The Angry Birds Movie (Cert U, 97 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Animation/Comedy/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99/Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray £27.99/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray £29.99 or on-demand from various streaming services)

Featuring the voices: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Sean Penn, Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Keegan-Michael Key.

Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) is an outcast on Bird Island, where the rest of his flightless flock tweet peace and harmony. An unfortunate incident with an unhatched egg lands Red in court where Judge Peckinpah (Keegan-Michael Key) sentences him to a course in anger management led by perky clucker Matilda (Maya Rudolph). Fellow attendees include wise-cracking live wire Chuck (Josh Gad), who can move at superbird speed, the aptly named Bomb (Danny McBride), who self-combusts when surprised or stressed, and hulking Terence (Sean Penn), who communicates in booming growls. When a ship full of pigs led by smooth talker Leonard (Bill Hader) arrives on Bird Island, supposedly in peace, Red is the only inhabitant to sense impending disaster. When his doom-laden prophecy comes to pass, Red, Chuck and Bomb seek out the island's mysterious protector, Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage). The Angry Birds Movie is a feature-length animated spin-off from the fiendishly addictive smartphone games. Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly's film is a lot of fun so long as you ignore the flimsy and predictable plot. Animation quality doesn't soar to the dizzy heights of Pixar, but the co-directors maintain a brisk pace and the screen shimmers with bright colours. Screenwriter Jon Vitti peppers this haphazard, but energetic flight of self-discovery with a barrage of dreadful puns and dad jokes that will inspire as many groans as giggles. Thus, one anger-management therapist bird proudly advertises herself as a free-rage chicken, pigs aspire to wear Calvin Swine underwear, and a poster advertises Kevin Bacon's return to the stage in... Hamlet. Thankfully for parents, there's no fowl language.

Rating: ***