The Green Hornet Film Review

The Green Hornet, originally from a 1930's radio series, is a action/comedy from comic geniuses and serial collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who've also made such incredible films as Superbad and Pineapple Express. Surely this would be another great to add to the treasure trove of their films, especially as they've been making this film for so long and it's now in futuristic 3-D?

 However, and I hate to have say it because I usually love any Seth/Evan film, this film was somewhat of a disappointment.
The plot took just that bit too long to take off and when it did was not original enough because from the first rambling scene where the protagonist introduces the idea of fighting crime by impersonating criminals you know exactly what would happen and then it unfolds exactly as you expected it to.
I concede that films can still be good without an amazing plot as many superhero films have a similar plot but a this coupled with undeveloped characters and not enough of the wit and humour of previous work left me rather nonplussed.
The 3-D was nothing special and I soon forgot about it because there wasn't enough of it; it felt distinctly like a 2-D film which had later been made into 3-D to attract more attention.  So if you were going to see it to watch a feast of 3-D action maybe chose a different film.

Conversely though this film was far from bad. There were indeed a few truly brilliant comedic moments, although not nearly enough, and some good comedic performances especially form the surprise star of it; Jay Chou as Kato the martial arts expert and coffee maker. His dry witty one liners expertly acted for me made the film. Also Christoph Waltz's portrayal of LA's criminal ruler Chudnofsky later turned Bloodnofsky was genius.
I think the main problem with this film was my expectations of it because essentially it's not bad and is fairly good but when compared to their other work and recent superhero films, such as the gritty yet immensely funny Kickass, it just doesn't stand up. I wouldn't I recommend this film, not for the cinema at least, but would definitely recommend it for an entertaining way to pass a few hours on a lazy weekend.