RUINED by a rubbish conversion into 3D for its cinematic release, and also by the fact that director Michel Gondry's directorial stamp is nowhere in sight, The Green Hornet isn't quite the disaster
it could have been. True, its entertainment factor is predicated largely on having a tolerance for a) somewhat ineffectual superheroes and b) Seth Rogen, but providing you have both those things, it's one of the more fun superhero films of recent years. Based on a short-lived 1960s TV show it's a film unburdened by torturous mythologies and fanboy demands for darkness. Rogen, on deliberately irritating form (he also wrote the script), is the eponymous "hero", the wealthy son of a newspaper magnate who decides to team up with Kato (Taiwanese actor Jay Chou), his late father's chauffeur and technical whiz, and pretend to be a crime lord in order to bring down LA's actual crime lords. Why? Because he's a relentless self-promoter, one who has no truck with taking credit for things he didn't do, something the film messily attempts to use as a way of excavating themes of friendship and honour. Mostly, though, this is a film that is content to let Rogen and Christoph Waltz (the equally rubbish supervillain Chudnokfky) riff on superhero archetypes and, in an indulgent frame of mind, that makes it worth a watch.
The same can't be said for Dobermann. First released in 1997, this violent French crime caper Рstarring Vincent Cassel as the titular bank robber and Monica Bellucci as his sexy, deaf and deadly partner Рhasn't aged well. An attempt to rip-off Quentin Tarantino, but with no understanding of what made his insouciant output from the 1990s so thrilling, its hyperactive style and casual cartoon-like carnage makes it look like a cheap version of Natural Born Killers. Like that film, its hateful protagonists (Cassel brings none of his usual charisma to bear) are made to look heroic next to the supposed good guys, in this case a sadistic cop (played by Tch̩ky Karyo) intent on hunting them down as they attempt three bank heists in one day. But the effect is deadening. The violence is over-the-top, sickening and mostly boring, and the crash-zooms, split-screens, fast edits and noisy soundtrack can't distract from the film's basic lack of proficiency.
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