Look! Eddie Murphy as an animated comic sidekick! Oh, and there's Mike Myers and his "amusing" Scottish accent. Will someone please hold my aching sides? [Memo to Myers: please take your Celtic issues outside] And, please, can I never hear Smashmouth on a movie soundtrack again? Ever? Surely a dead-cert for most over-rated movie of the year, this fails on so many levels, it's difficuly to know where to start. Irritating characters, pointless Tarantinoesque pop-culture references, irrelevant subplots, fart gags, character animation so lacking in detail you'd be better off watching a late-60's episode of The Flintstones...all in all, it's a convincing argument for renewing Disney's monopoly. Indeed, the only laughs I got were the odd digs at Mouse-schwitz, thrown away in a rampage towards another utterly pointless scene - and does anyone know why Robin Hood was made French?
For what it's worth, the hugely predictable plot limps along three notches below Ladyhawke, with Diaz as a princess who turns slightly homely at sunset, in need of rescuing from John Lithgow. I needed someone to rescue me. At the risk of being crude, it's an entirely appropriate title, since this falls somewhere between dreck and shit. Do yourselves a favour: watch The Princess Bride instead.
E+