Mark Swift

There's so much manic energy in this animated action comedy that it can't help but entertain pretty much everyone in the audience, from kids who like fart jokes to adults who will enjoy the surprisingly sweet exploration of childhood friendship. Indeed, the central thrust of the film is resonant with meaning, which nicely grounds the outrageously colourful silliness.

The buddies at the centre are George and Harold (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch), pranksters who keep the other students at their school doubled up in laughter. But of course this also makes them the primary nemeses of Principal Krupp (Ed Helms) and the class tattletale Melvin (Jordan Peele). In desperation, Krupp declares that he is moving George and Harold into separate classes. And in a moment of panic, the boys somehow manage to hypnotise Krupp into believing that he's Captain Underpants, the nutty superhero from the comics they draw in their treehouse. But as they're enjoying their power over the principal, a more threatening villain appears in the form of their humour-hating new science teacher, Professor P (Nick Kroll).

While the movie is a little too manic for its own good, there's plenty to enjoy here. Not only does the story work on a variety of levels, but it's animated in a range of visual styles, from the somewhat plasticky main story to more intriguing traditional animation, flip-books, pen and ink, comic strips and even sock puppets. Every scene is packed with unexpected twists and visual invention. Nothing about this movie sits still for long, bouncing through its wacky story without pausing for breath. And the knowing style of humour makes even the most vulgar humour disarmingly hilarious.

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Clearly, it's a risky proposition adapting a cheesy vintage TV series for the big screen: this is the second one that's gone awry this year, after CHiPs. But it doesn't have to be like this. Lively movie versions of Charlie's Angels and 21 Jump Street proved that with inventive writing, snarky performances and deranged energy, the result can be thoroughly entertaining. Sadly, this movie falls back on cheap jokes that simply aren't that funny. Fans of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron will still have a good time - they're both unstoppably engaging - but the truth is that this simply isn't good enough.

We're back in Emerald Bay, where the beefy hotshot Mitch (Johnson) heads up the lifeguard crew with babes Stephanie and CJ (Ildenesh Hadera and Kelly Rohrbach). And now they're training up three new recruits: fallen Olympic swimming champ Matt (Efron), feisty hottie Summer (Alexandra Daddario) and pudgy geek Ronnie (Jon Bass). Meanwhile, as various crimes and calamities strike the beach, Mitch decides to investigate everything himself without the help of the local police. And as he becomes convinced that resort owner Victoria (Priyanka Chopra) is involved in bribery, extortion, drug running and murder, he sends his lifeguards undercover to catch her. Which of course is just a bit beyond what they were trained to do.

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Instead of developing the characters or situations for comedy gold, the filmmakers instead just crank up the chaos. So while some scenes are both funny and visually impressive, this second sequel is simply too inane to make us hope there will be a part 4. Very young kids may be distracted by the hectic pacing and hyperactive characters, but everyone else will quickly be bored by the nonstop mayhem, simply because there's nothing interesting going on.

Anxious lion Alex (Stiller), chatty zebra Marty (Rock), nerdy giraffe Melman (Schwimmer) and silly hippo Gloria (Smith) are living a Lion King-style existence in Africa, although their only hope for escape has just flown away. Namely, the brainy penguins and their monkey assistants. So our heroes follow them to Monaco, where they all end up on the run from the notorious animal control agent Dubois (McDormand). They run straight into a failing circus, which they set out to bring back to its glory days so they can catch the eye of an American promoter and go home to New York. To do this means working with the current circus acts: sultry cheetah Gia (Chastain), dorky sea lion Stefano (Short) and tetchy tiger Vitaly (Cranston).

The circus premise lets the filmmakers have a lot of visual fun with the characters, most notably in a riotously colourful Cirque du Soleil-on-acid performance in London. But the plot makes no sense at all (if they can get to Monaco, surely they could get to New York, right?), and there are so many new characters that the central quartet feels almost sidelined. Especially since they've also wedged in an under-developed romance for the lemur king (Baron Cohen). Yes, it's all over the place, and being busy is not the same thing as being clever or funny.

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