Todd’s Movie Blog

Superhero fans are going to have a tough road ahead again.  It has been announced that The Green Hornet is once again in preproduction for release in 2010.  The only cast member so far annouced is the star.  Britt Reid/The Green Hornet will be played by Seth Rogen.  Yes, that Seth Rogen, the star of Knocked Up.  He is writing a script with his Superbad writing partner Evan Goldberg,  I would like to reserve judgement on this production until it actually gets finished and released (if it ever does, The Green Hornet has had a longer and tougher path to film that the last Superman movie).  Sure Rogen isn’t exactly the first name that comes to mind as an action movie star, but he has shown with Pineapple Express, as has Kevin James in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, that a heavy guy can do believable action scenes (fans of the old Cannon TV show already knew this, but I digress).  The thing about these two films is that they were action/ comedies, and my fear is that that is the way Rogen will take The Green Hornet.  Instead of doing a serious superhero film like The Dark Knight or Iron Man, he will do something along the lines of Starsky and Hutch or The Dukes of Hazzard, spoofing the material while inserting some decent action sequences.  My hope is that he will respect the material and want to stretch as a performer, playing everything straight and the only humor coming through character interaction between him and whoever plays Kato, like Bale and Caine do in the Batman films.  But i have serious doubts.  Where are Van Williams and Bruce Lee when you really need them?