The 90s saw a rash of old television series turned into feature length, live action films. Many of them were pretty awful. The Flintstones, anyone? In fact, most of them were awful. Car 54, Where Are You? So, I approached this film with more than a little trepidation. However, I did really like the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoons that used to play on Nickelodeon (I wasn't born yet when the series originally aired). So, I gave the picture a try, and was pleasantly surprised.

The evil trio of Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader (Jason Alexander, Renee Russo, and Robert De Niro) worm their way out of cartoon-dom and enter the real world as humans. As usual, they want to take over the world, but this time, their plan has a chance of working. They are going to subjugate the world by turning everyone into mindless drones with RBTV (Really Bad Television). They could have just used prime time from the major networks. Rocky and Bullwinkle are saved from rerun-land and enlisted to help combat Fearless Leader's diabolical effort. Rookie FBI agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Perabo) is sent to guide the duo across the country to save the world.

If you liked the 1960s cartoon series upon which this film is based, you'll like this film. It has the same pluses, including the puns so terrible they're funny, the historical references, and the ever-present narrator. It also has the same minuses, including jokes that fall flat and lengthy sections which are so bad they're uncomfortable to watch. An overall faithful (at least to the spirit of the original) update, the film is predictably inconsistent.

Perabo shines as the goody-goody Karen Sympathy. It's too bad her next film was Coyote Ugly. Oh, well, she'll probably go far anyway. DeNiro is funny as the person we're all afraid he actually is in real life. He has real potential as a comic actor, as evidenced in Analyze This! and the recent Meet the Parents.