The Green Hornet

(M) Sony DVD/BD

Like the remake of Starsky and Hutch, this film is a strange mix of parody and homage.

Wealthy playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) inherits a newspaper company after the unexplained death of his father (Tom Wilkinson).

He soon meets his father’s assistant Kato (Jay Chou) and together they decide to make a difference in Los Angeles by fighting crime in an unconventional way: they’ll pose as villains but act as heroes, becoming close to the bad guys only to deliver justice.

Having a newspaper staff on hand can only help to build notoriety while gathering information.

Written by Rogen, the script has too much profanity and violence for children (who it will undeniably be marketed to through action figures and happy meals). Those expecting good clean nostalgic fun will be disappointed.

The focal point of the film is the developing pairing of Britt and Kato; while Rogen and Chou have workable comic chemistry, a little break from the annoying bromance would have benefited the film and given co-stars Cameron Diaz and Christoph Waltz something to do.

It wouldn’t be Michel Gondry film without several creative touches, including camera splits and the unique “Kato-vision”.

And director Gondry is also pretty effective at directing action even if it is a little reminiscent of the Lethal Weapon films.

In a year that will be marked by superhero films, this is pretty underwhelming and, as The Green Hornet is a somewhat lesser known hero, the whole enterprise feels a little perfunctory and pointless.

Adrian Drayton