Comic-Con: The Green Hornet Debuts Kato Vision And New Trailer

After a decidedly mixed response to The Green Hornet's trailer—casual viewers seemed to be excited for it, while many Michel Gondry fans were disappointed with how by-the-numbers it looked—Comic-Con was Gondry and Seth Rogen's big opportunity to win back support from concerned moviegoers. Was the trailer a fair representation of the movie, or was it an example of studio trickery, playing off the film as a typical superhero romp when in reality it's anything but?

Check after the break to find out.

In short: Nope, the trailer wasn't the studio deceiving audiences. That's what the movie is like.

Seth Rogen came on stage and said the new trailer would clear up any confusion about what the film was supposed to be, and he was right—and not in the way I think he was expecting. People started exiting the panel the moment the trailer ended.

The first trailer actually does the film a far greater service than the similar-but-longer second, concealing the extent of Jay Chou's awkward delivery and many of the movie's failed attempts at comedy. Christoph Waltz is pushed to the forefront a bit, which is nice, but Cameron Diaz's appearance evens that out. There's also a greater emphasis on the gadgetry of the car, the Black Beauty, which has machine guns in its doors. Nifty.

While I can still imagine myself enjoying the film for what it is—a not particularly interesting or inventive superhero action-comedy, with a couple of nice writing and directorial touches by Rogen and Gondry—I can safely say those that have been on the fence won't have any trouble deciding what side they're on once this latest trailer is released online.

Sadly, the highlight of the panel came after, once I had already taken off to catch a screening of footage from Jackass 3D.

They premiered a 3D clip from the film showing off what has been dubbed "Kato Vision", featuring point-of-view shots from Kato as he zones in on weapons and they glow red, ready for him to knock out of their hands. It culminates with the scene from the first trailer where he kicks a guy across a car and the image splits into multiples. Learn more about the specifics of the sequence over at ScreenCave.