THE GREEN HORNET review

So finally, we have this "Green Hornet" movie. Long brewing for what feels like more than a decade, the project has, at various points, involved everyone from Kevin Smith to Stephen Chow. But once the dust settled, French auteur/imp Michel Gondry took the directorial reigns, with the unlikely choice of Seth Rogan as the title character. This struggle to make a Green Hornet film is interesting since, at this point, the general public's perception of the character is more image and mystique than anything else.

The film proclaims the source material as a radio show, although the creators of the 1960s "Batman" series put out a straight-faced TV series back in the day, most memorable for its co-star, Bruce Lee. Recently, Dynamite Entertainment has devoted practically their entire comic book publishing efforts to Green Hornet titles, involving Kevin Smith in the process. But for the most part, the Hornet falls into the rare category of being just recognizable enough (an old theme song, a costume, whatever) to justify a big budget action film, but unknown enough so that today's creators can freely craft him into whatever they think works. The basic concepts of the previous incarnations survive, and fans should enjoy the several references and shout-outs. But for the most part, the kind of respect toward fanboy reverence that drives a "Spider-Man" or "Batman" film is not a factor here. And as it turns out, that's okay.

Written as a comedy by Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, "The Green Hornet" is first and foremost a vehicle for the affable (and considerably slimmer) Rogan. Fans of the star should be pleased; his detractors need not apply. It's the story of how the rich and spoiled grown-up son of a strict newspaper publisher goes from zero to a hero worth zero. If you haven't guessed, "The Green Hornet" is a comedic action film. That is not to be confused with an outright spoof, or even a satire of pre-existing rich-guy-turned-super-hero stories, such as "Batman" or "Iron Man". To its credit, this film is saddled with no such baggage, and is therefore readily accessible to all. It is perpetually entertaining - like most Rogan films, it is built on good chuckles, but devoid of any major belly laughs. Also, at 108 minutes, it's somehow just a wee bit too long. This is not a deal-breaker, however.

Michel Gondry, best known in the feature world for 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", gets to indulge his well-established mischievous inner-twelve-year-old boy aesthetic without apology. When the Green Hornet and Kato accidently blow up something, the re-action is not for whatever collateral damage they may've just caused, but rather "Oh, cool!!!" This is in keeping with the oblivious selfishness of Rogan's character, Britt Reid. So, there's the tricked out armor-plated machine gun car (the Black Beauty), knockout gas guns, and an inexplicable sense of invincibility. It never stops being fun. Simple, frivolous, undeserved fun.

One night on a whim, Reid decides that he wants to be a masked hero just because he's bored (we can assume that his shlubbish good nature prevents him from becoming a villain), and between his own fortune and the willing, able assistance of his multi-pronged genius partner Kato (Jay Chou), he can. Actually, in keeping with Hornet mythos, the duo becomes wanted criminals in the interest of projecting a dangerous image to the real bad guys. This sort of works...

In the meantime, Reid, being the narcissistic chump that he his, opts to use his newly inherited newspaper for navel-gazing, forcing the veteran staffers and skilled newcomers alike (featuring Edward James Olmos and Cameron Diaz, respectively,) to showcase the Green Hornet day in and day out. Gondry and Rogan gel in making Reid's shortcomings loveable - even relatable -rather than despicable. Likewise, Rogan and Chou find terrific chemistry as crime fighting partners, Chou the Simon to Rogan's Garfunkel (to flip Reid's own analogy).

Gondry steers the often-ambling (and decidedly PG-13) Rogan/Goldberg screenplay with the crackling perception of wacky slipshoddiness. Our heroes go from one self-imposed stupid scenario to another, Kato's fighting and mechanical expertise always pulling their fat from the fire. Along the way, they somehow must also bring down a criminal empire run by an increasingly demented psychopath (Christoph Waltz) and a corrupt politician as well. The ratio of their success to their imposed property damage is negligible, at best.

"The Green Hornet" boasts a surprisingly great cast that work well together amid the also-surprisingly big budgeted production. Gondry and company apparently spare no expense when it comes to chasing their vision, however gloriously disposable that vision may be. Sometimes the added bells and whistles don't add up - why this film is in 3-D, I have no idea. (If you save your money and opt for 2-D, you'll come out ahead.) But for the most part, "The Green Hornet" is worth the wait.

- Jim Tudor