Stupid. Get Chow back, or else no one's gonna care about this movie. We watched Green Hornet for Bruce Lee, not whoever the other guy was. Same will hold true for the movie. Stephen Chow, not Seth Rogen.
I think an accent makes for better characterization, actually. Not in a negative way, but having a strong, competent character with one is good for some of the fly-over state people that equate accents as something bad.
I'm also glad they went for an unknown with potential over the same three Asian actors who are cast for big studio pictures (e.g., Jackie Chan).
Not the Ong Bok guy, but still, not bad, not bad.
It sounds like there is too much emphasis on action-movie ability, which can be trained into an otherwise fit and graceful actor, and not enough on comic timing, which can't.
I'm not sure I have the biggest expectations for this movie in the first place, so if their choice for Kato turns out to be less than impressive, it's not like it'll hurt what seems to be a project that's already set up to fail.
@Belabras: I wasn't sure anyone could even portray Bruce in a biography without descending into camp, but Jason Scott Lee pulled it off in Dragon. Have a little faith.
Does this character/movie have a big following? I don't really understand why they're remaking this.
Firefly is cancelled, Chuck gets cut back, HEROES SOMEHOW GETS RENEWED, Life is cancelled, Dollhouse is nearly ruined by Fox execs, Sarah Connor is cancelled, Better Off Ted hangs on by the skin of its teeth, etc etc.
@phoenix6666: Bruce Lee was born in the U.S. (San Francisco) and was raised bi-lingual during his early years in China. He was actually an extremely articulate guy, and you can find a number of early interviews of his in English where you can hear an accent, which sounds more British than Chinese. Being that his mother was from one of the wealthiest family in China, I'm guessing he had a well-funded education that helped with his fluidity in languages. Any "engrish" was just played up for the movies.
@Allen_Richards: He was raised for part of his life in China, but in Hong Kong, which was still a British protectorate. That's where the accent comes from, I think.
@braak: That makes sense, and it probably true. After just YouTubeing an old interview, I want to say his accent sounds like an amalgam of both....with some San Fran hepcat beatnik thrown in for good measure. ;)
@Allen_Richards: Sorry, I wasn't clear in my statement. He did speak very well, but with the accent. My thought was that the producers were concerned that this new guy's accent was too thick.
@phoenix6666: hey, no worries. hope i didn't come across like some know-it-all, which I'm clearly not. must have misread your intent.
As far as this guy's accent goes, any concern, especially given the company, is probably inflated hype. Remember, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan all BUTCHERED their early English language films, and that was even after going back in post-production to clean up the dialog.
@Allen_Richards: Nah, we're all good. But since you brought up the others and their accents, I think it makes a point in that it's fairly hard for someone with an accent, regardless of what accent it is, to make it in the US. I wonder how far this kid will go.
@phoenix6666: Lee made it a point to hammer out any engrish in his dialect. See "Enter the Dragon", and his repeated use of the word "Braithwaite". The guy was OCD with a perfection fetish.
Man, this is really too bad--Stephen Chow is really the only one who could pull this off properly. It's too bad he left, and it leaves me wondering, under what circumstances?
@92BuickLeSabre: Yeah, agreed. Not only is a Karate Kid remake not needed, adding Jackie (who's great in everything else) and the Smith kid only makes it worse.
@crashedpc /sarcasm: Yeah, that one was pretty bad. I'm sure that movie was sold on the "high-concept" pitch alone. What is it they say about a sucker being born...?
@RandomFrequentFlierDent: The Green Lantern is defeated by yellow. The Green Hornet is defeated by everything. So really, yellow is a safe bet either way.
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I'm also glad they went for an unknown with potential over the same three Asian actors who are cast for big studio pictures (e.g., Jackie Chan).
Not the Ong Bok guy, but still, not bad, not bad.
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but but GREEN hornet... GET IT?! super funny. lol he is high.
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Firefly is cancelled, Chuck gets cut back, HEROES SOMEHOW GETS RENEWED, Life is cancelled, Dollhouse is nearly ruined by Fox execs, Sarah Connor is cancelled, Better Off Ted hangs on by the skin of its teeth, etc etc.
But they can fund this?!
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As far as this guy's accent goes, any concern, especially given the company, is probably inflated hype. Remember, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan all BUTCHERED their early English language films, and that was even after going back in post-production to clean up the dialog.
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Or one of the Wang Bros., you know the one that can fight?
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(I really wish I were making that up.)
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One is a comedic take on a classic comic strip starring a comedian that won't be funny.
The other is a non-comedic take on a classic comic book starring a comedian that will be funny.
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