A circus family, struggling to keep their quaint enterprise out of the hands of a rapacious evil uncle (yes, that old chestnut) finds deliverance in a box of the title confections that magically turn anyone who eats one into its designated beastie. 

When it comes to summoning one’s “inner child” in order to, say, appreciate a movie aimed at kids, I consider myself more practiced than most. But this time the kid (do NOT call him Don Jr.!) was baffled right off the bat by the highly convoluted setup and the overlapping villains as well as protagonists. Then he joined the adult me in simply being bored by this harmless yet charmless flick. Some small value as a babysitter movie, but some may see that as child abuse.

Voice talent includes Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Danny DeVito and Ian McKellen (and see if you can catch Sly Stallone’s cameo voice role). (105 min)