The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2008)

Mark Addy, the plump beefcake from The Full Monty, doesn't have the hefty personality of John Goodman, who played Fred in the 1994 Flintstones; Addy's Fred is a big old sweetie pie. The rest of the road-company cast in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas matches Addy's amiable blandness, and in a way that's a relief after the 1990s glut of features badly remade from old TV shows. With no headliners to raise hopes, this negligible entertainment has its own boneheaded charms.

A prequel to the previous, coarser film, it explains how brawny Fred won over Wilma (Kristen Johnson) despite the objections of her Dynasty-gorgon of a mother (Joan Collins), and how dim Barney (Stephen Baldwin) shared stupidities with Betty (Jane Krakowski). Brian Levant directs again, from a script hacked by writers who deserve brontosaurus burgers for limiting themselves to just one gag involving dinosaur flatulence. C+

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