Well, I recently treated myself to a 3D TV and this was the first 3D film I watched on it. Being a comic book fan too, although never having read or seen much of the original Green Hornet, either in print or on the 60's small-screen version, I vaguely anticipated an eye-popping night of superhero fantasy.

Was I ever wrong?!

This film was an absolute mess. I know nothing of lead Seth Rogan and if you told me he was indeed a top comic, my next call would be to Trade Descriptions. He absolutely ruins this film, hogging the camera and mugging mercilessly. He neither looks the part (too fat, too unkempt, too unfit) and has no chemistry either with Kato or Cameron Diaz's unashamedly eye-candy supporting role. The plotting is weak, the comedy dire, characterisation non-existent and the action sequences as underwhelming as they are overlong.

I wanted to blame my new TV for this car-crash of a movie and felt like taking it back to the shop but realised I would only have been shooting the messenger. Never mind 3D, I wish I had a 4D TV to get back the time I lost watching this nonsense all the way through.

I watched "The Green Hornet" with a sense of skepticism. Having grown up with the original TV series, this movie really had some big shoes to fill out. And surprisingly enough, it managed to do so in a good enough way. But there were also aspects of the movie that were less than successful.

First of all, Seth Rogen (playing Britt Reid/The Green Hornet). No, no, no. I know he was involved in directing and writing the movie and all, but he is not chiseled out for an action role of this caliber. I do admire his spirit and enthusiasm, but he is more suited for comedy movies. Seeing him in this role didn't go well with me. He did bring along some comedy, but it didn't work so well in this particular movie.

And the scene at the beginning where Britt Reid was bringing home a woman and they went through the garage and sat in all the cars (showing them off for the audience, actually) in high-speed capture, what was up with that? Already at that point, the movie started to falter and crash.

Jay Chou (playing Kato) certainly had HUGE shoes to fill out after the original role was played by Bruce Lee. And actually Chou did a decent enough job, with good acting and well-choreographed action/fighting sequences. So hats off to him for that.

However, the most memorable person in the movie was Christoph Waltz (playing Chudnofsky). He was fantastic as a villain and worked his role very well and very convincingly. Plus there was also a good sense of humor to his role, and it worked well.

The story told in the movie was fast-paced, captivating and interesting enough to keep you enthralled throughout the entire feature length.

For an action movie, then "The Green Hornet" is actually quite good. But for a follow-up to the legacy of the TV series, the movie is a mediocre attempt with good intentions. Had they cast someone else for Britt Reid, it would have worked much better. Now, I am not saying that Seth Rogen is a bad actor, he was just ill-suited for this role. "The Green Hornet" is good entertainment if you are in for an evening of action, corny one-liners and a trip down memory lane.

I am amazed I liked "The Green Hornet" as much as I did, as it did have some good things going for it. First, I went to ComicCon in New York a few months back and the amazingly cool car from the movie was amazing--so amazing I knew I wanted to see the film. Second, the film started well--and had a lighthearted style that made it very different from all the deadly serious superhero films. However, after a decent start the film just seemed to die--and instead went from being character-driven to simply one explosion after another after another. The special effects ended up being mind-numbing after a while and I got VERY tired of seeing the Green Hornet and Kato literally dodging 150,000 bullets!

I think this movie WAAAYY underestimated the intelligence of the audience--not that some people aren't dumb. But fortunately the audiences were not pleased and this film lost money--sparing us the horrible prospect of a sequel. Now don't read this and assume I am an elitist--I LIKE superhero films and recently gave very high marks to "Thor" and "X-Men: First Class". I just don't terribly written ones.