Coming to life in its last 20 minutes with a pitched battle between wind-up toys and modern war toys for control of the factory, this is a fey fantasy with elements - coarse language, a sex scene, slow pace - that all mark it out as unsuitable for younger children. Robin Williams toplines as the son his dying father (Donald O'Connor) considers too immature to leave in charge, though O'Connor himself scarcely seems to live in the adult world. Enter, as the new boss, O'Connor's megalomaniac military brother (Michael Gambon) who sees real-life possibilities for miniature tanks and helicopters and shuts off most of the factory for his own nefarious purposes. Sounds like a great idea, and indeed brightness and invention is everywhere, but the film is nowhere near fleet enough of foot, light enough of hand or innocent enough of mind to succeed on almost any level. The attraction of the settings soon pales and tedium overtakes the story for long stretches when it seems that director Barry Levinson needs someone to wind up the clockwork key in his back.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes