TRAILER: Seth Rogen in "The Green Hornet"

Plot: Seth Rogen plays a hard-partying heir to a publishing throne who decides to give up his lifestyle and clean-up the streets after his father is found dead. So think of it like a younger, less brooding version of Batman.

Cast: Jay Chou plays his trusty, martial arts expert slash gadget-provider sidekick Kato. Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) plays the main villain. And Cameron Diaz plays his secretary slash love interest.

Rogen has been slowly gearing up to play the iconic comic book character The Green Hornet for a while now, even before it was announced that he would write, produce, and star in it. The first sign that he was about to switch genres on us was his slow integration into action films, with Pineapple Express and Observe and Report. One did well. One weirded us out. Neither convinced the public that Rogen was action hero material. And, of course, it didn't help that Ryan Reynolds was then cast in The Green Lantern, and proceeded to strut around his set with a ridiculously tight six pack. Reinventing yourself with such stiff competition can be hard.

So for the next few minutes, I'm going to pretend like I don't know Seth Rogen. I've never seen him 50+lbs heavier. I haven't heard his goofy, semi-Beavis&Butthead laugh. And he hasn't been a comedian for the last 10 years. Nope. He is now a newcomer, a fresh face on the action scene.

Release Date: January 14

The Verdict: Ok I couldn't pretend. lol I was afraid that Chou's lack of star power would diminish his chemistry with Rogen, but they're pretty in sync for complete strangers, especially since Rogen is so accustomed to starring alongside his real life friends. My favorite parts were the Kato = swiss army knife comparison, accidental gassing, and the traffic cam explosion—cause who doesn't wish they could do that? All in all, I'm glad they decided to add some humor to it. There's no way Rogen's usual audience could fully enjoy this unless he made them laugh at least once. With any luck, after this, he'll be able to do a full-blown drama without one smirk.