The Green Hornet is an action comedy film. I watched it in February.
I am not Jay Chou's fans. So, I am not interested in this film at the beginning. However, I watched the charity gala premiere of this film. Otherwise, I won't watched it.
It surprised me when I watched this film without any expectation.
As I said that, it is an action comedy. It's such a heroic comedy film.
So, what kinds of elements appear in the film?
For iconlography, “Black Beauty” is a motor car which has different kinds of function. It should be one of the elements that can refer to heroic action genre. A rotten society is the setting of the film. Under this rotten society, the duty of Green Hornet is to rescue the society. Therefore, the setting of character is hero vs mafia. Also, as the film contain the elements of comedy, the character setting includes smart vs stupid. The smart one can design a powerful car. On the other hand, the stupid one always do stupid and careless things. The contrast of the characters aims to match with the genre.
Since this film is action comedy based, the themes are all related to brotherhood and justice.
Furthermore, the narrative of this story is common structure but it added the elements of comedy which can make the film interesting. Firstly, the story begins with a rotten society. Then, the society needs justice and someone to rescue. So, the introduction of Green Hornet is to rescue the society. After that, it contains the plot that justice wrestles with evil. Finally, Justice is always the winner.
The plot is easy to imagine and the genre is easy to differentiate as we have conscious of how a heroic film should be.
Undoubtedly, Jay Chou is a hot topic of this film. A Chinese acted in a Hollywood film is not special, his English accent which can draw people's attention. On the other hand, Jay Chou is actually an assistant of the main character— Green Hornet. However, he acts like the main character than Seth Rogen, no matter in the film or in the reality.
Besides, film related to heroic always bring audience fantasy, such as the motor car-- Black Beauty.
However, the fantasy in this film contains both so authentic and so unreal. It is so authentic because it doesn't like spider man or other heroic films that the character can fly in the sky. The motor car seems so real in this case. The characters only use guns or the motor car as their tools to fight with the mafia. However, the function of the car also make the film so unreal. Is it possible to equip such a powerful car in the reality? Moreover, is it possible that the Green Hornet and his assistant are able to fight with the mafia group? It makes them so strong and powerful which is enough to destroy the mafia group. Therefore, it still reserved space for audience to have fantasy.
By Cheung Ho Yan, Tracy 10349030
I must make a disclaimer at the beginning, that is I haven’t watched this film. Your review is quite comprehensive and full of personal reflections. First of all, you have adopted a critical perspective in examining the genre of action comedy, identifying some icons with binary oppositions (e.g., smart vs stupid). Why do these structures always appear in comedy films? What kind of functions do they serve?
ReplyDeleteJust as you mentioned, Jay Choy is the highlight of the movie which deserves in-depth analysis. In additional to his popularity among Asians, does the movie utilize/integrate his “Chinese” background into the character? Perhaps you can compare his personality/characteristics with other foreign stars in the movie. This may can help us understand more about the movie’s hidden agenda and strategy.
You last point on wavering between the “authentic” and the “unreal” is very inspiring! I believe this is a compromise between fantasy and reality, which builds a beautiful dream upon the stony ground. Movie is always about dreaming and escapism, isn’t it?