The Green Hornet was originally a radio series airing from 1936 to 1950. It is widely regarded as one of the best radio series ever created, according to the Oxford University Press.

It spawned a television series, two movie serials and a bunch of comic books. Now the Hornet has been brought to the big screen in its first full feature-length film. With all of this build-up, you might think the movie would be pretty good, huh?

Stop that train of thought right now.

This movie just really wasn’t good. It’s not a terrible movie, but honestly, I’m kind of upset that I spent nine bucks on this disappointment.

Director Michael Gondry, famous for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and more recently, “Be Kind, Rewind,” has a pretty good track record. The movies he’s made stuck to genre, had pretty good acting and were fairly imaginative.

I can’t exactly blame Gondry for the misleading advertising for this movie, but since the studio emphasized the sorely missing comedy from this film, one would think he might try and actually make the movie funny. That’s just me. I laughed out loud twice. That’s it.

But not all is rotten in this movie. There are a few shining spots of the film: Kato, Chudnofsky and the action scenes.  Kato, played by Asian pop sensation Jay Chou, is the actual competent part of the “Green Hornet” team.

He kept the movie entertaining. During the action scenes, which almost make the nine dollar purchase point worth it, he kicks all kinds of behinds. I guarantee you will love the “Kato Vision,” motif the movie keeps coming back to. It’s pretty rad.

Speaking of original, we have Christoph Waltz, famous for his turn as Col. Hans Landa from “Inglorious Basterds.” Once again he plays a villain with a very difficult name to pronounce and a very serious insecurity problem. This villain is highly original, which I love. He’s as sinister as any bad guy you could think of, but he’s properly fleshed out for how little screen time he actually has. It’s always a delight whenever he’s on screen.

Overall, this movie suffers from pacing problems, especially in the first half hour. I found myself squirming in my seat, waiting for the movie to pick up. The mood is difficult to figure out sometimes, the comedy is broken, Cameron Diaz and her subplots are useless, and the ending is abrupt and disappointing. The only good parts where the three I mentioned previously.

I highly recommend you wait for this to come out on DVD. I expect you’ll be able to view this by April. I wouldn’t see this again, though.