Cert U 91mins Stars 1

It’s never a positive sign when reviews are embargoed until the day of release, as they were for this animated adventure.

The first movie was a solid win at the box office taking £94m on a £23m budget, and so here we are three years later with an unlooked for sequel to an unloved but reasonably successful movie.

An evil mayor has plans to turn the tranquil green oasis Liberty Park into a cash generating amusement park to line his own pockets. So reluctant hero Surly the squirrel rallies his friends to fend off the diggers.

The first was dim witted and this one aims for lowest common denominator in most departments.

However this does have Chinese megastar Jacki Chan voicing a ninja mouse, presumably parachuted in by the Chinese producers in order to market the film to their local audience.

This may be tolerable only if you’ve exhausted every other avenue of entertaining the kids during the holidays.