The Tale of Despereaux

Scratch a CGI fairytale and you'll find an allegory about class, particularly if rodents are involved.

While the film's heart is certainly in the right place, and while certain moments exude honest warmth and refreshingly direct truth, on the whole there is nothing about this computer animated epic that remotely sets it apart from the crowd.

. The plot is too convoluted and there are too many characters to keep track of.

[The directors] can't quite locate a core of buoyant energy in the film as a whole.

The Tale of Despereaux may not be a classic, but it still has a lot of class.

The film contains a certain storybook quality that is quietly appealing, though the story is ultimately flat and uninvolving.

The mediocrity of the story is rivaled only by its terribly indistinctive character designs and video game equivalent animation.

With so many story threads to weave together, the makers of The Tale of Despereaux can't help getting their plot in a tangle, but Sigourney Weaver's delightfully wry narration prevents things from unravelling completely.

The film likely contains enough of DiCamillo's spirit and intelligence to please fans of the vastly superior novel.