Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind

How could a short from the Robbie the Reindeer stable, featuring voice talent like Ardal O'Hanlon (not to mention the other galaxy of stars), especially one taking the mickey out of classic SciFi, fall so short of the mark?

Well start by getting writers who's other major claim to fame is the Amazing Adrelalini Bros, a slapstick micro-cartoon almost completely devoid of wit or humour. That would explain the appallingly unfunny script.

Then hire a first-time director who's major prior achievement was acting as a gangster in a video game. That would explain the pacing -why it felt like they were trying to tell a 2 hour story in 22 minutes.

It doesn't explain why they chose to do a CGI version of claymation. And not particularly good CGI at that. This is a poorly crafted, charmless mess. It will forever sully your memories of the brilliant original (Hooves of Fire), as well as being half an hour of your life that you'll never get back.

Like the other Robbie Reindeer films, this one is amusing, exciting and has a good length. Though not quite as good as the others, having more spoofs on Sci Fi films than the others, this remains to be hilarious, exciting and pleasant! Robbie and Donner are just about to become married, when all of a sudden Robbie hears a strange voice nearby, calling for him. Interrupting the wedding, Robbie goes off to find the voice and meets an alien who gives him a crystal to help save the world from being blown up by another alien race. Meanwhile, the evil aliens land at the reindeers' "hotel lodge", where Donner is kidnapped by their evil queen! Robbie must do something!! Good for anyone who enjoys short, funny, plasticine films about the fun son of Rudolph! Enjoy "Robbie The Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind"! :-) (Funny title, no idea why it's called that.)

It is approaching the day of Robbie's wedding to long term girlfriend Donner. All the planning is going as well as one could expect given his shambolic best man and the couple even get a feeling of good luck when they think they see a shooting star the night before. However on the day it transpires that that star was indeed an alien craft that carried the power source for the ultimate weapon owned by an alien race coming to destroy Earth. With the guardians of the earth too far away to respond, it is down to Robbie to ensure they do not recover the power source.

The third in the entertaining film series pretty much carries on from the second film in terms of tone and approach. I mean this as a way of echoing my comments on that film because this is roundly entertaining and produced a few laughs and a general amusing air, even if it wasn't ever hilarious, sharp or that inventive. The plot is reasonably good but it is the characters and jokes that drive it forward. The characters continue to be solid enough with some nice additions while the jokes are mostly good. There are a few references in there which are not that clever but they are nicely done regardless.

The cast continues to be populated with stars, I assume drawn in by the publicity and the fact that the BBC's profits for this all go to Comic Relief. O'Hanlon continues to do well, particularly since Robbie is a bit more together version of Father Dougal. He leads the cast well and is quite amusing. Horrocks continues with less of the good material but as usual the guest names are worth mentioning. Knightly is OK; Anderson is a nice bit of casting given she plays the alien queen; likewise Ozzy Osbourne as a bat is a good joke. Brand was good (which is not something I often say) but I'm not sure what part Ellis-Bextor played, or if she counts as a "star" anymore.

Anyway, overall this was another solid film in the series. It is funny without being hilarious and quite clever without being that smart or sharp; as before it provides solid entertainment even if I still can't shake the feeling that the BBC are still missing the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit on Christmas Day.