The Green Hornet **

Another loooooong day at the Brussels Motor Salon has left me brain-dead, though I shall attempt to write at least one coherent sentence in this 'Green Hornet' review. That is, if I manage to stay awake long enough to get to it.

Right, so, 'The Green Hornet'. Media magnate cum superhero-at-night Britt Reid with his trusty ninja sidekick Kato: their adventures aren't really known on the European continent (at least not to people who don't regularly frequent comic book stores) as they're primarily part of American lore.

I've read in Total Film that this superhero duo stems from a 30's radio show, then went on to gain popularity through a 60's television series (with the inimitable Bruce Lee as Kato) and was about to be remade during the 90's with George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee.

Until now, though, Hollywood hadn't been able to bring 'The Green Hornet' to the big screen.

It took the unlikely writer duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who got to know each other on the editorial staff of the US 'Ali G' show and then puked up a slew of - at least in my humble opinion - mediocre 'comedies' such as 'Superbad', 'Knocked Up', 'Funny People' and 'Pineapple Express') to bring the project back to life.

I'm glad to say 'The Green Hornet' is aye lot better than 'Superbad' and 'Knocked Up', which I thought were pretty unfunny. (Rogen seems to think he's pretty funny in those movies, and there's something irritating about the guy's intonation and timbre which makes the chills run down my spine.)

Maybe I should first elaborate on what the movie's actually about, so here it goes, real quick: a no-good heir to a media magnate, Britt Reid (played by Rogen), plans to fight crime in the city of Los Angeles. He conjures an alter ego in the form of The Green Hornet, a superhero who cleans the LA streets at night. All this with his trusty sidekick Kato (a very good Jay Chou), an expert in martial arts and a supremely skilled car tuner.

Contrary to the protagonist in most superhero movies, the main character in 'The Green Hornet' is a washed-out douchebag who'd get his a** kicked by his grandmother. So it's kind of funny to see him stumble onto the LA crime scene, which in this film is dominated by this Chudnovsky fellar (supremely embodied by Christoph 'Hans Landa' Waltz), only to f**k up so bad that each time out, he needs his sidekick to bail him out.

Don't expect grand cinema when you go to see this film; indeed: you'll probably have forgotten what the movie was about by the time you reach the exit doors.

What will have stuck with you will be the mesmerizingly photographed action (the crew used a total of 29 1965 Chrysler Imperials to make this film; only three survived the shoot), a surprise turn by Jay Chou and dead-on performances by Waltz and Cameron Diaz. And a great soundtrack (Rolling Stones, White Stripes, David Bowie, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash) to boot.

Still can't stand that Rogen guy, though...