Little Fockers

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Shoehorning in old characters as an excuse just to include their starry mushes, Little Fockers is another bland instalment in a franchise that shouldn't have gone beyond one film. It's very difficult to see this as anything other than a cash-in for all the main players, as one tired gag after another is churned out with a shrug of the shoulders and a sigh.

Ben Stiller's Greg Focker is now happily hitched to Teri Polo's Pam, with 5-year-old twins in tow. Everything seems to be hunky dory, and Greg has even been getting on better with Pam's CIA father, Jack (De Niro). But Jack is a bit fidgety; Dr. Rob has been cheating on his other daughter, and his dodgy ticker is playing up, so he redoubles his attention on Greg and continues to micromanage his family. Once more, he and Greg are at loggerheads - but will they kiss and make up by the end credits? If you're genuinely wondering "will they?", then this film is probably aimed at you.

There is something to be said for truly awful films: they often have a knock-on effect that causes directors, actors and indeed studios to question why something would turn out so badly. But mediocre films continually pass under the radar, miraculously finding an audience through their complete inoffensiveness. Little Fockers is the epitome of a star-ridden studio sequel that pleases as many people as possible - with the obvious exception of the audience.

Ben Stiller in particular is going from one extreme to the other, lately. Starring in the offbeat Greenberg after headlining another crap Night at the Museum film, he's a funny, creative guy with a default setting of 'awkward'. When the material isn't up to scratch - which has often been the case with his choices of late - it just comes off as repetitive and does the actor no favours. There are recycled gags from the first film here, which, althought funny, was by no means a classic to begin with.

Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and Owen Wilson also inexplicably pop up, apparently due to contractual obligations, because there's no creative reason why the three should partake in this film. Jessica Alba actually does a semi-decent job in a nothing role, but it's the series regulars, Stiller and De Niro, who should be pushing the quality control. The writers of Little Fockers have absolutely nothing new to say, but they made the movie anyway, simply because the last two were popular. But it's down to the stars to ensure that quality doesn't nosedive when the producers don't - and Stiller and De Niro have failed dismally on that count.

Predictable, trite, boring, unfunny and generally yawn-inducing, Little Fockers could really have done with a swearing baby. Expect a fourth film, Meet The Little Focking Pets, at a cinema near you soon.