Sinbad, the most notorious rogue ever to sail the seven seas, has a problem. He and his crew have boarded a ship with the intention of stealing the legendary 'Book of Peace' from Sinbad's childhood pal Proteus (Joseph Fiennes). But they must put their plans on hold when Eris, the Goddess of Chaos (Michelle Pfeiffer), sends a monster squid to drag them down to Davy Jones's locker.

But that's not the problem. The problem is that in a multiplex near you, some kid is thinking: "Haven't I seen all this before?"

These are dark days for traditional animation. Despite an all-star voice cast and the usual marketing blitz Stateside, DreamWorks' latest 2-D caper struggled to gross $6.8m in its opening weekend. Compare that to Pixar's CG opus "Finding Nemo", which has already made $300m in the US alone.

Money isn't everything though, and there's much to like here - a gag-filled script, impressive visuals and Michelle Pfeiffer's classy villainess.

Also, in a genre dominated by male heroes ("The Road to El Dorado", "Treasure Planet"), it's refreshing to see a female lead in Catherine Zeta-Jones's tomboyish Marina, who assists Brad Pitt's brash Sinbad in his quest to retrieve the Book of Peace and thus save Proteus from execution.

However, the all-action set-pieces (including run-ins with Sirens and a giant bird of prey) can't disguise the bland uniformity of the human characters, all of whom conform to western conventions of Caucasian beauty. Hang on a minute - didn't Sinbad originally appear in the "Arabian" Nights?

"Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 25th July 2003.