Seth Rogen has been writing movies since he was a teenager. You'd think that over time he'd get better at it. His first film, Superbad was really funny. The Green Hornet is a poor reconstruction of the old television series which lets down the rest of the cast, focusing too much on Seth Rogen's below par performance. At least the scenes that aren't entirely about Rogen are funny.
Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid, the son of a newspaper tycoon. As a child his dream to be a superhero were crushed by his father. He grew up cruising through life on his fathers money. One day his father dies suddenly due to an allergic reaction to a beesting. After Britt damages a statue divoted to his father he realizes he should finally do something with his life. He then becomes 'The Green Hornet'.
Britt employs his father's mechanic/coffee maker Kato (Jay Chou) to be his sidekick. Kato turns out to be far more skilled than Britt. Together (but mainly Kato) they pimp out a car and create a costume. Britt uses his father's paper to publicize the story of 'The Green Hornet' and to draw out the largest gangster in the city, Bloodnovsky (Christoph Waltz).
Christoph Waltz is great, but he has little to work with as Seth Rogen
didn't give him great lines. Jay Chou is also great in his first big role
in American films. Seth Rogen is fine, but he has been better. The
power granted to him was too great, he gave himself too many lines and
they all seem the same.
The Green Hornet also utilizes the 3D feature in some of the most
random and useless places. For example, in one scene time slows down
and it takes about 10 seconds for Kato to open two beers as the caps
fly out towards the audience and then land on the floor. Overall, it's
an entertaining movie but I don't think I'll buy this one on DVD.