‘Green Hornet’ succeeds as action comedy

The Green Hornet" walks a fine line between believable and absurd but manages to balance atop the tightrope throughout. The end result is a superhero movie that is pure fun.

Seth Rogen stars in the movie, is an executive producer and co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg. Friends since childhood, Rogen and Goldberg have collaborated on films such as "Knocked Up," Superbad" and "Pineapple Express." The banter and sense of humor in "Green Hornet" is similar to their previous efforts.

Rogen plays Britt Reid, a rich playboy who inherits the family newspaper after his father's sudden death. He meets his father's genius mechanic Kato (Jay Chou) and the two bond immediately. A night of vandalizing his father's statue turns into the two stopping a crime in progress, and a brilliant concept is born: they will fight crime while using the newspaper to label themselves as criminals.

At one point Kevin Smith was in line to write and direct the film. He summed the plot up perfectly when he said, "I dig the fact that he kicked off a run of billionaire playboys who decided to put on a mask and fight crime and that he was Batman before there was a Batman."

The major difference between the Green Hornet and Batman is the dynamic between hero and sidekick. Kato is no Robin. He constantly bails out Reid with lightning-quick martial arts thanks to an ability to slow time down with his quasi-superpower heightened adrenaline ability. Director Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") uses this skill to create unique and entertaining scenes that combine elements of fights from "The Matrix" and "Sherlock Holmes."

Chou is an overseas star with an American breakout waiting to happen after a nearly flawless performance in a role originally intended for his idol, Jet Li. Along with acting, writing and directing, Chou is a famous pop singer in Taiwan.

Despite the new role of a hero, Rogen comes off as the same witty slacker with a heart of gold whom he has always played, and it works. He would not be believable as a true superhero, but the script smartly calls for him to play second fiddle to Kato. Reid's ego and the duo's misunderstood dynamic lead to plenty of snide remarks and amusing arguments.

The film benefits from the brilliant casting of Christopher Waltz as Benjamin Chudnofsky. Nicolas Cage originally had the part, but thankfully he dropped out due to creative differences in the first week of filming. Fresh off his Oscar win as Col. Hans Landa in last year's "Inglourious Basterds," Waltz brings the same sarcastic wit to "Green Hornet" as an aging crime lord facing an identity crisis. He won't be winning an Oscar for this role, but like the rest of the film, his character is humorous and entertaining.

Cameron Diaz plays Reid's secretary Lenore Case, the third point in a barely existent love triangle. Her character provides little to the movie other than someone for Reid and Kato to fight over while she unknowingly supplies the duo with direction in their vigilante endeavors. Diaz is the weak link in an otherwise strong chain of characters.

The other star of the film is "The Black Beauty," Kato's supercar creation featuring bullet-proof windows, flame throwers and turret guns, among other gadgets. The car was created by modifying 29 Chrysler Imperials from 1964-66.

"Green Hornet" benefits from daring to be different. It manages to provide a sarcastic take on the typical dynamic duo while avoiding becoming campy. While no 3D effects are worth the extra ticket cost, "Green Hornet" creatively implements the technology with some of the best post-production 3D to date. The film is more comedy than action, but fans of either genre will enjoy it.

"The Green Hornet" hits theaters tomorrow.