Review: The Green Hornet (2011) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written by: Seth Rogen (Screenplay) & Evan Goldberg (Screenplay)
Genre: Action / Crime
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content
Released: 14 January 2011
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos, Jamie Harris.

Plot: Following the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father's large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.

Review: 7/10

The Story is about: Playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) becomes the new publisher of Los Angeles' "The Daily Sentinel" after the sudden death of his father. Britt's party life is about to change when he and his driver and kung fu expert, Kato (Jay Chou), stop a robbery. With the help of Kato, Britt starts a new career of fighting crime as the masked superhero "The Green Hornet".

My Thoughts: One of my favorite late night shows to watch growing up was the re-runs of the old 1960’s Adam West Batman series which played in the early morning hours on Nickelodeon during their Nick at Nite timeslot. The show was way before my time, but for a child with a good imagination and easily entertained, this show was my late night delight (As you‘ve probably caught on by now I was a kid who liked sneaking out of bed to watch TV while everyone slept, not knowing of my little adventures) And every once in awhile they’d play the cross over episode which featured The Green Hornet which I thought was very interesting seeing that even at a small age I easily recognized Bruce Lee playing ‘Kato’ when others my age didn‘t know who Mr. Lee was, but I digress…

I’ve never really watched The Green Hornet show regularly but I caught a few episodes here and there, and I must admit, in comparison with the Adam West Batman series, it was very different, as where Batman was presented more of a cheesy comedic ZING and BLAM series, The Green Hornet was more of a straight up crime driven drama mixed in with some pretty heavy martial arts. But the two shows were suddenly two in the same when crossing paths but remained complete opposites from each other standing alone. For years there’s be talks in Hollywood about wanting to adapt the classic serial into a full length modern day feature but could never get around to solving their biggest dilemma, trying to decide which course of action to take the franchise. The series has changed hands with studios as well as changed names of filmmakers and stars being attached to the project, this film was considered dead in the water long before filming would even begin. It wasn’t until funny man Seth Rogen and director Michel Gondry took on the project no one was able to tackle.

And the finishing product, though wildly flowed, turned out to be quite enjoyable. I was a bit skeptical about TGH being a comedy action seeing that some would consider it a insult to the source material for it to be mostly comedic, but as Rogen himself had stated that this was his incorporation of the classic series and not a carbine copy of any previous works, which to some degree I can respect even though I’d have prefer those in the industry respect the hard work that went into birthing these original characters. However, TGH proved to be exhilaratingly entertaining and unapologetic. TGH works as a modern day version simply because it’s not hiding the fact it’s a little over the top at times but rather embraces it. I mean here we have Britt Reid (Rogen) a spoiled rich playboy party animal who spends his days doing what he does best, making a fool of himself and dragging the family name down with him but when he suffers a tragedy he suddenly wakes up to his childish ways and becomes the man he was meant to be alongside his trusty companion Kato (Chou).

If that’s not enough to get you to want to watch it then I’ve failed you! it was an all around a blast, the special effect were fantastic, and even more so were the fight sequences which proved to be a quite the sight to see. Though I won’t deny the fact the film had somewhat of a paper thin plot going for it which at times were quite predictable, and must worn the 3D effect weren’t much of a wonder but more a distraction if anything, with the exception of a couple scenes in the film, 3D was completely over hyped and underused in this. Aside from that The Green Hornet’s biggest problem seems to fall flat on the fact it suffered from an identity crises. It simply did not know what it wanted to be, where in some instances it played heavy on family orientated themes, the film carried way to much violence and vulgar language to make any parent feeling awkward from the experience with their child, and that’s not even including the wide use of sexual innuendos throughout the film.

As for the acting: The acting seems to be one of the film’s strong points. Seth Rogen’s performance as playboy Britt Reid was great, he’s not playing the same Britt Reid fan’s of the series are use to, and at time feels a little too similar to Rogen being himself rather in the role but it’s a version you’ll grow to love over time for being completely unapologetically it‘s own. Jay Chou was phenomenal as Kato, his performance was strongly reminiscent of that of Bruce Lee when he played Kato and he alone makes this fight sequences worth wild. Cameron Diaz was fairly decent as Lenore Case but I feel her talents ignored here, there was so much possibility surrounding her character that went ignored. Christoph Waltz, who played the character Chudnofsky AKA Bloodnofsky, was fantastic. He owned the role from the very start and makes for a fun and very unique villain. Another two great performances I feel were completely underused in this were Tom Wilkinson and Edward James Olmos. Both actors are legends in the film industry and should have had more involvement in the plot then what they were given. Shame on the filmmakers for not giving these men more screen time. James Franco’s small cameo as nightclub owner and crime boss ‘Crystal Clear’ in the beginning was hilarious and all around awesome.

Final Say: In hindsight to everything I just said. The Green Hornet was very enjoyable, it sure isn’t going to be a box office break nor does it completely live up the expectations that was building for it over the years, I for one was a little disappointed in the final product but when looking back at it all, it could have been much worst, so to that I say it was an okay way to kill a couple of hours. It’s totally worth checking out but NOT IN 3D. Recommended in 2D.

Copyright 2011 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

Review: Machete (2010) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Ethan Maniquis & Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Robert Rodriguez & Álvaro Rodríguez
Genre: Action / Comedy / Crime
MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.
Released: 3 September 2010 (USA)
Starring: Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan,

Plot: After being betrayed by the organization who hired him, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.

Review: 6/10

The Story is about: A highly skilled Federale Machete (Trejo) is hired by businessman with illegal dealings to assassinate a U.S. senator who‘s at the helm of anti-immigration radicalism. But soon realizes he's been set up and past off as a patsy in a devious plot by those in higher office. The man without a country of his own is out revenge on his former employers, with the reluctant assistance of his holy brother father Padre Cortez (Marin) and Luz (Rodriguez) a young woman who’s helping those seeking refuge in the states, and Sartana Rivera (Alba) a sexy ICE agent who’s bent on upholding the law. Together they make the bad guys wish they‘d never existed!

My Thoughts: In 2007 Director Robert Rodriguez teamed up with director Quentin Tarantino to direct Grindhouse (2007), a double feature experience that were created as an homage to the lost genre of the 70‘s and 80‘s. Among the double feature were a series of fake trailers that played before the start of each film, among the list of fake trailers were films like: WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS, DON‘T, THANKSGIVING, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, and MECHETE. After seeing the fake trailers I became just as enthusiastic about these trailers becoming a reality as the rest of the fan base were, because it was just as entertainingly enjoyable as the film’s they were attached to. So after three long year the fan base finally got what they’ve so desperately wanted. A full Machete adaptation brought to the big screen. What many don’t know however, is that the story of MACHETE was not actually written to be a fake trailer but rather conceived by Robert Rodriguez before he had written the script for Desperado and that the development of the project has been a long labor of love.

So what’s the verdict? Well to put it so simple and straight forward is not that easy, while the film works on one level it simply does not on another, and sadly the film repeats going down this depressing course of action repetitively throughout the course of film‘s run. The Good: The start of Machete is pure nostalgia for any Rodriguez fan out there as it brings a delightful splice between his work on “The Mariachi Trilogy” (AKA The Desperado Trilogy) and his work on Grindhouse, which brought together formulated into it‘s own as a bi-product, it works because it put’s Rodriguez in the zone of what he loves to do most which is making highly entertaining action driven films cuddled with rich Latin culture which he seems to execute quite nicely here, also seeing Danny Trejo and Jeff Fahey reprise they’re roles from the fake trailer was fantastic and seeing most of the scenes from the trailer strategically placed in the film was genus work on Rodriguez‘s part. The Bad: however, while the film seems to work well on the level of being entertaining it fails miserably on providing an adequately entertaining plot that moviegoers can enjoy, instead of giving the viewers a plot that’s worth their wild it ends up becoming overly repetitive and highly predictable to a mind numbing state. For example: Machete kills a bunch of bad guys then winds up with a young beautiful woman in his arms, then gets wounded. Later he winds up killing more bad guys and then, surprise, surprise - He winds up with another young beautiful woman in his arms and then get‘s wounded.. Again!. Sadly this becomes repetitive mostly throughout the whole film and doesn‘t add any new twists or turns that haven’t already been seen coming a mile away.

And The Ugly: it’s pretty obvious that Machete was made with the intention to be an inspiration to those of Latin heritage but I can tell you that I, being someone who has both Spanish and Latin ancestry felt more insulted by the portrayal of Latin’s in the film then inspired. But I digress, the main problem wrong with Machete is that it got a little too political at times instead of being just a all around fun rollercoaster ride of action meets entertainment like Death Proof and Planet Terror was. Simply put, Rodriguez couldn‘t make up his mind on what he wanted the film to be, at some points the film expresses a unreal sense action to the viewers but then demands to be taken seriously. As much as Rodriguez refuse’s to admit it, the film’s timing did seem a bit too coincidental coming out around the same time as when immigration reform is now a hot topic in the country again. In hindsight to what I’ve said. I really wanted to like Machete because the Grindhouse Trailer showed it had soo much to offer moviegoers but instead, wound up becoming mediocre at best

As for the acting: as much as I disliked the portrayal of the characters in the film, the actors did a fantastic job in their performances. First off Danny Trejo is probably one of the hardest working actors in the industry, the man just doesn’t know what it means to take break as he’s working on more projects these days then some of the biggest paying actors do in a few years, and no matter how awful a film may be he always known’s how to shine a little light into it be simply being in it. I know he made the Spy Kids films somewhat bearable just for being in it. His performance in Machete was like watching a Mexican version of Rambo, no I take that back, he is the Mexican Rambo! His performance was outstanding, it was so impressive to see him reprise the role of machete without missing a beat that it was extremely difficult at time to tell the scenes of him from the fake trailer and the new scenes apart. Robert De Niro is a fine actor who’s done some incredibly work, but his performance as Senator McLaughlin didn’t do him any justice on his career I can tell ya, I’ve seen him do a better performance in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle then this film, but on the Brightside, at least it’s better then any of those Focker films he‘s been in, I mean those are just painfully awful.

No matter how cheesy a film may be, having Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, and Tom Savini in it is a guarantee win-win on the entertainment level. Sure these guys are old, and out of shape, and probably waaaay past their prime, but having them together on screen is a sight none the less. Michelle Rodriguez was fantastic, but I may not be the only one (yikes I hope not!) but I enjoyed her much more as an actress when she had a harder body. I know she wants to feminine up but it also take a way from the bad-ass persona we were first introduced with all those years ago with Girlfight, Jessica Alba was mildly enjoyable, but if there’s one thing that irritated me the most about her performance in this films, it’s that she lacked complete personality, back in the day she could act, and would always give it her all, but now days it seems like she’s just phoning in the performance for the paycheck. Don Johnson on the other hand was a pleasant surprise in his performance as twisted border vigilante Von Jackson, who’s persona bore a strange familiarity I can‘t quite put my finger on. But if there’s any person who’s gone to the top of the mountain, fallen down to the bottom, climbed back up, only to fall back on her ass it’s Lindsay Lohan, it’s been years since the starlet has proven she’s still got what it takes to be in the big leagues, and though her performance in Machete doesn’t help her cause, she still managed to pull off a reasonable performance as April AKA Sexy Nun!

Final Say: When I initially heard about Machete being turned into a full length feature I was thrilled beyond belief, now that I’ve seen it I kind of wish it had stayed as a fake trailer, at least that way I still would have retained all my hope and love for the project. Though I hold disappointment towards the film I still hope for improvement in a sequel if one should ever be made. It’s defiantly not a recommendation to buy but is a rental fair.

Copyright 2011 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

PREMIERE: Brand New Maggie Marvel Trailer!

Ever hear the phrase; beware a woman’s wrath? If you haven’t then it’s best you learn it now. There’s nothing more dangerous than a woman who’s been wronged. What could possibly be more dangerous than that? A woman wronged and on a mission to get even! Silly Sisters Production and filmmaker Dan Brennan gave indie moviegoers a real treat last year when he released the film Maggie Marvel, which believe me is a movie like no other!

We at TCWreviews had the pleasure of reviewing the film earlier last year and recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the star of the film, Selene Beretta (sorry guys but that little gem of a interview will be up shortly) and in preparation of the film’s release on it’s new purchase option, download via the web, we have the extreme pleasure of presenting the film’s brand new trailer for your enjoyment. So check it out and enjoy!

About the film: Maggie Marvel is about a single Mom who moonlights as a contract killer. Maggie Marvel must balance career and family, murder and math homework. She is pushed into this dangerous world... only to find out she is very good at it.



MM is is Written and Directed by Dan Brennan. And star’s Selene Beretta, Diana Brennan, Katherine Barron, Dan Brennan, Sabrina Brennan, Samuel Whitten, Christopher Douros, Russ Camarda, Dasha Kittredge, And Allison Lane. And is now available to own on DVD and coming soon to download via the web.

First Look At X-Men: First Class!

When director Bryan Singer brought us X-Men, fans everywhere were overjoyed with glee. When he brought us X2: X-Men United, we cried tears of undying gratitude towards that man for making our dreams come true. When Brett Ratner took over where Singer left off of and made X-Men: The Last Stand, our fanboy hearts were crushed under the weight of Ratner’s cheese meter. When director Gavin Hood made X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it came so very close to becoming something potentially great, but alas there was no cigar. So this begs the question; what can director Matthew Vaughn do to prove that he won’t do what Ratner and Hood did to the franchise? I mean, fool me once (X-Men: The Last Stand) shame on you, fool me twice (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) shame on me! However, after allowing the name to sink in a bit I realized that Matthew Vaughn’s previous two films were Stardust (2007) and Kick-Ass (2010), two films that hold a very special place in my heart for being all around awesome and enchanting. So with that being said I’ll reserve my judgment on the project until I’ve seen the finished product.

Hero Complex spoke with director Matthew Vaughn about the upcoming X-Men film and what can we expect out of it. First off, according to HC, the film is going to be set in the 1960’s era, the same era that both artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee débuted the Uncanny X-Men to readers. The film will follow the early days of the X-Men as the team is first formed by a young Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto). Much about the film’s plot is still kept under wraps at the moment but Vaughn assured that “This isn’t a reboot” and that no one is or will be replaced further down the road. Bryan Singer who is also the film’s producer had this to say about Vaughn and the new film, “It is an excellent cast,” he then went on to say about actor’s Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy playing the roles of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, two roles that were previously played by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, “I’m very sensitive to it. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are two of the best actors working today and that was needed to fill those shoes. Short of digitally recreating Patrick and Ian in their 20s I cant think of anyone who would be more equipped for this than these two guys. The challenge of that is what attracted James, I’m sure of it. That’s why the guy who starred in ‘Atonement’ would want to play a comic-book character in the first place because it was a role established by a really fine actor.” scroll on down to take a look at some of the official stills from the upcoming film…











Meanwhile in a interesting news bit Matthew Vaughn contacted Slashfilm to debunk the alleged leaked photo of the X-Men in costume that was released on the web earlier this week and wanted to assure fans that it was NOT a Fox approved image here‘s a tidbit from what he had to say. “I freaked out on them yesterday. I don’t know where the hell that came from. I don’t think it’s a Fox image. It’s not a pre-approved image. When I found out, I said, what the f*** is this shit, and Fox is running around trying to figure out what happened as well. I agree. It’s like a bad photoshop, which maybe it was by someone. It didn’t reflect the movie. I was shocked when I saw it. I was like ‘Jesus Christ’…” you can read the whole conversation by clicking the link above and can see the photo they’re talking about by reading the article is was posted with on MSN and click the link to show the full photo of the cast together.

Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy To Star in The Dark Knight Rises!

“Holy Dingleberries Batman!” Do we have big news to report today! Since TDK’s (The Dark Knight) release, fans have been ogling over the debate on who would be the cape crusader’s next foe to face off against.

From a possible re-cast on the Joker to a new rendition of the Riddler, there was even a rumor at one point about actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in the running to play the Penguin. But as per usual, all rumors were sooner or later debunked by the man himself, Christopher Nolan. However, now the good people over at Warner Bros have decided to tickle the fanboys pink by announcing the villain, or should I say villains, in the next installment, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!

Director Christopher Nolan has unveiled the villains of his next Batman installment with the announcement that Actress Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman, and will team up with another newcomer to the franchise, actor Tom Hardy, who will play the infamous and formidable batman villain Bane. Hardy is no stranger to Nolan’s films as he was in last year’s blockbuster hit Inception. To get a clear insight into what’s happening with the development of the next Batman sequel, look no further as we have the official press release by Warner Bros below.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Christopher Nolan stated, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”

In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

In a pre-Heath Ledger Joker era I would have been skeptical about seeing either one of these actors playing the role of such iconic characters like Catwoman and Bane, but Nolan has proved us wrong once, and I believe that he can do it again. So I’m down with these cast picks. Plus it’ll be nice to see Anne Hathaway sport that tight sexy Catwoman outfit since she was so wrongfully denied her chance to play the “Vulturess” in Sam Raimi’s canceled Spider-Man 4 project.