A physician who can talk to animals embarks on an adventure to find a legendary island with a young apprentice and a crew of strange pets.

For his first non Iron Man/Marvel role since 2014, Robert Downey Jnr has opted to dive headfirst in to a light hearted family film, and while most of what I have read doesn’t sing the praises of this film at all, I thought it was a nice, warm, slightly goofy family adventure film.

Joining Downey Jnr in this adventure is an eclectic voice cast, featuring John Cena, Will Arnett, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Chris Robinson.. and the list goes on.

Written and directed by Stephan Gaghan, who has been known for much more dramatic films (Traffic, Syriana, Gold) until now, provides quite a few laughs, some warm moments, and all in all, paints a picture of a band of misfits coming together to become a family.

The effects and CGI are fantastic, and although this film may come across as a little “eager to please” at times, you must remember that this is a “talking animal movie” and is thusly aimed mostly at kids – and as a bit of a child myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Critics be damned- if they wanted depth and deep meaning, they should have watched something else.

This is a kids/family movie, so enjoy it for what it is, and don’t try to turn it in to something it’s not.

If nothing else, it’s better than the Eddie Murphy versions…

7/10

Rick Trewin.