The Green Hornet strikes again - this time in 3D

Leading a pack of superhero 'reboots' heading to a cinema near you this year is The Green Hornet,  opening on both sides of the Atlantic on January 14, with Seth Rogen in the title role. Unlike Superman, Spider-Man and the like, the Green Hornet is a largely forgotten comic-book figure not seen since the 1960s.
 
Originally conceived as a radio series in the 1930s, The Green Hornet followed the exploits of Britt Reid, a spoilt publishing heir turned vigilante hero. Each episode would be introduced by an announcer declaring:

"The Green Hornet strikes again!".
 
Two movie serials followed in the early 1940s as well as a television series, starring Van Williams as Britt and Bruce Lee as his sidekick, the martial arts expert Kato, in the 1960s.
 
The new 3D version sees Rogen play the playboy publisher. When his father (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt inherits his newspaper empire. But although by day Britt is running The Daily Sentinel, by night he and Kato (Jay Chou) are determined to clean up Los Angeles' criminal underworld, headed up by the debonair Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).
 
With a script by Rogen and his Superbad writing partner Evan Goldberg, and directed by the versatile and visionary Frenchman Michel Gondry, the film is more a laidback buddy movie than a high camp romp or serious and sinister drama - the traditional ways to tackle a comic book remake (a la Batman's various incarnations). Gondry describes his film as a "super-antihero movie".
 
No doubt it was this approach that earned the filmmakers a hostile reception from Green Hornet fans at the annual Comic-Con fest in San Diego last summer. An unapologetic Gondry told the Guardian recently that he had not made the film for the "fascistic" fanboys.
 
"When you step into this genre, they feel it belongs to them. They want you to conform, or they won't like you. They want the conventional. But it's fine. The movie's been doing very well, I think, whenever we've screened it to normal people."
 
'Normal people' include teenage boys and young men, who, The Hollywood Reporter noted last month, are keen to see the film. If the industry bible is correct, Rogen and Gondry could see The Green Hornet take off as the surprise comic-book hit of 2011.
 
 
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:
 
David Jenkins, Time Out: "Gondry and writing team Rogen and Evan Goldberg have fun inverting superhero convention and not in the same pleased-with-itself way as Kick-Ass." (3/5 stars)

 
 
Simon Brew, Den of Geek: "It's muddled, certainly, and it struggles with an identity crisis it never comfortably resolves. But for around two-thirds of its admittedly bloated two-hour running time The Green Hornet is an enjoyable splash of Hollywood fun, and a welcome entry into the superhero genre." (3/5 stars)

Scott Mendelson, the Huffington Post: "The Green Hornet feels above all refreshingly old-fashioned. It's an action comedy built on character and the sheer joy of adventure, rather than oppressive special effects and overwhelming seriousness of purpose."

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