Postman Pat - film review

Mike Disa's big-screen CGI version of the much-loved BBC children's series has been criticised in some quarters for being too scary. This is madness. It’s the job of a children's movie to terrify. I saw Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs aged four and spent the whole time trying to shield my eyes and ears from the horror. What doesn't kill you, etc.

Jess the cat — or rather the snarling, killer-robot version that runs amok in Greendale, provoking such concern — is fine. More worrying is the film’s script, especially in the middle section. It’s topical enough — Royal Mail-style jobs are under threat from non-unionised robots and a Britain’s Got Talent-style show dominates Saturday nights — but it’s a tad under-witty. This is especially surprising given that Stephen Mangan plays Pat; you wait for jokes that never arrive.

Still, one lovely sequence sees prototype robots attempting, and failing, to charm an old woman (the cameraman’s mother). And the talent-show sub-plot — Pat enters the competition to pay for a holiday abroad — allows for a hilarious anti-Ronan Keating gag. (Keating’s in on the joke, mind you: he provides Pat’s lovely singing voice.) The ending, too, is zippy. Ignore the haters. There are far worse ways to spend 88 minutes of your life.

Watch the London Live interview Stephen Mangan, below