Norm of the North

A talking polar bear (Rob Schneider), alarmed at the threat to his arctic habitat from an evil developer (a hyper-caffeinated Ken Jeong) planning to build upscale condos, travels to New York to protest; once there, he’s mistaken for an actor in a bear suit and becomes a media celebrity. Daniel Altiere, Steven Altiere and Malcolm T. Goldman’s script has no story, just a fuzzy environmentalist hook (polar bears!) and a mad rush of warmed-over ideas from slightly better animated movies, thrown at us in a desperate hope that something will stick. Nothing does; the movie is a shapeless mess that lands with a pathetic thud. Director Trevor Wall isn’t ready for the big screen; his animation is cheesy and gimcrack, more suited to the straight-to-DVD bargain bin that is the movie’s true destination. J.L.