exaggerated or fake. Hell, I don't think the Hornet Sting did anything but make funny noises. It felt low budget enough where you could believe this guy was really self financed.
As time went on, I adapted the narration over the theme as a mantra that I said every week, if just to remind me that it was another challenge for the Green Hornet. As I stared into the hornet's Pac Man eyes, I was prepared to indulge.
Truth be told, I was never entirely sure what was going on. Most of the stories seemed the same. However, there were numerous aspects of the show that I loved. For starters, it featured the greatest hidden staircase in a show... ever. Then, while Kato had a restricted amount of lines, you pretty much watched every week to see him kick ass while the Green Hornet fakes a punch.
I loved the costumes and the set up. Most of all, I love the Black Beauty. From it's glowing green headlights to hidden artillery from the James Bond Jr. set, I adored that car. I longed to own it. Every time I saw it drive from behind that billboard, I began drooling. I'm not a big car fan. I never went crazy for any version of the Bat Mobile. However, I still want that Black Beauty. It looks cool, and it has Kato chauffeuring.
To say the least, I caught on to the Green Hornet fever from then. For awhile, I'd get a healthy amount of confusion whenever I would mention it. I'd simply cite Kill Bill: Vol. 1 with the Crazy 88's as a prime example of it's iconography. Hell, there was even a Halloween where I wanted to be the Green Hornet, but fell a few clothing items short.
Sadly, the Green Hornet fell out of syndication on American Life and I have yet to see it on TV since. I have longed for a professional release of the series, but have yet to find it.When I heard that a modern adaptation was in the works, I kind of had fingers crossed. I felt hip to be into something both old and great that hasn't been tarnished to the general public in recent years. I wanted to be the cool kid to say "Watch this show, it will change your life."
However, due to limited sources, I could never be that cool kid.
When I discovered early on that it was to be written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, I was pretty excited. This was the team behind two of my favorite movies: Superbad and the great Pineapple Express. If Rogen was committed enough to wear a Liquid Swords shirt in the 40-Year-Old Virgin, I wondered what else he was passionate about.
I mean, if you have passion, you want the best product (though as I learned from Best Worst Movie, the director and the audience may differ on that definition). While I was excited that a team I trusted were writing it, I was also kind of leery. Both of those features were well constructed plot-wise, but as lore will tell, everything else was heavily improvised. The Green Hornet is an action movie, not an improvised comedy. I was hoping they wouldn't take the character for cheap laughs, which is the anti-thesis to the show in which majority of the audience will associate it with.
Then, the supporting cast. I was fascinated by them as well. Stephen Chow was to play Kato. While I hadn't seen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, I had heard enough good things to take this as a good choice. However, he backed out later from conflicts. Jay Chou eventually replaced him, and yes, like you, I still am asking who the hell is he and why is he Kato.
The other choices were not so much a worry. I was excited when Nicolas Cage got the boot in favor of Christoph Waltz, who I am eager to see his follow up to an Oscar winning turn in Inglourious Basterds. I mean, if you watch Waltz, he is menacing with very little effort. While I cannot tell you who any of the villains from the show were, I felt it was a better choice than the guy who did the Sorceror's Apprentice.
And then, there was Cameron Diaz. Ok, she hasn't done much worth remembering in the last five years, but if she keeps her mouth shut and just play secretary, we might be able to get through this without too much conflict.
Who was directing this?
Michel Gondry.
Let that sink in. Michel. Gondry. I'm sure you recognize his work. Be Kind Rewind? The Science of Sleep? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? To say the least, VERY art house.
While I can honestly say I respect Gondry's work, the Green Hornet seemed like such an odd choice. The show was never art house material. Also, Gondry didn't seem to me like much of an action geek.
I am still conflicted on Gondry's decision as I have heard promising stuff (Kato Vision) and turn offs (he's a fucking art house director).
But, let's keep going, shall we?
For a long time, during the production stages, I was impressed with what I was hearing. Seth Rogen was getting into shape for the role. When I saw him doing press for Funny People, I was happy to see, if anything, he was passionate about the project. I was hoping as one nerd to another, he would understand how to write the Green Hornet.
Then, there were the filming months. Collider did on set interviews with all of the cast and director. It was fascinating to hear Christoph Waltz having fun and Gondry explain Kato Vision (though I was leery it would be more gimmick than tribute). The interviews, while entertaining, gave me nothing new to alter my opinion.
However, there was an interview around the same time on Ain't It Cool News that showed Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in a different light for me. True, they at least got the costumes right, but what Rogen said throughout that interview kind of saddened me. Instead of sounding like a laureate in the subject matter, he simply addressed the character as a bumbling fool.
I suppose he had a point with his theory that they were making THEIR Green Hornet for a modern time, but the bumbling fool thing... Van Williams wasn't bumbling. He was capable enough to run the Daily Sentinel.
That was my first real crack in faith. I continued to read press, though none of it was as exciting as the Comic Con San Diego 2010 news. First looks at Kato Vision. The NEW Black Beauty on display (while a little too sleek for my tastes). It seemed like maybe Rogen was trying to dumb it down.
Then, I cracked a little more when I discovered that the studio planned to move the movie back from December (aka Oscar bait month) to January (aka nobody month). Apparently the studio was having issues with the look of the film. I forget what, but moving it to January was making me more precocious.
Time passes and I am on Nerd's Eye View, interviewing my friend Fleck, and we get into upcoming releases. Above Toy Story 3 and Inception, I put the Green Hornet as my most anticipated. To some extent, I still want it to be great, if just because I loved a lot of this group's previous efforts.
Months pass, and then out of nowhere, they announce the release of the trailer on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I didn't stay up and watch it, but eagerly awaited it the following morning. The opening shot of Rogen throwing a keg out of the window... moment still haunts me as possibly the first of many problems I will have not with the movie, but with the character adaptation.
I showed the trailer to my father, another Green Hornet fan. He was rather upset, too. He summed it up best when he claimed that Seth Rogen wrote the movie for Rogen instead of the character.
It's not really concern, but I also began to wonder if his writing credit for the Simpsons titled "Homer the Whopper" was a sign of how the Green Hornet would happen. What happened? Homer plays a superhero, loses weight, then gains it and creates a movie full of inaccuracies. I loved the episode, but wondered if that was fair warning.
I haven't heard much else since mid-December 2010 to keep me for or against the movie. There are some promo ads for Carl's Jr. that lead me astray, making me wonder if the movie is that tongue-in-cheek as blowing up a menu board. Also, some trailers revealed more inaccuracies, which I shall leave out until an eventual analysis of the movie next week.
So, with a week to go, I seem to feel bitter towards the movie. However, I feel a lot of it has become warranted. Still, I try to remain optimistic and believe that some of my favorite actors and writers did a series proud and this is the promotional department's fault.
However, I am rather upset on a few things... I really hoped they released either action figures or costumes so that I could collect them. Also, I was hoping that with the release of the movie, they would have released the series on DVD as a marketing gimmick. I don't care if it had a million special features... to own that show would be heaven.
Also, I stand that I want it back in syndication, possibly on the Hub, where Batman currently resides.
The fact that I haven't seen it in years, yet it holds an impact on me shows that this show meant something to me. While I am currently used to getting my childhood favorites raped (even this generation's childhood has been raped by the Last Airbender, which probably will keep kids from ever seeing another M. Night Shyamalan movie), I want to believe that someone manages to paint nerds in a proper light.
I would hate for the Green Hornet to forever be associated as that terrible Seth Rogen movie than a great character that has managed to achieve fans in numerous age brackets and still means enough to create material about him.
So next week, I most likely will be at the theater on opening day, hoping to be proven wrong. I like to be proven wrong. I found Hellboy (and Guillermo Del Toro) out of being proven wrong. That's the one gift that having a ballsy watch anything attitude has given me. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it sticks with me.
So, to close this out...
LET'S ROLL, KATO!
As time went on, I adapted the narration over the theme as a mantra that I said every week, if just to remind me that it was another challenge for the Green Hornet. As I stared into the hornet's Pac Man eyes, I was prepared to indulge.
Truth be told, I was never entirely sure what was going on. Most of the stories seemed the same. However, there were numerous aspects of the show that I loved. For starters, it featured the greatest hidden staircase in a show... ever. Then, while Kato had a restricted amount of lines, you pretty much watched every week to see him kick ass while the Green Hornet fakes a punch.
I loved the costumes and the set up. Most of all, I love the Black Beauty. From it's glowing green headlights to hidden artillery from the James Bond Jr. set, I adored that car. I longed to own it. Every time I saw it drive from behind that billboard, I began drooling. I'm not a big car fan. I never went crazy for any version of the Bat Mobile. However, I still want that Black Beauty. It looks cool, and it has Kato chauffeuring.
To say the least, I caught on to the Green Hornet fever from then. For awhile, I'd get a healthy amount of confusion whenever I would mention it. I'd simply cite Kill Bill: Vol. 1 with the Crazy 88's as a prime example of it's iconography. Hell, there was even a Halloween where I wanted to be the Green Hornet, but fell a few clothing items short.
Sadly, the Green Hornet fell out of syndication on American Life and I have yet to see it on TV since. I have longed for a professional release of the series, but have yet to find it.When I heard that a modern adaptation was in the works, I kind of had fingers crossed. I felt hip to be into something both old and great that hasn't been tarnished to the general public in recent years. I wanted to be the cool kid to say "Watch this show, it will change your life."
However, due to limited sources, I could never be that cool kid.
When I discovered early on that it was to be written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, I was pretty excited. This was the team behind two of my favorite movies: Superbad and the great Pineapple Express. If Rogen was committed enough to wear a Liquid Swords shirt in the 40-Year-Old Virgin, I wondered what else he was passionate about.
I mean, if you have passion, you want the best product (though as I learned from Best Worst Movie, the director and the audience may differ on that definition). While I was excited that a team I trusted were writing it, I was also kind of leery. Both of those features were well constructed plot-wise, but as lore will tell, everything else was heavily improvised. The Green Hornet is an action movie, not an improvised comedy. I was hoping they wouldn't take the character for cheap laughs, which is the anti-thesis to the show in which majority of the audience will associate it with.
Then, the supporting cast. I was fascinated by them as well. Stephen Chow was to play Kato. While I hadn't seen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, I had heard enough good things to take this as a good choice. However, he backed out later from conflicts. Jay Chou eventually replaced him, and yes, like you, I still am asking who the hell is he and why is he Kato.
The other choices were not so much a worry. I was excited when Nicolas Cage got the boot in favor of Christoph Waltz, who I am eager to see his follow up to an Oscar winning turn in Inglourious Basterds. I mean, if you watch Waltz, he is menacing with very little effort. While I cannot tell you who any of the villains from the show were, I felt it was a better choice than the guy who did the Sorceror's Apprentice.
And then, there was Cameron Diaz. Ok, she hasn't done much worth remembering in the last five years, but if she keeps her mouth shut and just play secretary, we might be able to get through this without too much conflict.
Who was directing this?
Michel Gondry.
Let that sink in. Michel. Gondry. I'm sure you recognize his work. Be Kind Rewind? The Science of Sleep? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? To say the least, VERY art house.
While I can honestly say I respect Gondry's work, the Green Hornet seemed like such an odd choice. The show was never art house material. Also, Gondry didn't seem to me like much of an action geek.
I am still conflicted on Gondry's decision as I have heard promising stuff (Kato Vision) and turn offs (he's a fucking art house director).
But, let's keep going, shall we?
For a long time, during the production stages, I was impressed with what I was hearing. Seth Rogen was getting into shape for the role. When I saw him doing press for Funny People, I was happy to see, if anything, he was passionate about the project. I was hoping as one nerd to another, he would understand how to write the Green Hornet.
Then, there were the filming months. Collider did on set interviews with all of the cast and director. It was fascinating to hear Christoph Waltz having fun and Gondry explain Kato Vision (though I was leery it would be more gimmick than tribute). The interviews, while entertaining, gave me nothing new to alter my opinion.
However, there was an interview around the same time on Ain't It Cool News that showed Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in a different light for me. True, they at least got the costumes right, but what Rogen said throughout that interview kind of saddened me. Instead of sounding like a laureate in the subject matter, he simply addressed the character as a bumbling fool.
I suppose he had a point with his theory that they were making THEIR Green Hornet for a modern time, but the bumbling fool thing... Van Williams wasn't bumbling. He was capable enough to run the Daily Sentinel.
That was my first real crack in faith. I continued to read press, though none of it was as exciting as the Comic Con San Diego 2010 news. First looks at Kato Vision. The NEW Black Beauty on display (while a little too sleek for my tastes). It seemed like maybe Rogen was trying to dumb it down.
Then, I cracked a little more when I discovered that the studio planned to move the movie back from December (aka Oscar bait month) to January (aka nobody month). Apparently the studio was having issues with the look of the film. I forget what, but moving it to January was making me more precocious.
Time passes and I am on Nerd's Eye View, interviewing my friend Fleck, and we get into upcoming releases. Above Toy Story 3 and Inception, I put the Green Hornet as my most anticipated. To some extent, I still want it to be great, if just because I loved a lot of this group's previous efforts.
Months pass, and then out of nowhere, they announce the release of the trailer on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I didn't stay up and watch it, but eagerly awaited it the following morning. The opening shot of Rogen throwing a keg out of the window... moment still haunts me as possibly the first of many problems I will have not with the movie, but with the character adaptation.
I showed the trailer to my father, another Green Hornet fan. He was rather upset, too. He summed it up best when he claimed that Seth Rogen wrote the movie for Rogen instead of the character.
It's not really concern, but I also began to wonder if his writing credit for the Simpsons titled "Homer the Whopper" was a sign of how the Green Hornet would happen. What happened? Homer plays a superhero, loses weight, then gains it and creates a movie full of inaccuracies. I loved the episode, but wondered if that was fair warning.
I haven't heard much else since mid-December 2010 to keep me for or against the movie. There are some promo ads for Carl's Jr. that lead me astray, making me wonder if the movie is that tongue-in-cheek as blowing up a menu board. Also, some trailers revealed more inaccuracies, which I shall leave out until an eventual analysis of the movie next week.
So, with a week to go, I seem to feel bitter towards the movie. However, I feel a lot of it has become warranted. Still, I try to remain optimistic and believe that some of my favorite actors and writers did a series proud and this is the promotional department's fault.
However, I am rather upset on a few things... I really hoped they released either action figures or costumes so that I could collect them. Also, I was hoping that with the release of the movie, they would have released the series on DVD as a marketing gimmick. I don't care if it had a million special features... to own that show would be heaven.
Also, I stand that I want it back in syndication, possibly on the Hub, where Batman currently resides.
The fact that I haven't seen it in years, yet it holds an impact on me shows that this show meant something to me. While I am currently used to getting my childhood favorites raped (even this generation's childhood has been raped by the Last Airbender, which probably will keep kids from ever seeing another M. Night Shyamalan movie), I want to believe that someone manages to paint nerds in a proper light.
I would hate for the Green Hornet to forever be associated as that terrible Seth Rogen movie than a great character that has managed to achieve fans in numerous age brackets and still means enough to create material about him.
So next week, I most likely will be at the theater on opening day, hoping to be proven wrong. I like to be proven wrong. I found Hellboy (and Guillermo Del Toro) out of being proven wrong. That's the one gift that having a ballsy watch anything attitude has given me. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it sticks with me.
So, to close this out...
LET'S ROLL, KATO!
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