THE live action version of Gerry Anderson's cult "Super-Marionation" series is go...

Dastardly criminal mastermind The Hood (Ben Kingsley) sends Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his four eldest sons - Scott (Philip Winchester), John ( Lex Shrapnel), Virgil ( Dominic Colenso) and Gordon (Ben Torgersen) - on a bogus mission into deepest outer space.

In their absence, The Hood invades Tracy Island with the intention of using the Thunderbirds craft for his own nefarious purposes, including robbing the Bank of England.

However, youngest son Alan and his best friends Fermat and Tin-Tin rumble The Hood's cunning ruse.

The plucky teenagers step fearlessly forward to save International Rescue, aided by secret agent Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) and her trusty chauffeur Parker (Ron Cook).

Thunderbirds is a vision of glorious kitsch.

From the animated credits sequence, the screen is saturated with bright colours and eye-popping special effects that recall Gerry Anderson's cult 60s TV show.

Some aspects of the small screen series have been updated for the 21st century.

The Tracy brothers now wear silver spandex spacesuits and Brains (Edwards) has obviously been tinkering with the engines of Thunderbird 2 because the massive green leviathan moves faster than I ever remember.

It's a pity that Jeff and the older boys are left in deep space limbo for most of the film to make way for Alan's Spy Kids-lite heroics.

Perhaps the mooted sequel will redress the imbalance.

Jonathan Frakes directs at a brisk pace, seamlessly integrating the special effects, and he teases out solid performances from the youngest actors.

Myles is a delight, dressed head to toe in a succession of pink outfits.

Her fist-fight with The Hood's goons, somersaulting and pirouetting on high heels with all the grace of a world class gymnast, is the film's highlight.

As for Kingsley, he plays his villain to the hilt, aided by lots of eye shadow and a handful of camp mannerisms.

Fans of the original show will probably despair at the shameless Americanisation of a British institution.

However, youngsters are guaranteed an F.A.B. time.

DAMON SMITH