Green Hornet proves fun and faithful

The Green Hornet is an anomaly.

A long-running character who straddled the line between Batman-like superhero and Shadow-esque pulp hero, he is best known for the 1960s television series that featured Bruce Lee as Kato and introduced the world to the martial arts expert.

The initial premise of the 1930s radio serial created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker was simple: Newspaper publisher Britt Reid and his valet Kato fought corruption at night under the identity of the Green Hornet and his nameless chauffeur.

And now it’s a movie directed by indie-favorite Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), starring Seth Rogen as the title character.

Here, the unexpected crew takes the title character and transforms his universe into a story that stays true to the Green Hornet’s history, since there isn’t a strong mythos beyond the pairing of Reid and Kato. But the film does offer something fresh for the superhero genre.

When his father (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Reid finds himself in charge of a struggling newspaper and desperate to do something with his pent-up emotions over his father’s death.

Enter Kato (Jay Chou), a jack-of-all-trades whose skills range from martial arts to mechanics, skills that Reid lacks. After some bonding, the pair begin to fight crime as a means to do something with their otherwise wasted lives.

As the Green Hornet, Rogen is surprisingly good for what initially feels like a random role for the actor. There are times, especially in the beginning, where he comes across as a hyper-inflated version of the boorish characters he tends to play, but it works.

Rogen’s antics help solidify Reid’s immaturity and desire to do something with his life. When it comes to the more serious moments, however, Rogen manages to mature and bring some depth to the role.

As Kato, Chou is brilliant. Although he could easily be relegated to fight scenes, Chou infuses Kato with a snarky wit, a fun-loving attitude and numerous little quirks and reactions that could easily go unnoticed, but help flesh out the character.

The film is as much about fighting crime as it is about Reid and Kato’s relationship, and the actors make it work. Some of the best moments are their bonding scenes. The pairing is central to the film, and with any other set of actors, it might have sunk the movie.

Another pleasant surprise is Christoph Waltz as the film’s villain, Chudnofsky. the Inglourious Basterds actor brings a mix of menace and eccentricity that perfectly fits the tone of the film. Like Chou, Waltz’s small touches to his character, from trying to come up with cool ways to reinvent himself to his sporadic outbursts during action scenes, add a deeper layer to Chudnofsky and keep the film from focusing too heavily on the Reid-Kato relationship.

Under Gondry’s direction, the action is surprisingly strong. Kato, as is the tradition since the Bruce Lee days, is an unstoppable fighting machine. Some of the fights begin small, but by the end of the film, the action is pervasive and incredibly creative.

The climactic action scene, a three-part set piece, rivals that of any other action film produced in Hollywood and, thanks to the performances, feels more energetic than most.

Gondry is known for turning his movies into heavy metaphors — Be Kind, Rewind on the movie-watching experience or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on love — and The Green Hornet has a similar theme, although it is satisfyingly subtle.

The idea of identity and public image is brilliantly weaved through the film, from Reid to Chudnofsky.

At times the film can feel a bit blunt, but its strong performances and subtle themes give it surprising depth.

Is The Green Hornet what Trendle and Striker had in mind with the character? Probably not. The humor can be a bit overdrawn, and the plot could have been a bit tighter. But despite the unlikely assembly of collaborators, The Green Hornet is a surprisingly fun film that stands on its own, transcending the genre it belongs to.