The Green Hornet (2011)
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A newspaper publisher's son teams up with a martial arts-skilled mechanic to become crime-fighting vigilantes.
The story
Following the sudden death of his father, James Reid's estranged son, Britt, takes over the Daily Sentinel newspaper. After firing most of the staff, he rehires Kato, a mechanic skilled in martial arts and coffee brewing, as his assistant. The two become friends, and Britt convinces Kato that they should become crime-fighters. Kato develops a gadget-filled Imperial car known as the 'Black Beauty.' To gain notoriety, Britt uses the newspaper to publish articles about his alter ego, 'The Green Hornet,' while they begin targeting the local crime families led by a Russian mobster.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After his father's death, Britt Reid takes over the Daily Sentinel and hires Kato, a martial arts expert, to help him fight crime. They use a gadget-laden car called the 'Black Beauty' to target Russian mobster Benjamin Chudnofsky. Britt creates the persona of 'The Green Hornet' to draw out the mob. During their operations, they blow up meth labs and face off against Chudnofsky. However, internal friction arises when Britt fires Kato and his love interest, Lenore Case, in a fit of rage. Britt eventually discovers that District Attorney Frank Scanlon is corrupt and working with Chudnofsky. After a series of confrontations, including a peace summit attempt that goes wrong, Britt and Kato reconcile. They eventually confront Chudnofsky and Scanlon at the Daily Sentinel office. In a final fight, they kill Chudnofsky. When they realize they failed to record Scanlon's confession, Kato uses the damaged Black Beauty to run Scanlon off a building. To maintain their secret identities, Britt fakes a shooting and promotes Mike Axford to chief editor.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 119
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Michel Gondry
- Writers
- Seth Rogen · screenplay; Evan Goldberg · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Seth Rogen · Britt Reid/The Green Hornet; Jay Chou · Kato; Christoph Waltz · Benjamin Chudnofsky / Bloodnofsky; Cameron Diaz · Lenore Case; Edward James Olmos · Mike Axford; David Harbour · Frank Scanlon; Tom Wilkinson · James Reid
- Genres
- superhero; comedy; action; vigilante; buddy
- Themes
- father-son relationships; corruption; vigilantism
- Tone and mood
- buddy action; humor; casual
- Premise and plot tags
- superhero; buddy comedy; action comedy; vigilante; gang
- Source material / true-story basis
- radio series and television series
- Franchise connections
- The Green Hornet
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was described as sporadically entertaining but falling short of expectations. It grossed $227.8 million against a $120 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 39 · scale: 100 · review count: 39; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A to F
- Production trivia
- The production modified 29 Imperial Crown sedans to portray the Black Beauty.; The studio considered a deal for product placement for the Black Beauty that would have tied a record $35 million deal.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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