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I want the head of The Green Hornet and I want it tonight.


The Green Hornet
(2011)

Lousy superhero adaptation, with the resolutely charmless oaf Seth Rogen playing a resolutely charmless oaf who decides to don the mask and fight crime when his father bequeaths him his newspaper. Rogen also co-wrote and executive-produced, so he deserves most of them blame for this abrasive mess. 

Jay Chou fares better as Kato, but Rogen manages to suck the life out of any scene he's in with his coarse boorishness. I'm not sure why he thought reinventing the Hornet as a useless, vain, unfunny comedy tosser would appeal to anyone, or why Sony chose to back this version after decades of development hell on different versions of the character.

Christopher Waltz and Cameron Diaz do their best with thankless roles. Tom Wilkinson cashes his cheque as Rogen's dad. Presumably Rogen's talent vacuum was infectious, as Michel Gondry's direction is underwhelming (the odd bit of martial arts action aside.) The promise shown by Gondry with the outstanding Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind appears to be ebbing away, as both The Science of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind managed to be whacky without being particularly engaging.

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