The Green Hornet

There must be two films called The Green Hornet out at the moment; one that has gotten pretty ordinary reviews, and the one I just saw. I liked the one I saw. No idea what that other one is about...
Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) wouldn't be my first pick as director of an action flick. Seth Rogen (Funny People) wouldn't be my first pick as leading man in an action flick. Lucky I have no responsibility whatsoever in picking people to do things.
Rogen also co-wrote the screenplay with regular writing partner Evan Goldberg (Pineapple Express) which is based on the radio series written by George W. Trendle.
Britt Reid (Rogen) is a rich kid of the bratty kind. His dad James (Tom Wilkinson - The Ghost Writer) owns The Sentinel newspaper and has been trying to teach Britt about responsibility and integrity his whole life. Sadly those lessons are cut short when James dies of a bee sting (he was one of those people who are allergic to bees and stuff).
Even when he is shoved into the big seat at the newspaper, Britt still chooses to take the back seat instead and lets his dad's long time friend Axford (Edward James "So Say We All!" Olmos - Battlestar Galactica) take the helm. Britt's first call of duty is hiring hottie Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz - The Box) who is in her 'twilight years' - i.e. mid-thirties, as his secretary. According to the newspaper, crime rates are at an all time low thanks to teethy District Attorney Scanlon (David Harbour - Revolutionary Road). But you should never believe what you read...
Old-ish bad dude Chudnofsky, that's Chud-nof-sky (Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds), wants to be feared even more by the people of Los Angeles so he takes over the business of local thug Danny Clear (James Franco - 127 Hours). A few fashion tips later, business is good.
After growing some balls filled with a sense of self-worth, Britt and his dad's multi-talented mechanic Kato (Jay Chou - True Legend) team up to clean the streets by pretending to be bad guys while also taking out the real bad guys at the same time. If you're a bad dude, the Green Hornet (and his unnamed sidekick) is gonna getchya.
But, there's always a but, super hottie Lenore has stolen the hearts of both our heroes; will the two be able to stop their bickering (and their awesome fight scenes) before it's too late...
I'll admit the first few minutes had me worried; back stories are tough to do and going back twenty years in the beginning to show something the audience could have found out in other ways was pretty iffy. After travelling back to the future and then hearing James' voice as a ghostly echo made me cringe a bit. And that sped up bit with Britt in the garage, what was that all about?
Luckily, the action kicked off really well - there were some super choreographed fighting sequences which made me look at Rogen in a whole new light. Chauffers' hats off to Jay Chou who had some metaphorically big shoes to fill - the last dude who played Kato was Bruce Frikken Lee! There were a few nice references to Lee throughout the film including his famous one inch punch. Chou did a fantastic job both in the ass-kicking department and in the funny dude department. Kudos!
Rogen was great as well. I'd like to know how much (if any) of the script was improvised - I felt Rogen could have let loose a bit more, after all, he did write the thing! Even so, many laughs were had throughout the cinema.
I saw it in 3D which was pretty cool but not necessary.
The soundtrack was great with everything from Beethoven, Johny Cash and The White Stripes.
The car, Black Beauty (which is both black and beautiful) was so pretty - makes me want to go and pimp my Suzuki...
Overall, I had fun. Maybe it's a good thing to go into a film with expectations so low you trip over them; it's such a nice surprise when you're proved wrong.
Things I learnt: in case things don't work out for her, Cameron Diaz is a very efficient secretary; don't point gas guns right in your face; shiny car is shiny.
Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a chair leg in my eye.
Seven out of ten.