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Two out of Five stars
Running time: 93 mins

This Belgian adventure animation is a little forgettable and uninspiring thanks to its lack of enthusiasm and comic value, inconsistent pace and predictable storyline.

What’s it all about?
Directed by Vincent Kesteloot and Ben Stassen (who also produces and co-wrote the original story), Sammy’s Great Escape 3D centres on Sammy and Ray, two happy leatherback turtle friends, who spend their days happily shepherding their grandchildren, Ricky and Ella. However, their tranquil routine is quickly thrown into a tailspin when Sammy and Ray are captured and shipped off to become part of a new aquarium show, built for rich tourists in Dubai. Eager to rescue them, Ricky and Ella follow them to the aquarium, where the elderly friends have enlisted the help of a lobster, an octopus, a bug-eyed blob fish and a colony of penguins to help them escape.

The Good
With its colourful animations and upbeat poppy soundtrack, Sammy’s Great Escape is likely to go down well with the younger crowd. The simple storyline is very easy to keep up with and the film’s ‘bad guys’ are fairly unintimidating and reasonably entertaining and so mini-viewers won’t be too confused or frightened. At 93 minutes long, Sammy’s Great Escape also knows not to overstay its welcome and although not groundbreaking, the 3D elements are decent enough.

The Bad
Sadly, although the younger ones might enjoy it, Sammy’s Great Escape doesn’t take after its counterpart, Finding Nemo, for being an amusing animation for the whole family to enjoy. Older viewers will find the poor jokes increasingly frustrating, along with the film’s generally poor dialogue, common (and thus predictable) storyline and Ricky and Ella’s whiney baby voices. And although the animation is good enough on the whole, Sammy and Ray are a little characterless, visually, which is a bit of a disappointment. Finally, the tone feels noticeably uneven (particularly in the first act) and the whole film can often feel like a trudge thanks to the combination of its low comic value, patchy pace and flat direction.

Worth seeing?
This flawed animation is not one for the whole family to enjoy but those under six should enjoy Sammy’s Great Escape 3D for its simple storyline, colourful animations and general sense of fun and adventure.