STARDOG AND TURBOCAT (U)

FIFTY years after he blasted into space on a Nasa mission, dog Buddy (voiced by Nick Frost), pictured, thaws out in the town of Glenfield, where homeless creatures are ruthlessly hunted by police officer Peck (Cory English). The confused pooch pleads with sardonic cat Felix (Luke Evans), who leads a double life as a caped crusader, to help him locate his space capsule.

“TurboCat works alone, dog breath!” hisses Felix, conveniently ignoring his omnipresent robot companion Sinclair (Bill Nighy).

Buddy’s hunt for clues leads to the headquarters of the Glenville Underground Animal Rights Division (Guard) run by liberated magician’s bunny Cassidy (Gemma Arterton).

She suspects the capsule’s hyperlithium power source could protect the town’s animals and rallies her troops including cat Todd (Robert G Slade), goldfish Bullion (Ben Bailey Smith) and mouse Tinker (Rachel Louise Miller).

Written and directed by Ben Smith, StarDog And TurboCat is a misfiring computer-animated caper aimed at very young viewers. The film cross-breeds elements of Superman, Batman and The Secret Life Of Pets in a barking-mad battle for survival.

Animation quality pales next to the polished output of Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks and pacing careens from sluggish to breathless.

“I learnt the hard way, there’s no such thing as magic,” laments Cassidy during one heart-to-heart.

Spend 90 minutes in the company of Smith’s film and you might think the rabbit has a point.

■ Download/stream from March 23 and available from March 30 on DVD/Blu-ray.