Long Haul is an entertaining ride

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (PG, 91 mins) Directed by David Bowers

After a trip to a family restaurant ends in social media shame, Greg Heffley (Jason Drucker) is determined his future won’t just be synonymous with ‘‘diaper hands’’.

There’s just one problem, instead of being at home this summer, he’s on a four-day car trip to Great-grandma Meemaw’s 90th birthday party in Indiana.

Things get even worse when Greg’s Mom (Alicia Silverstone) declares that the trip will be ‘‘unplugged’’, meaning he won’t even be able to find solace in his cellphone. However, just when he’s given up all hope, Greg discovers that Player Expo is taking place just a few hundred kilometres from Meemaw’s. Enlisting the help of big brother Rodrick (Charlie Wright), he plots a way to get there so he can meet his online gaming hero Mac Digby and potentially go viral again – for the right reasons.

Five years after time was seemingly called on the live-action adaptations of Jeff Kinney’s longrunning books series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is back – with an allnew cast. That hasn’t gone down well with some fans, although unlike older teen characters on shows like Beverly Hills 90210 it’s hard for someone much older to keep playing 12.

What has been retained though is the same sense of anarchic fun and relatively schmaltz-free family comedy that made those first three Wimpy movies such a delight for tweens and their accompanying parents. That continuity is perhaps down to Kinney’s return as part of the screenwriting team, as well as director David Bowers making his third appearance behind the camera.

Skipping forward to the ninth title in the series does however mean the story suffers from a bit of cinematic deja vu. The disastrous family road trip has been something of a staple over the last few years – from Vacation to RV to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, the latter sharing Long Haul‘s co-writer Adam Sztvkiel.

But while some of the set-pieces feel awfully familiar – horrific cross-country shortcuts, running feuds with fellow travellers – there are enough memorable moments to keep audiences, and in particular primary-aged kids, entertained and enthralled.

From the opening ball pit horrors to the ‘‘delights’’ of fairground deep-fried butter-ona-stick and a horrendous Cheezel/ spa pool interface, my two under10s were laughing like drains at regular intervals.

Bowers also deserves credit for two brilliantly executed Hitchcock homages and for bringing back a pair of 1990s icons – Tom Everett Scott and Alicia Silverstone to play the hapless Heffley parents, which they do with aplomb.

– James Croot