The Green Hornet had many scattered avatars, first as radio show, TV shows and then comics. From all, the most famous in pop culture was its ’60s TV show because of legendary Bruce Lee’s depiction of Kato, the martial arts-serving sidekick to playboy/vigilante Brett Reid/Green Hornet. Made on the popularity of the ’60s Batman television series, its highlight was Bruce Lee being himself.

This Hornet has no highlights. Director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) looks out of his whimsical element. However, the majority of Hornet’s blame should be put on Seth Rogen, who plays the lead, and is the co-writer with Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express). However, here the plot is virtually non-existent. Scenes often use fillings of make-shift comedy that points to pointless chases and dialogues (mostly delivered by Rogen), which, if but were funny, could have made Hornet a better misadventure.

Kato played by Taiwanese pop-star/actor Jay Chou, who I remember from Curse of the Golden Flower, is awkwardly cute as he stumbles on his English. As he’s no Bruce Lee, a plot device is introduced: Kato starts to see in slow motion, as his adrenaline is pumped up in moments of danger. As a reaction, he moves in lightening speed, which is a fodder for fascinating action sequences that are handled well in post-production.

As one of lesser known franchise material, The Green Hornet could have been interpreted in completely new and funny ways (if that was how it was to be re-imagined). As it stands, it is messy and lethargic with a lot of wasted material. — Farheen Jawaid