The Green Hornet (Cert 12, 119 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertain-ment). Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson **
Media magnate James Reid (Wilkinson) dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, leaving his empire to his wastrel party-loving son, Britt (Rogen). He forges an unlikely friendship with chauffeur Kato (Chou) and together they fight crime on the city streets. In his guise as The Green Hornet, Britt strikes fear into the heart of the underworld controlled by Benjamin Chudnofsky (Waltz). Sexy secretary Lenore (Diaz), who has a degree in criminology, proves a valuable ally in stoking the mythology of The Green Hornet to splash across the front pages. Unfortunately, Britt underestimates the determination of Chudnofsky, who intends to swat the masked heroes and seize back control of Los Angeles. The film sports a flimsy, illogical plot and a blitzkrieg of headache-inducing action sequences. The script is puerile, clumsily teeing up set-pieces which include a ridiculous chase around the newspaper offices.
Arthur And The Great Adventure (Cert PG, 102 mins, Entertainment In Video). Starring Freddie Highmore, Robert Stanton, Penny Balfour, Mia Farrow and the voices of Selena Gomez, Lou Reed, Jimmy Fallon, Stacy Ferguson, Snoop Dogg, Iggy Pop ***
Arthur (Highmore) is staying with his grandmother (Farrow) and eagerly awaits the end of the moon’s tenth cycle and his return to the Minimoy village, home to his beloved princess Selenia (voiced by Gomez). However, Arthur’s parents (Stanton, Balfour) throw a spanner in the works by cutting short their stay. Poised to leave, Arthur is shocked when a spider deposits a grain of rice in his hand engraved with a plea for help. Fearing Selenia and her little brother Betameche (Fallon) are in peril, the lad hastily improvises a passage back to the Minimoys where he joins forces with bar owner Max (Snoop Dogg) and his pickpocket cousin Replay (Ferguson) to outwit Malthazar (Reed) and his son Darkos (Iggy Pop). The film plods from the start and barely moves into second gear.
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