‘Arthur And The Great Adventure’ dull and visually lacking

(Cert PG, 102 mins, Action/Animation/Comedy)

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robert Stanton, Penny Balfour, Mia Farrow, Ronald Crawford, and the voices of Selena Gomez, Lou Reed, Jimmy Fallon, Stacy Ferguson, Snoop Dogg, Will.i.am, Iggy Pop.

Arthur (Freddie Highmore) is staying with his grandmother (Mia Farrow) and eagerly awaits the end of the moon’s tenth cycle and his return to the Minimoy village, home to his beloved princess Selenia (voiced by Selena Gomez).

However, Arthur’s parents (Robert Stanton, Penny Balfour) throw a spanner in the works by cutting short their stay.

Poised to leave, Arthur is shocked when a spider deposits a grain of rice in his hand engraved with a plea for help. Fearing that Selenia and her little brother Betameche (Jimmy Fallon) are in peril, the lad hastily improvises a passage back to the Minimoys where he joins forces with bar owner Max (Snoop Dogg) and his pickpocket cousin Replay (Stacy Ferguson) to outwit Malthazar (Lou Reed) and his son Darkos (Iggy Pop).

‘Arthur And The Great Adventure’ plods from the start and barely moves into second gear when the action changes from live action to computer animation.

Highmore loses all emotion when he is reduced to a mere voice, matching lacklustre performances from his co-stars.

Action sequences are brief and the detail in the visuals is lacking next to ‘Toy Story 3’ or ‘How To Train Your Dragon’.

Writer and director Luc Besson throws in some saccharine family bonding and romance with all of the usual messages about cherishing the world around us.

As one of the two-dimensional characters in the film coos: “Our mother is Nature”. A noble message delivered without verve or wit.

‘Arthur And The Dull Adventure’ would have been more apt.

Rating: 3/5