Shorts was pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the previews (whether you think that’s a plus or a negative), with the added layer of a contrivance that we - including the child with us - found really annoying: the story is told in a series of “shorts” (hence the title), telling the story in chunks that are out of sequence. What the heck? We all agreed that it would have been far more enjoyable had the story been told in chronological order.

There is some mild language, and “affectionate” name calling between friends, but by far the biggest issues in the movie are the scenes of bullying, which include both the main character getting regularly picked up and stuffed head-first into a garbage can, and a scene where one of the bullies eats the main character’s favourite goldfish (which is subsequently saved by the tiny aliens getting it to pop out of her mouth).

Running a close second, though, are the scenes which may be too intense for younger children, such as the alligators marching to attack the kids, the man being transformed into a giant Transformer-like monster, and the mob fight scene that breaks out during a party.

Oh, and don’t get us started on an entire segment devoted to “The Booger Monster”, in which a child picks his nose, and sticks the mucus into his scientist father’s matter conversion chamber, causing the mucus to mutate into a 6-foot “Booger monster” that tries to eat the family (he is bested when the same child picks his nose again and threatens to eat the Booger monster’s “friend”). Yuck.

Don’t get us wrong - there are some cute moments - even some funny ones. But they are not funny or cute enough - and certainly not good enough - to overcome the bad.

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