The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle

Jay Ward's 1960s animated TV series is fondly remembered for its pun-filled humour. This, however, is a misguided animation/live-action crossbreed. Escaping cartoonland for the real world, Fearless Leader (De Niro) and accomplice Natasha Fatale (Russo) launch a secretly located TV station to bombard the populace with programmes of such hypnotic inanity that everyone feels compelled to vote Fearless president. Via some fantastic plot mechanism (and some average computer generated images), their arch rivals - squirrel Rocky and dim-witted moose pal Bullwinkle - are enlisted to help FBI agent Karen Sympathy (Perabo) track them down. Yes, we know the film's poking fun at Hollywood and TV, but the gags are mostly insipid, and when they do hit the mark, they're pitched too high for youngsters.