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The Bottom Line

Despite some entertaining moments, this long-in-gestation crime-fighter feature never reaches top speed.

Opens

Friday, Jan. 14 (Columbia Pictures)

Cast

Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz

Director

Michel Gondry

Screenwriters

Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

While the slick vehicle in question — a seriously pimped-out Chrysler Imperial — delivers the awe-inspiring goods, The Green Hornet itselfnever achieves sufficient traction to go the blockbuster distance.

Credit Rogen, who co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg, and Gondry for attempting to take the 75-year-old radio serial (and mid-’60s TV series) in some fresh, irreverent directions. But the stop/start end result fails to sustain any satisfying momentum.

Rogen’s fan base as well as the fanboys who were teased with footage in July at Comic-Con should ensure the picture has a decent opening, but it could fall short of generating sufficient buzz to spawn repeat business.

Originally debuting Jan. 31, 1936, on Detroit’s WXYZ, The Green Hornet radio serial was the brainchild of Lone Ranger creator George W. Trendle, with the masked avenger’s alter ego, Britt Reid, said to be the great nephew of the Lone Ranger.

Unsurprisingly, Britt, the playboy son of crusading Daily Sentinel publisher James Reid, has been retailored as a wide-eyed slacker to fit the Rogen persona. When his harshly judgmental dad (Tom Wilkinson) dies after what appears to be a fatal bee sting, Britt inherits his media empire, but he’d rather tool around with his father’s trusted mechanic, Kato (Chou), in one of his tricked-out luxury cars.

Of course, it would be even cooler to pose as vigilantes who make like bad guys so they can infiltrate the actual evildoers’ inner circle and blast ‘em with Kato’s gas gun.

Enter the Green Hornet.

It isn’t that Gondry’s direction and the languid Rogen-Goldberg script (the pair previously collaborated on Pineapple Express and Superbad) don’t have their inspired moments — like a sequence in which a Rogen discourse on the traditional balance of power between a superhero and his sidekick explodes into a volatile fight to the finish.

Too often, though, the dialogue has a habit of commenting on what has just happened in the previous scene, effectively stopping the action cold every time.

While definitely not cast in the classic comic book hero mold, the trimmed-down Rogen still brings a pleasantly goofy, everyman likability to the role. As Kato, Taiwanese pop star Chou proves equally charismatic, although his struggle with the English language makes some of his line readings tricky to decipher.

Proving tougher to get a grip on is the villainous Chudnofsky (Oscar-winning Inglourious Basterds scene-stealer Christoph Waltz) and Britt and Kato’s chipper research assistant Lenore (a squandered Cameron Diaz), both of whom do their best with their underwritten characters.

Visually, with the exception of Gondry’s dynamic “Kato-Vision” fight sequences (shot by John Schwartzman), the only other time the 3D conversion really comes to life is during the closing-credit pop art sequence.

Opens: Friday, Jan. 14 (Columbia Pictures)
Production companies: Original Film Prods.
Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz
Director: Michel Gondry
Screenwriters: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Executive producers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Michael Grillo, Ori Marmur, George W. Trendle Jr.
Producer: Neal H. Moritz
Director of photography: John Schwartzman
Production designer: Owen Paterson
Music: James Newton Howard
Costume designer: Kym Barrett
Editor: Michael Tronick
Rating: PG-13, 108 minutes

Posted by musicking on Jan 12 2011. Filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.