The Green Hornet

I have a faint and pleasant memory of the old Green Hornet TV series, which was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of ABC's Batman series (though unlike the campy Batman, The Green Hornet was played straight). The show lasted one season, and is not, to my knowledge, on DVD or in syndication anywhere, and is based on a very old radio show. If anyone knows it today, it's because of the Al Hirt-performed theme music (one of the best TV show themes ever, right up there with Hawaii Five-O), and that it introduced Western audiences to Bruce Lee.

It is therefore difficult to understand why this film was made. I have a nostalgic tug for the material, but I'm fuckin' old. None of the kids this film was marketed for knows who The Green Hornet was, and in this age of superhero films, a guy with a green mask, a fedora, a trench coat and a souped-up limousine isn't going to set the world on fire.

So I have to give credit to the approach taken here. The film, directed by Michel Gondry (it had been in the hands of Kevin Smith for a while), was made turned over to the writing team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and transformed into an action-comedy tailored to Rogen's oafish charm. I admire the effort, but the execution is another story. The Green Hornet ends up lacking the cool factor, and instead becomes relentlessly noisy and dumb.

Rogen is Britt Reid, the louche son of a newspaper publisher (Tom Wilkinson). After Wilkinson dies (by a bee sting) Rogen inherits his empire. He has no interest in running the paper, but after meeting his father's mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou) he has fun with his new friend tooling around in modified automobiles. Playing a prank one night, they break up a mugging, and Rogen is inspired to become a superhero, with Chou being the mastermind behind everything (not to mention is superior martial arts skills).

Rogen ends up butting heads with the local crime lord (Christoph Waltz), and hires a pretty secretary (Cameron Diaz, in a role that's kind of a step-down for her--this is usually the role for someone on the up-and-come). The action sequences are loud and without subtlety, usually involving the "Black Beauty" (the tripped-out car) going through a glass wall.

One's enjoyment of the film is going to be based on how one can stand an entire film of Rogen acting the goofball. I get where he's coming from--he's trying to do a send-up of comic book films while at the same time trying to make a real comic book film. It's a nice try, but a failure, and I would imagine will not be the franchise he intended.