The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle

First of all, it should be noted that the film makers here had respect and affection for the source material, and it shows. Rather than just enticing audiences with known characters and titles, then assaulting you with a worthless script (as happens all too often in TV show "adaptations"), this movie pays due homage to the irreverent satire that was the original Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon, by staying close to its theme.

Much of the original schtick is here: the frantic narrator, the inside jokes, the brutal political satire, the cluelessness of "our heroes," and of course, the wonderfully awful puns. The oaf super spies from Potsalvania, Boris and Natasha are here, as is their "Fearless Leader."

On top of that, several celebs drop by for some clever cameos, in a "Muppet Movie" style way. There are some good one-liners, and everybody seems to be having fun doing the movie.

But it just doesn't click. Jokes seem to be presented in an "in your face" manner, slapstick routines are overdone, and end up just looking like pale impressions of the original. The story and script seem contrived just to set up situations for the "comedy." The animation of Rocky, and even more so of Bullwinkle, look awkward, almost eerie. I almost felt like asking Moose and Squirrel: "Wassamatta U?"

Sincere but misguided. Gets lost somewhere between Pottsalvania and Frostbite Falls, and just isn't worth the time to find it again. Rent compilations of the original cartoon series instead.