The Green Hornet

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is the party-loving, womanizing son of a wealthy newspaper editor. When his father dies, Britt is shocked back to reality when he realizes that while his father spent his life exposing corruption, he is simply wasting his potential. Embarking on a journey with his partner Kato (Jay Chou), Britt declares war on the gangsters of Los Angeles by becoming a masked hero, THE GREEN HORNET!
Movie genre:Superhero Action-Comedy
Rating:PG-13
Opening date:January 14, 2011
Starring:Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christopher Waltz, Cameron Diaz
Director:Michael Gondry
Tobacco Use:After their successful stoppage of the mugging of a couple, Britt and Kato celebrate with scotch and cigars. This is the only prominent use of tobacco in the film.
Movie Review
“The Green Hornet” is an entertaining film with equal parts action and comedy that made me want a sidekick. While I had doubts about Seth Rogen taking on a heroic role, he makes it his own by not attempting to be Batman in green. Jay Chou provides most of the duo’s fighting skills, putting a spin on the traditional hero-sidekick dynamic with the partner doing most of the work rather than the main character.
For all its entertainment value, I felt the film lacked a compelling villain, a threat that could elevate Britt’s exploits to something more than thrashing street thugs. While he does take on a truly heroic motive in the movie’s last act, which again twists the traditional “father dies, must avenge” idea (Lion King, Batman) into something almost original, the movie could have benefited from a more confident lead gangster and a more serious, more sinister primary antagonist.
 “The Green Hornet” does well for a January movie. But at any other time in the year, it’s a rental, the kind of movie you’d watch to make a dull night fun. Wait for it on DVD/Blu-Ray, unless you really need something to take the edge off winter.
In terms of smoking in the movie, Britt engages in a celebratory cigar back at his mansion after his and Kato’s first late-night crime bust. The presence of a solitary cigar could have easily been removed from the film but was used for comedic purposes.