By Graham Osborne
This week we continue the green theme by looking at another superhero flick; The Green Hornet. (Hmm, I guess you could include comic and hero in the continuing themes column too.) I should probably confess, I have no idea what the Green Hornet is about, aside from what I saw in the film. So everything I say could change the character entirely from how it was originally envisioned by the creators. But I suppose that’s why I try and fix these things (that and the inflated sense of ego I get).
This week we continue the green theme by looking at another superhero flick; The Green Hornet. (Hmm, I guess you could include comic and hero in the continuing themes column too.) I should probably confess, I have no idea what the Green Hornet is about, aside from what I saw in the film. So everything I say could change the character entirely from how it was originally envisioned by the creators. But I suppose that’s why I try and fix these things (that and the inflated sense of ego I get).
The concept of the film, and the comics, is sound. The idea of a hero pretending to be a villain to gain information on the criminal underworld is quite novel, and allows for good tension between the hero, the mob and the police. However, the mob themselves were too comical, as was the entire tone of the film. The film should be more serious in tone throughout. Chudnofsky’s name is ridiculous, but we don’t need the same joke repeated over and over again where no one else in the film understands it. Instead, let’s use either a villain with a different name, or take Chudnofsky out of his midlife crisis and make him a more violent and evil mob boss. We need to see that he would torture kittens if he thought it would help him gain a greater foothold on the city. Also, let’s give Danny ‘Crystal’ Clear a greater role; show that he’s the upcoming criminal mastermind. Taking him out of the picture at the beginning of the film meant that we didn’t get to see another side of the conflict. It could possibly have been the underlying reason why Chudnofsky suffered his mental breakdown. (Important question; was Chudnofsky or Crystal Clear even in the original material? A quick search on the web suggests not…).
Another thing that needs to be toned down is the amount of slow motion during the fight scenes. I don’t need my film padded out by half an hour of slow motion shots. I’m not watching The Matrix, nor is the film so short that it needs extra time gained by elaborate martial arts shown at half speed. The fight scenes should be quicker; the major fights in the film were very much a copy and paste affair, where Kato would beat up a group of people whilst the Green Hornet would stand to one side fighting a solitary attacker. Maybe we could have some training scenes showing us that Britt Reid is trying to learn some form of rudimentary self-defence. The outcome of these scenes would be Kato soundly trouncing Reid, thereby showing that whatever happens, Kato is the master. This could then lead to the climactic battle where Reid finally comes into his own.
Another thing that needs to be toned down is the amount of slow motion during the fight scenes. I don’t need my film padded out by half an hour of slow motion shots. I’m not watching The Matrix, nor is the film so short that it needs extra time gained by elaborate martial arts shown at half speed. The fight scenes should be quicker; the major fights in the film were very much a copy and paste affair, where Kato would beat up a group of people whilst the Green Hornet would stand to one side fighting a solitary attacker. Maybe we could have some training scenes showing us that Britt Reid is trying to learn some form of rudimentary self-defence. The outcome of these scenes would be Kato soundly trouncing Reid, thereby showing that whatever happens, Kato is the master. This could then lead to the climactic battle where Reid finally comes into his own.
As previously mentioned, the comedy in the film is fairly lacklustre. One of the best ways to tighten up the comedy would be to change Seth Rogen for the role of Britt Reid. Or at the very least make him less of a stoner party boy, reminiscent of many of his film roles. If he were shown to attempt to get a better handle on his life after the death of his father, then you could do away with the jokes about him being lazy and relying on others to do all the work for him. It would also show more character growth.
The film had some good points, but nothing that was outstanding. I’m not entirely sure how I would adjust the story, not knowing more about the character. And in many ways, that is the worst thing about the film. I feel I’ve learnt no more about the characters than I did at the start of the film. That would be the most important thing to change. If that were fixed, the rest would easily fall into place.
That’s what I think. But what about you? If you have any different ideas on how to fix this, or you have a film that you desperately want to try and improve, let me know in the comments. Remember to tune in next week when I shall try and fix one of the greatest sagas of all time…
The film had some good points, but nothing that was outstanding. I’m not entirely sure how I would adjust the story, not knowing more about the character. And in many ways, that is the worst thing about the film. I feel I’ve learnt no more about the characters than I did at the start of the film. That would be the most important thing to change. If that were fixed, the rest would easily fall into place.
That’s what I think. But what about you? If you have any different ideas on how to fix this, or you have a film that you desperately want to try and improve, let me know in the comments. Remember to tune in next week when I shall try and fix one of the greatest sagas of all time…
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