When carefree and wealthy bachelor Britt Reid loses his father in a sudden and mysterious fashion he is left with a media empire he has no idea how to run. Worse still he has sacked the one man who makes a decent cup of coffee! Re-hiring coffee maker and gadget creator extraordinaire Kato turns out to be the best decision he has ever made as in a drunken stupor they decide to become masked superheroes for the night. Unfortunately, for them they have attracted the attention of a local crime lord who has decided to make killing them a priority. How can they hide from this new enemy? With their new found notoriety do they even want to?

As you can see this isn't a thinking persons film. It is fundamentally a slapstick superhero movie played for laughs for the large majority largely thanks to main star Seth "Knocked Up" Rogen's role as executive producer and main star. Michael Gondry might be the Director of "The Green Hornet" but anyone expecting a cerebral film such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is set to be severely disappointed. Gondry's presence is almost totally absent from the film and it is clear that this is Seth Rogen comedy vehicle. That isn't to say this is a terrible film, just don't expect it to be an award winner at the Oscars!

Superhero movies always seem to work better when the hero doesn't give off a sense of invincibility and you certainly couldn't accuse Rogen's "Green Hornet" of that. This bumbling figure is carried along by the impressive martial arts skills and James Bond's "Q like" gadgetry of sidekick Kato played with some vigor by Asian popstar Jay Chou. Taking on the mantle of Kato is no mean feat when Bruce Lee took the role in the 1960's TV series. However, Chou pays homage to Lee in a number of ways and his action scenes are definite highlights in terms of turning "Green Hornet" into a more credible movie.

More of a buddy movie than anything the interplay between Rogen and Chou is what makes the film ultimately worth your time. The chemistry they have is great and they share some great comedic lines and fight scenes which add charm to what would otherwise be a run of the mill action flick. Unfortunately, there is an issue however with how the film flows. There have been a lot of cast changes to this film over the many years of it's pending release and I think they have taken there toll as the film jumps from action to comedy and doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. This film reminds me a lot of Jackie Chan's buddy movies whether it be with Owen Wilson in "Shanghai Noon" or Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour". Unlike, these films though it isn't clear that this is supposed to be an out and out comedy and I found myself confused as to whether I should be laughing or not.

This is a shame because despite being disjointed the moments of comedy and action are pretty great. The gadgetry on show is exciting and amusing while the action sequences although resorting to the cheap tactic of bullet time and slowdown hit the mark. The performances apart from Rogen and Chou are largely dialled in with Cameron Diaz playing the ditzy love interest she has in a million and one movies. Christopher Waltz playing the hammiest villain you will ever see (complete with terrible Russian accent) is either brilliant or terrible depending on whether he is playing it for laughs or not.

All in all "The Green Hornet" is a weird one. Undoubtedly entertaining it is so patchy that it seems to have been shot and stapled together seemingly in no discernible order. Worth a watch but undoubtedly a throwaway DVD rental at best.