Seth Rogen and Jay Chou star in this decidedly average big screen revival of superhero The Green Hornet in which Rogen plays newspaper publisher Britt Reid who dabbles with a touch of vigilantism on the side added by karate and coffee guru Kato (Chou).
Plot-wise this is a fairly predictable ‘origins’ story of betrayal and revenge and the film’s jokey tone robs it of any suspense or excitement.
Just when you think the film will deliver on the potential for a kick-ass action movie along comes a lame joke to spoil things.
The two leads turn in enjoyable enough performances but their characters never really seem to develop, though their relationship does exhibit a rather homoerotic undercurrent.
The hero with a more-capable side-kick concept feels laboured and has been done much better – see Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley’s Without A Clue for a more successful implementation of the idea.
The film was previewed to the media in 3D and I’d initially assumed it had been shot in a special ‘blur-o-vision’ version until it became apparent that my 3D glasses were broken.
A change of specs later and I was able to ‘enjoy’ the full gimmicky nature of the 3D effects which, as is often the case with this fad, largely add nothing to the film and serve only to get in the way of the action.
There are times 3D can enhance the viewer’s enjoyment, but overall the whole format feels like a gimmick used to add some gloss to distinctly average films. i remain to be convinced that requiring your audience to wear heavy, uncomfortable and unreliable accessories to watch your film is a good idea.
Average and uninspired, The Green Hornet hits UK & Ireland cinemas January 14th 2011.
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