I have never seen the movies serials of the 40s or the 60s tv series of the Green Hornet and was not familiar about this vigilante crime fighter or his sidekick Kato, except that Bruce Lee played Kato. I wondered how would Seth Rogen fare as a secret crime fighter and he does his way – he plays Brit Reid his alterego The Green Hornet as Seth Rogen himself! And it didn’t really work out! Written by Rogen & his friend Evan Goldberg, the movie also stars Jay Chou as Kato, Cameron Diaz, Christopher Waltz as the villain & Edward James Olmos in a small role.

Britt Reid is a 28 year old spoiled rich son of the publishing giant James Reid, who owns the Los Angeles paper The Daily Sentinel. Britt sends his days partying and drinking. When his father is found dead from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Britt sobers up a bit. He fires almost all the staff aside from a maid and re-hires Kato, who is an ace mechanic and a martial arts expert. Britt & Kato bond over the excellent coffees that Kato makes and they both say that they hated James. One evening after getting drunk, they cut off the head of James Reid’s memorial statue and then save a couple from getting mugged. The cops mistake them for criminals but Kato is able to evade them in a car chase.

To make things interesting Britt convinces Kato that they should pose as criminals and fight crime instead, as the Green Hornet, which is what Britt calls himself. Kato develops a car outfitted with several gadgets and weapons, which they call the Black Beauty. Their target for capture is a Russian mobster Benjamin Chudnofsky. Add to the mix Lenore Case (Diaz) a smart assistant and researcher, who Britt hires to do a series on the Green Hornet. The duo blow up some of the Russian’s Meth labs and leave their calling card to instigate him. The Russian mobster calls them for a peace meeting which is a trap and they barely escape. Britt & Kato have a massive fight after an argument and Kato ends up getting fired.

Chudnofsky offers $1 million for killing Britt, not aware that he is the Green Hornet, because of the articles in his paper. The crooked police chief invites Britt to dinner and reveals that he arranged for James Reid’s death. Kato arrives to fight off Scanlon & Chudnosky’s men and their chase ends up at the Sentinel’s office. Scanlon & Chudnosky are killed by the duo who escape from the cops and meet up at Lenore’s house where they confess everything. Britt needs to be treated for a gunshot and although Lenore is initially shocked, she agrees to keep their secret and help them fight criminals. Later, the duo weld James’ stolen bust back onto his memorial statue.

Cameron Diaz has almost nothing to do in this movie and she looks a lot older than Rogen to be a love interest convincingly. Jay Chou is superb when fighting & dazzling us with his martial skills. Rogen is a misfit in this role. The movie offers us nothing much and I was highly disappointed as Rogen’s movies usually are funny. I would give this movie a 6 outta 10!