Nicholas Cage, who was signed on to play the main villain, Chudnofsky in Green Hornet has decided to step out of the role saying the character was too one-dimensional. He said he “wasn’t interested in just being just a straight-up bad guy who was killing people willy-nilly.” Despite trying to add some more dimension to the character he added “I had to have some humanity and to try to give it something where you could understand why the character was the way he was but I don’t think there was enough time to develop it.”
The film, starring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou, is set to be released in December 2010. No one questions Seth’s commitment to the role since he lost 30 pounds to play the newspaper publisher-turned-crimefighter, but, maybe he’s too committed. Stephen Chow, the previous director, also left the film citing “creative differences” with him.
The idea of a “Green Hornet” movie is a good one, especially considering how few Asians have made it into comic-book movies (albeit a slightly stereotypical role as a kung-fu fighter). But, I just don’t get a good vibe about it.
It seems to be fighting upstream, and that rarely makes for a good film unless the director’s name is Terry Giliam.
What do you think? Can this film be saved?
BONUS LINK: Check out a (possibly fake) image of Nicholas Cage as Tim Burton’s Superman.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="43060 ">1 Comment
Green Hornet was always a problematic character. He's just not cool. The costume is weak (green suit?), the origin has no pathos (he's a hero because his dad was a hero), he's non-violent, his sidekick is an Asian stereotype, there's nothing really original about him…it goes on and on. Without a major Batman-esque reboot, this movie is dead. Smart move by Nicolas Cage.
But I think that Superman picture doesn't look too bad. I like the long hair.