The furry scourge of gardeners everywhere returns. But this instalment of Peter Rabbit is filtered through the kind of sly self-awareness that suggests the film-makers took on board the criticisms of the previous film and decided to run with them. Thus there’s a repeated joke about Peter’s annoying voice (James Corden returns as the lead bunny) and a meta gag about the commercial pressures that sever the screen adventures of Peter and chums from their chintzy Beatrix Potter origins.
Yes, the shadow of Paddington looms large. But there are some genuinely funny moments, and the madcap action set pieces – particularly a farmers’ market heist – are giddily inventive. Fur rendering and CGI is first-rate, for the animals at least. The humans fare less well: as Mr McGregor, the CGI Domhnall Gleeson at times looks like a collection of overstretched slinky springs in a man suit.