Thunderbirds

A wealthy ex-astronaut (Bill Paxton) and his sons run an international rescue service with a fleet of really cool aircraft out of a secret base in the South Pacific. The hilariously goofy kiddie-puppet series of the 1960s comes to the big screen just as goofy but less hilarious. Like the original show, the movie—written by Peter Hewitt, William Osborne and Michael McCullers and directed by Jonathan Frakes—is more interesting for its look than for the story it tells. The nifty gleam to the production (nice work by designer John Beard and a regiment of effects technicians) and some witty moments keep us diverted for a while, but the story (villain Ben Kingsley plots to steal the Thunderbirds and rob banks with them) is mainly for undemanding preteens. Frakes’ direction is blandly efficient.