THUNDERPANTS is a gas - methane to be exact, because Peter Hewitt's sweet yet slight family comedy is the story of a young boy with the gift of flatulence.

The film is - by its very design - one protracted fart gag, but there's a sweetness to many of the characters.

Patrick Smash (Bruce Cook) is a mischievous schoolboy blessed with an embarrassing medical condition: chronic wind.

His only friend is pint-sized inventor Alan A Allen who has his own physical disability - he has no sense of smell.

Alan strives to make Patrick's life bearable by creating gizmos and gadgets to harness the boy's seemingly inexhaustible emissions. In time, the young inventor creates Thunderpants, which harnesses Patrick's gas and stores it safely for disposal.

When NASA learns of Allen's technical genius, and Patrick's special gift, they soon recruit the pair to help them rescue the crew of a stricken space station. Blast off!

Thunderpants is undemanding, inoffensive fun shot in a larger-than-life, comic book style. DS