The Green Hornet - 2011

"The Green Hornet" - 2011
Dir. by Michel Gondry - 1 hr. 59 min.

This is one fun movie.  Part of it is the endless procession of awesome cars, part of it is the visual flair, and part of it is getting away with having Seth Rogen play a nearly completely-unlikeable lead character.  The movie starts off with a fun scene between an uncredited James Franco and the main villain, played by Christoph Waltz (the highlight of "Inglorius Basterds").  From there, more fun.  Although the entitled heir playboy character has been around for quite a while, most of the time, there's some attempt to work in some philanthropic angle to make them more likeable.  But here, Rogen's Britt Reid, even when doing good, it's still tainted with doofusness, douchiness, or ignorance.  He steals credit, blows off responsibility, attempts cockblockery, pitches fits when his coffee isn't up to snuff, calls Kato a genius and then cuts him down verbally.  And somehow, it totally works.

I'm not going to claim this movie is the greatest movie ever, or the deepest, but it is a lot of fun, and even as I was leaving the theatre, I kind of wanted to see it again.  That's a victory in itself - a pleasant ride is still a pleasant ride.

3.5 / 5 - Theatre (2D)