boston progress radio

So according to Ain’t it Cool News, the role of Kato in the upcoming Green Hornet movie will be played by the man who was born to play the role: Stephen Chow.

But more than that, he’s set to direct as well.

Well. What can I say, but HELL YEAH.

I’ve been a Stephen Chow fan for well over a decade now, from the time when we used to rent VHS tapes from that woman in the South End who ran a bootleg Chinese video store out of her apartment. He started his career as a serious actor, but he eventually moved into comedies because he had a gift for it. Most recently, he’s been seen by American audiences in special effects-based action/comedy flicks like “Shaolin Soccer” and “Kung Fu Hustle.” But he’s been incorporating new uses of movie technology for years, from “Fight Back to School,” “King of Beggars,” and “From Beijing with Love.”

He also holds a place near and dear to my heart because as a younger man, he influenced his good friend Tony Leung to pursue a career in acting, which allowed us to now be living at the same time as the greatest film actor in the history of the world.

But this newest development is interesting because Kato was the character whose screen incarnation was originated by Bruce Lee. (Kato existed before that in comic books and on radio shows.) So Bruce is obviously one of Stephen Chow’s idols, which makes it poignant, but also having him in that role (and as director) makes me feel more confident that Kato is going to be a much better representation of APIs in an American movie than we’re used to seeing. Although Chinese comedies tend to be more slapstick than subtlety, his characters usually are more than one-noters. He gives them depth that not all silly-ass comic actors are capable of. (Ahem, Robin Williams.)

So I just have to sit tight while I wait for this movie to come out. until then, check out my favorite scene from “Shaolin Soccer” – which I like because he seems to genuinely crack up multiple times about how ridonkulous the scene is.

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Tags: Movie.