There are real problems with this movie, and if you are in love with the action genre, you probably liked this movie even less--Roger Ebert called it painful to get through.
I saw it a little differently. It is walking the line between faithful adaptions of comic book heroes and 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'/'Kickass'. I personally much prefer the later to the former, which might explain why I didn't hate this movie.
First of all there is a first rate cast, and the two most talented members (Christopher Waltz and Tom Wilkinson) are really not utilized in any way commensurate with what they have to offer. Seth Rogan co-wrote the script, which may explain why he has the lion's share of the lines, and most of the good ones. Cameron Diaz has a role that makes her more than just a pretty face, which is never a bad thing (although both Rogan and his partner fail to value her mind over her more obvious attractions).
The part of the story that appealed to me is this--Britt Reid grows up the smart but spoiled son of a rich and powerful man. Where does that leave him? As is so often the case, when children are left big shoes to fill by their parents, they are ill-prepared to do just that, and so fail miserably. And they have no idea what it is that they want to do instead. They are drifters who no one feels sorry for because they so obviously have resources. True, this is not the curse that poverty presents. Far from it. But often they are also very unlikable, and they have difficulty finding happiness. Money helps with happiness--quite a bit--but it is not the solution, it just helps. So Reid is depicted as just such a man, and this is a dramatic attempt to find his bliss. There are plenty of car chases, explosions, tightly orchestrated fake fight scenes, and shooting to fill up the rest of the movie, but that's the part I liked best.
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