In some ways its unfortunate that this comes after Kick Ass which has rather stolen its thunder and one of its punchlines - what happens if a ordinary guy (albeit a fabulously rich one) tries to be a superhero. The other main punchline - that its the sidekick Kato (Jay Chou) who's the one who actually does all the crime-fighting. He's the one with the martial arts moves and the one who invents all the gadgets and Jay Chou could easily have been the break out star of this movie. At least he could have been if director Michel Gondry hadn't shown himself to be the wrong man for the job. He puts in some nice touches - like the multiplying split-screen effect as news of a bounty on the Green Hornet spreads - but he handles the action sequences (which are pretty vital) poorly and thus Chou's moves are lost in a confusion of messy direction.
Elsewhere the mismatched buddy element between Rogen and Chou has some funny moments, but becomes irritating too quickly. Tom Wilkinson is utterly wasted as Rogen's dad. Ditto Cameron Diaz in a poorly defined role that tries to be pseudo-romantic interest and the brains of the outfit, but ends up being nothing much at all.
Therefore its left to Inglorious Basterds Christoph Waltz as the bad guy with an image-inferiority complex to lift matters. He's the only one who manages to inject the necessary amount of fun into proceedings and his early showdown with an uncredited James Franco is probably the standout scene of the film.
Oh, and of all the nonsense in this film possibly the most unbelievable part is that Rogen's dad amassed his vast fortunes in a media empire by showing integrity and honesty. Hmmm....
Overall - 5.5/10 It has promise that it doesn't quite deliver on - its not as bad as you might fear, but its nothing particularly special either. Waltz is the only element that really stands out from the confusion.
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