The Green Hornet (2011)

Starring: Seth Rogan, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, & Christoph Waltz

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I know, it was pretty hard for me to imagine Seth Rogan as a superhero too, but as it turns out things aren't exactly as they appear. In this 2011 re-imaging of the series, Rogan play Britt Reid, the son of a billionaire publisher, who (surprise surprise) is a big time party animal, with no real ambition in life. When his father passes away suddenly, Reid is given this huge empire to run and with no idea how to do it, he starts to lean on the people around him, people like Kato (Jay Chou). Reid knew Kato for years, but knew nothing of what he could create and nothing of the skills he was capable of. With Kato's help, Reid decided to take on crime in the city, only one problem, he sucks at it. This film may be the most evenly scored film I've ever reviewed, because I can honestly say my like and dislikes were exactly fifty-fifty, most notably were the cast. Seth Rogan in the right setting is brilliant and in the wrong setting is just annoying as hell, with that hardly laugh and his never taking anything seriously, it is perhaps never more abundantly apparent as it is here. Cameron Diaz also adds nothing to the cast, but name recognition and a lazy one sided performance. On the other hand, Jay Chou was fantastic as Kato, he was clever, funny, exciting, and in my opinion he made this movie, it simply isn't a superhero film with him. Then there is Christoph Waltz, the man with the mesmerizing voice who forever capture our attention in Inglorious Bastards, and has been the quintessential bad guy in everything since. The bottom line is the new Green Hornet isn't without it's problems, but the story here is better than I expected it to be, there are some stand outs among the cast, and the special effects and fight scenes were hit or miss. This is the kind of film you'll be into or you won't. Just like my list, audiences are going to be fifty-fifty on the one as well.