Rating:  

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos, James Franco, Jamie Harris, Chad Coleman, Edward Furlong.
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Director: Michel Gondry
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 119 Mins.
Release Date: January 14, 2011
Home Video Release Date: May 3, 2011
Box Office: $98.8 Million
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Original Film and Columbia Pictures.

Written by: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, adapted from episodes of the radio serial, “The Green Hornet”, written by George W. Trendle.

A wealthy son of a newspaper magnate turns from a carefree and careless ladies’ man into the crime fighting masked superhero, The Green Hornet, in the feature film adaptation of the revered 1930′s radio serial of the same name. Starring Seth Rogen in the title role and working with a script he co-wrote, the film fails to find a way to do anything really well – and is an unmitigated bore to sit through and endure.

Rogen plays Britt Reid and as a trust fund child to newspaper publisher, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), he has little to worry about. Money is always available and he travels from club to club and lady to lady oblivious to any real responsibilities. This rankles his father to no end and James views his son as a disappointment and failure. When James suddenly dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Britt inherits control of his father’s paper – The Daily Sentinel. As Britt takes over the newspaper and tries to process the sudden changes in his life, he fires his father’s personal staff – save the maid and the rather mysterious Kato (Jay Chou).

After some initial awkwardness, Britt and Kato bond over their mutual dislike for Britt’s father. Kato is a genius when it comes to technology, gadgetry, and automobiles and after a night out on the town where they rescue a couple from being mugged, they decide to pose as criminals. In actuality, they intend to become superheroes and Britt utilizes his newfound power at The Sentinel to promote his affairs. This draws the attention and ire of Russian crimelord Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz), who sees this new criminal mastermind – The Green Hornet – as a threat to his lucrative dealings and connections with the Los Angeles criminal underworld.

To call “The Green Hornet” a badly conceived idea is merely stating the obvious. At times, this film is spectacularly bad and all roads start with the flat and insular script written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as the main culprit. The film feels flat and tunnelvisioned which, were it not for the trademark technique of director Michel Gondry, “The Green Hornet” would have no pulse or acceleration whatsoever. For Rogen and Goldberg, the screenplay is as underwhelming and boring as Seth Rogen’s lead performance is as distracting and overzealous.

As Britt, the superhero-to-be, Rogen runs through the film portraying a spoiled, annoying manchild of sorts, with very little to like or appreciate about his personality. Worse, Rogen simply dominates many of his scenes, often overwhelming Jay Chou’s Kato and Cameron Diaz’s bland but steady Lenore, hired to be an apparent 24/7 assistant to the insufferable brat. Rogen has been funny and humorous in many past projects and he has often exhibited a caustic and quick wit, along with an often engaging and likable neighbor-next-door sort of charm. With this performance however, he comes off as either 1) an actor trying way too hard to convince himself that he can be an action hero, and/or; 2) a star who has forgotten, or perhaps does not care, that audiences like to cheer for and rally behind their superheroes.

Maybe Rogen was too close to the project as co-writer and star. Perhaps Rogen’s fanboy excitement steered him into the ditch. Regardless, his performance fails to connect and in turn, derails any potential this film has to be good.

The unique and unparalleled vision that Michel Gondry is known for is absent with “The Green Hornet”, except in disjointed moments of action which rely on visual trickery to try and bring a stylish flair to the material. With everything else missing along the way, Gondry’s usual novel storytelling technique looks desperate, as if he is trying to salvage something artistic and distinctive within the mess of a screenplay he is fighting with.

I have loved Gondry’s work in film and music video in the past and have admired Rogen and Diaz previously, but not here. “The Green Hornet” is just poorly conceived. Rogen and Goldberg’s script never finds a rhythm, misfires on humor and intensity, and is uniquely forgettable.

SHOULD I SEE IT?

Fans of Gondry and Rogen will be drawn to this and the everlasting appeal of comic book adaptations will be too sweet to resist for many.

Jay Chou is a nice find with his role as Kato, Britt/Green Hornet’s do everything right-hand man.

The movie is just so unlikable. Seth Rogen turns on the annoying and the film never gets good at anything. Even when Gondry employs his trademark visual flair to the film, it falls flat because nothing supports the innovation.