‘The Green Hornet’ overloads on 3D gimmicks

On paper, “The Green Hornet” seems like it should be a classic. “The Green Hornet”

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz

Directed by: Michel Gondry

Film studio: Columbia

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Grade: C+

On paper, “The Green Hornet” seems like it should be a classic.

It features “Superbad” screenwriting duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, not to mention critically acclaimed director Michel Gondry. But instead the result is two hours of squandered potential.

The film is a new remake of the classic 1930s radio program that was remade into countless movies and television shows in the ’50s and ’60s. Rogen plays the main character, Britt Reid, the 28-year-old son of wealthy newspaper editor James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). .

Following his father’s death, Britt fires the man’s entire staff, with the exception of Kato (Jay Chou), his driver. After Kato and Britt stumble upon a crime in progress and thwart the would-be criminals, Britt decides that the two should become a superhero duo.

The catch to Britt’s heroic ambitions is that he and Kato plan to disguise themselves as criminals to better infiltrate crime syndicates. Britt uses his father’s newspaper, the Daily Sentinel, to push the image of his new criminal persona “the green hornet.”

There are moments of classic Rogen genius in the film, as well as glimmers of Gondry’s creative directing. But the film can’t help but reduce itself to cheap predictable humor coupled with gimmicky 3-D graphics.

The 3-D aspect of the film doesn’t help it in the least. In a market flooded with cheesy 3-D superhero films, “The Green Hornet” wastes any potential it has to be a genre-bending classic with three-dimensional explosions.

The most unfortunate aspect of the film is that it delivers lukewarm performances from all of its key players. Rogen performs his typical lovable underachiever character, but without the unscripted feel of his earlier endeavors.

Newcomer Chou has moments of genuine chemistry with Rogen, providing a faint hope for a Rogen duo reminiscent of “Pineapple Express.” Unfortunately, even the apparent chemistry between Rogen and Chou can’t salvage the film’s cliché ploys.

The few moments of genuine entertainment only make the film’s overall mediocrity less palatable.

Gondry, whose resumé includes “The Science of Sleep” and “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind,” provides his trademark idiosyncratic style, but it is overshadowed by the overdone superhero plot and flashy 3-D effects.

“The Green Hornet” isn’t a particularly bad film, but given the credentials of those involved, it heartily disappoints.