Given that the BBC sitcom Dad's Army is still so revered after all these decades means that any film adaptation with almost an all new cast will be on a hiding to nothing.

The film still has the upside down focus between Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson. The former a fastidious Little Englander bank manager. The latter, a more urbane and charming public school educated subordinate as well as a womaniser.

The plot involves the Nazi's sending a secret spy to Walmington on Sea to discover the Allies D-Day plans. She is Catherine Zeta Jones masquerading as a glamorous journalist claiming to write a feature on the Home Guard. She charms most of the men in the town particularly Sgt Wilson who she knows from her days at University.

The film has more female characters including Mrs Mainwaring and Private Godfrey's sisters who play a pivotal role in unmasking the spy.

There are some inspired scenes where Mainwaring gets mistaken for Winston Churchill. I admit to being surprised to see Frank William's pop up again as the Vicar and Ian Lavender also turns up playing a different character.

Toby Jones does well as Mainwaring channelling his inner Arthur Lowe. Bill Nighy comes off even more posh than John Le Mesurier and I felt that his character did not even belong as Mainwaring's number two.

Tom Courtenay was underwhelming as Jones, Michael Gambon was spot on as Godfrey.

The characters go through the popular catchphrases and even the theme tune turns up several times but the retread is just too workmanlike and lacked imagination.

The film was too uneven, as a gentle comedy it was fine but at times it strays into smutty farce which is more Carry On especially in the scene where Fraser moons at the Nazis.

This is a film version of a famous and funny TV series of the same name. In the last war the home guard consisted of mainly older men protecting Britain's shores: the series and now this movie portrays their comical adventures.

Unfortunately most of the characters in the movie version are inferior clones of the series. The making of this movie seems to have been rushed. A script that is mostly poor and unfunny and I could not wait for the picture to end.

In the TV series what made it so amusing was the strong interplay between the main male players. The lead actors wife was talked about but never seen nor were female recruits visible if at all. The film makers have ruined the picture by failing to give us a picture that does justice to the original series.

2 and a half, rounded up =

3/10

I grew up with the 1968 series Dads Army. It sat cheerily alongside other quality Brit comedies in a similar vein, such as It Ain't Half Hot Mum and complimented top US military comedy shows, such as Hogans Hero's.

That said, much as I desperately wanted to love the new film based on this wonderful series it simply lacks the clever comedic wit and wry humour of its predecessor. Indeed, it would be fair to say it comes armed with everything except humour. This film offers up great sets, a good choice of location, excellent costumes, a predictable but not unlikable story and a stellar cast.

Sadly, that's about it. The comedy is thin on the ground and a good portion of any humour there is amounts to very innocuous, mildly sexual jokes, mostly directed at Catherine Zeta Jones, spy character. "Did you slip her a sausage?" one woman asks Jones the butcher.

Simply put, this is such a terrible waste. A more polished script, infused with comedy of the period and maybe a few new twists, could have seen this film shine, paying homage to a wonderful series I can still happily watch 47 years later. Instead, what you get, is weak tea without the sugar. I'm sure Arthur Lowe's, Captain Mainwaring, would not have been impressed. Four out of ten from me.