When I think of the word ‘superhero’ Seth Rogen—the awkward fella that starred in Knocked Up or The 40-Year-Old Virgin—isn’t the first person to pop into my mind. If you compare him to other conventional fictional characters, he lacks many of the stereotypical superhero qualities. Just think of Hugh Jackman’s masculine physique in X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Christian Bale’s innate bad-boy Batman persona inThe Dark Knight and, well, you’ll know how Rogen doesn’t quite fit.

But director’s Michel Gondry’s (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) The Green Hornet isn’t meant to be ordinary. Based on the 1936 radio series, the film details the life of Rogen’s character Britt Reid.  Reid’s bachelor lifestyle of wild shenanigans and partying are rattled following the death of his father.  As an heir to his father’s large company, by day Reid reigns over as a newspaper publisher and owner. At night, the masked vigilante fights crime with his father’s assistant Kato. Starring Jay Chou, Kato is best described as a “human Swiss Army Knife.”  Chou’s fighting abilities are beyond impressive and outshine Rogen’s. Along with his writing partner Evan Goldberg, Rogen co-wrote the script to seamlessly match and adhere to his inability to convincingly play a typical and over-the-top superhero. And it works.

The twosome protect citizens by breaking the law in Los Angeles, the city where people think the duo are villains rather than heroes.  With the help of Reid’s new secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), the pair work toward hunting down the city’s surprisingly witty underworld leader Benjamin Chudnofsky, played by Christopher Waltz. While Waltz easily mesmerized audiences with his daunting portrayal of the Schutzstaffel in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 Inglourious Basterds, as a villain he fails—quite purposely—to entice a similar fear from his audience.

With its action-packed 3-D scenes, good humour and lightheartedness, The Green Hornet will take you on an enjoyable ride where—if you’re up to it—you can put that fly swatter you brought with you away.

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Michel Gondry likes to mess with people’s heads. In 2004′s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” the French filmmaker delved into memory erasure with confusing, beautiful results. In his numerous music videos (Radiohead’s “Knives Out” and The White Stripes’ “The Hardest Button to Button” among them), Gondry often uses complex filming techniques to create intricately layered pieces. And in his latest effort, “The Science of Sleep,” he explores the spaces between dreams and reality, using many of the visual techniques he has experimented with before.

The Spanish-, English- and French-language film follows Stéphane Miroux (played by “The Motorcycle Diaries’” Gael García Bernal), a young artist who returns to Paris from Mexico at the request of his widowed mother.

Though the “art job” she tempts him with turns out to be menial office work, Stéphane entertains himself through both his imaginative, involved dreams and his growing affection for neighbour Stéphanie (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of the inimitable Serge Gainsbourg). The two unite in their creativity, forming a bond that is romantic at times and tragic at others — particularly when Stéphane’s dreams begin to take over his reality.

In the numerous dream sequences, Gondry constructs an entirely unique world with extravagantly detailed set design that all but ignores the sleek style of CGI effects. The sets are, in essence, full-sized versions of eccentric, over-the-top dioramas. There’s a full city made of cardboard, a murderous oversized electric razor, and even a scene in which Stéphane lumbers around violently with two huge papier-mâché-like hands.

To counter this extensive eye candy, Gondry gives us a touching love story. As Stéphane battles with his physche, his relationship with Stéphanie is subject to a set of incredibly affecting highs and lows that are both real and imagined (with the line between the two always blurred).

This film is Gondry at his very best, both as a creative filmmaker and a moving storyteller. In “The Science of Sleep,” he uses fantasy in stunning, innovative ways but firmly grounds it with a love story at the movie’s core. Ironically, Gondry has created a dream-filled romance that is far more real than anything to appear on-screen in recent memory.

9/10

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