The Green Hornet

Maybe I should go back and read those comic books again. Was "The Green Hornet" immature? Petty? Selfish? Racist? Sexist? Or is he just that way in this movie because that's what sells today? The screening audience didn't seem to mind, in fact, it seemed to be what they expected.

Of course it's always fun to watch the genesis of an iconic character. Where the idea comes from... What costume to wear... How to trick out the vehicle... What name to use... And it's fun to see all the misfires... The bad clothes... The lousy names... The misunderstandings between our two wannabe heroes as they cobble together a superhero.

Let's talk about the cast:

• Seth Rogen ("Pineapple Express") is Britt Reid/Green Hornet. Until he inherits a newspaper from his suddenly deceased father, he has lived the life of a dissipated wastrel. As with most Seth Rogen characters, he is self-centered and rude...particularly to his indispensable sidekick, Kato.
• Jay Chou ("Curse of the Golden Flower") is Kato, martial artist extraordinaire, impressive mechanic, explosives expert and firearms developer, plus he makes a mean cappuccino. He can only be patient just so long, then look OUT!
• Christoph Waltz ("Inglorious Basterds") is Chudnofsky, the kingpin of the bad guys, protecting his turf and inventing a supervillain of his own.
• Cameron Diaz ("Knight and Day") is Lenore Case, hired as a temporary secretary, but quickly promoted to a permanent post. I like the way she handles Reid when he automatically tries to put the make on her!
• Tom Wilkinson ("Duplicity") is Reid's father.
  
• James Franco ("127 Hours") has an early cameo as a drug lord.

Written and directed for a specific audience, this one is loaded with dazzling martial arts, oodles of fist fights, CGI-loaded vehicular mayhem, endless gunfire and impressive blowie uppie stuff! There is plenty of comedy and everything is cartoonish. It is what it is....a comic book.