STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits <br /><br />A spoof comic relief take on the re-generated comic book movie trend, with Rowan Atkinson in the lead as Spider-Man (a.k.a. Peter Piper!!!) and Jim Broadbent and Tony Robinson as Batman and his sidekick Robin.<br /><br />Atkinson was reportedly going through a bit of a bad patch when this was made, and it shows as this is certainly not one of his best works. The main running (and most obvious) joke ('oh, look out Spider-Man, it's Batman!!!' 'No, it's Fathers 4 Justice!!!') gets annoying and over-used and I don't think Batman and Robin were meant to be cast as two middle-aged men who're famous for appearing in more high-brow stuff than this. The supporting cast, from rising comic talent Mackenzie Crook to singing hottie Rachel Stevens, don't add anything that couldn't have been done (potentially better) by anyone else. The spoof Michael Jackson interview Atkinson did a few years back for CR is an example of how he can make this kind of thing work, but this is one to avoid. *