Blu-ray

The Green Hornet is undoubtedly a disappointment for fans of both the masked vigilante himself and of inventive filmmaker Michel ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ Gondry. With Gondry at the helm and a slimmed down Seth Rogen playing the Hornet, you might at least have hoped for something truly unusual. But instead what we have is a pretty standard mix of comic book action and tired comedy antics, with virtually none of the visual flair or creativity we’d been hoping for.

Picture: The Green Hornet may not be a great film, but it does make for a pretty spiffy looking Blu-ray in both its 2D and 3D incarnations. Unlike previous Sony Pictures releases, the 2D and 3D incarnations of the film are spread across separate platters (much the same as Disney does with its 3D releases), with the stereoscopic disc only playing back in 3D-equipped kit.

The 2D version boasts an extremely agreeable AVC 2.40:1 1080p encode that does a superb job of capturing the film’s often bold colour palette and intricate detailing – ably demonstrated by the restaurant showdown in Chapter 13, which goes from the vivid green of the Black Beauty’s lights to the fine debris flying through the air following the explosion. The 3D incarnation is much the same, looking ever so slightly duller, but still incredibly solid and making pretty creative use of the extra dimension during sequences such as the ‘Kato Vision’ and first fight in Chapter 4. It’s not exactly ‘in your face’, but it’s an enjoyable and accomplished 3D presentation all the same.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: Both versions of the film are accompanied by the kind of loud and brash DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix you’d expect from a comic book action film. No opportunity is missed to create some whiz-bang directional effects, with the car chase that runs through Chapters 14 and 15 proving particularly effective, and big explosions (as typified by the unusual escape from being buried alive in Chapter 10) pack in plenty of room shaking bass.
Audio rating: 4/5

Extras: The 2D disc is stacked with goodies including an audio commentary, nine deleted scenes, a gag reel, six behind-the-scenes featurettes, MovieIQ functionality, a BD-Live link and a virtual cutting room allowing you to assemble your own clips from the film and share them with friends. The 3D disc ditches all of these, bar the commentary and BD-Live link, but adds its own dedicated bonus feature – 3D Animated Storyboard Comparisons. Here you’ll find 3D animated storyboards for seven sequences running below the relevant clips from the film – although, weirdly, the film clips are presented in 2D!
Extras rating: 4/5

We say: Despite an impressive 3D encode, Gondry's Green Hornet is surprisingly flat comic book flick.

Sony Pictures, All-region BD, £30 approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 3/5