Without the special effects, this would be a routine and occasionally dull adventure, but the 3D animation is simply astonishing and the film is worth seeing for that alone.

What's it all about?
Thrill-seeking Nat (Trevor Gagnon), brainy IQ (Philip Bolden) and food-obsessed Scooter (David Gore) are three young houseflies who live near the launchpad for the Apollo 11 space mission. After a chat with his loveable grandfather (Christopher Lloyd) - who once saved Amelia Earhart by flying up her nose – Nat, IQ and Scooter decide to stow away on the Apollo 11 mission and become the first flies on the moon.

However, evil Russian fly Comrade Poopchev (Ed Begley Jr) can't stand the idea of American flies landing on the moon, so he dispatches a minion (Tim Curry as Yegor) to sabotage the mission. Will our plucky flies foil the plot and save the day?

The Good
The main reason to see the film is the genuinely stunning 3D animation – almost every scene has the characters talking and flying around right in front of you, while anything that could come out of the screen at you, does (hands reaching out to push buttons, test-tubes spinning in anti-gravity, that sort of thing).

The voice work is excellent, particularly Christopher Lloyd, while Nicolette Sheridan injects some va-va-voom with her implausibly sexy Russian fly, Nadia. In addition, there's at least one delightful sequence, even if you're not sure whether it's ripping off 2001 or the 2001 spoof scene in the 'Deep Space Homer' Simpsons episode.

The Bad
That said, the script is rather dull and there's very little humour (they do an 'Oh my Lord of the Flies' joke three times). Similarly, the animators have done their best to make the flies look cute but it's doubtful that they'll sell many tie-in cuddly fly toys.

Worth seeing?
The story isn't as much fun as the similarly themed Space Chimps, but Fly Me to the Moon is unquestionably worth seeing for its magnificent, state-of-the-art 3D effects. Basically, see it in 3D or don't see it at all.