DC LEAGUE OF SUPER PETS

Cert PG

105 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild violence, threat, language

Holy mindwarp! You have to be of a certain age to remember when Batman was a character whose biffs and bops went along with a wacky script.

Yep, we loved Adam West as the Caped Crusader with Burt Ward as his sidekick Robin and the likes of Burgess Meredith and Caesar Romero as the fiendish Penguin and Joker.

Batman could never be taken too seriously in the 1960s which is probably why we have never warmed to his bleaker modern movie representations.

Thus, it was a relief to see a movie which injected the humour back into the DC stable, albeit via the superheroes' pets.

Jared Stern and Sam J. Levine's animation takes older folk such as us back to the times we enjoyed comic heroes for being fun not dark.

It is centred on Krypto (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), a puppy who stowed away with the baby superman when he was rocketed towards earth by his parents as their planet collapsed.

Years later the pair are happy best friends who help humanity fend off disasters while also putting criminals like Lex Luthor (Marc Maron) in their place.

However, much to Krypto's dismay, Superman's love for Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde) threatens what he sees as a perfect set-up.

And, while Supes (John Krasinski) takes his eye off the ball, a manic hamster (Kate McKinnon) threatens to take over the world.

It transpires that Krypto's only way to help turns out to be in cahoots with a rejected pet shop dog (Kevin Hart), pot-bellied pig (Vanessa Byer), tortoise (Natasha Lyonne) and red squirrel (Diego Luna).

The  quickfire Johnson/Hart combo works particularly well.

Let's be honest, DC League Of Super Pets is daft - but in a good way.

Its outcomes may be predictable but it is quick-witted, has fast action and some genuinely funny moments and as well as neat moral messages for the kids.

The final word: Jared Stern: "Jared Stern: "Dwayne is so great in the movie, he’s just a wonderful actor, voice actor, and the perfect voice for Krypto the Superdog because who better to play Superman’s dog than Dwayne Johnson. Our Krypto is a little cocky before himself, which obviously Dwayne could do well, but he’s also a little bit sad, a little vulnerable. And so he just nailed it.” The Direct