THE GREEN HORNET- ****

Directed by Michel Gondry, Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson. Action, 119 mins, Certificate 12.

Release Date: 2nd May 2011, DVD (RRP £19.99), Blu-Ray (RRP £24.99), 3D Blu-Ray (RRP £29.99)

Seventy-five years after The Green Hornet made his debut on US radio – he now enters a new dimension and beats the rest of his competition as the first Super hero to get an outing on 3D Blu-ray.

The Green Hornet stars comedy lovie of the moment Seth Rogen as the Playboy millionaire Britt Reid. Reid lives a life of no consequences – sleeping with whomever he wishes and filling his diary with nothing but high society parties.

A horrendous embarresment to his well respected media guru father, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) – his son is forced to change his way of life when his father unexpectadly dies of a bee sting.

Met with self pity and anger towards his father he decides to fire all the staff that worked for the family. When his morning coffee is not to the standard he’s used to, he asks to meet the employee he has disposed from this role- Asian mechanic – Kato.

Stepping in to the huge shoes once worn by Bruce Lee is Jay Chou. Kato explains the secret to the greatness of his coffee is a specially designed machine crafted by his own hands. He shows Reid other gadgets he has designed for the security of his father over the years.

Kato also loathes the late James Reid, so together they decide to take the head from a newly erected monument of Reid’s father. When a damsel in distress is set upon by a gang the newly found best friends embark on a whole new twist to their relationship - as masked vigilantes patrolling the streets for villains.

Reid becomes ‘The Green Hornet’ and Kato takes the role as the unnamed man in Black. Reid decides that the best way to scare the bad guys of the city is for our hero’s to be perceived as the ultimate villains.

With the use of his Media Empire and help from his newly recruited secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), Reid convinces his editorial team that ‘The Green Hornet’ is a villain and forces regular front page stories to enforce The Green Hornets infamous status.

When crime Lord Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) takes offense to a new guy trying to take over his turf, the fun of being a super Hero gets a little more serious for Reid.

But, as always, the uber inventive Kato is always at hand to come up with both a plan and gadget to save the day.

The Green Hornet is a wonderfully fresh approach to the Super Hero genre. It still has much of the intensity you come to expect from an comic book film but with the tone and humour of a light entertainment film driven by Seth Rogen’s brilliant wit and timing with one liners.

Jay Chou steals the show as the awesome Kato. Although it would be impossible to compare Chou with the late great Bruce Lee – Chou’s lighting sharp moves and deadpan approach to role make for an electric performance in its own right.

With the 3D version of this film, the picture is incredibly clear and all the fast paced action shots stay in focus throughout the film. It is well worth buying as a 3D product if you have a 3DTV.

That said, unlike other novelty 3D Blu-ray films, the enjoyment will be just the same in 2D as this movie is story and character based and isn’t dependent on 3D for its visuals. They are more of a nice bonus to compliment a cracking action flick.

The Green Hornet was a nice surprise, I wasn’t overly fussed about seeing it on the theatrical release but I’m now regretting that – it’s a really good movie and I hope there are many sequels to follow.

Nick Gibbs McNeil.

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