If you can ignore Mel Smith's poorly directed 1997 effort, you might get to enjoy the sequel Mr Bean's Holiday a little more. For sure, this isn't much more adventurous and you can fairly predict what is likely to happen - a holiday and of course, yes it going wrong, but this should still please Bean fans even if it treads familiar ground leaving others to utter the odd stifled yawn.

Written by Robin Driscoll, Simon (Vicar of Dibley) McBurney, Hamish McColl, and director Bendelack, the collaborative effort, has the tweedy Bean out of his distinctive yellow mini and into the local church where he contrives to win the local Church fete's big prize, a holiday on Eurostar to the South of France (in this case Cannes) with a digital camcorder thrown in. There's a link here to Jacques Tati's creation Monsieur Hulot but of course this is still very much a Bean film, as our ever clumsy hero contrives to miss his connecting train, lose his luggage, and split up a Russian father and his son Stepan.

The film is mildly funny and was enjoyed by children with me. The story dips a bit in the middle (when Mr B is stranded in the middle of France and the gags seem to become long drawn-out and as a result unfunny) and you also feel the screenplay should have got Bean to Cannes quicker to exploit the greater comic possibilities there.

The ending returns Tati-like back to Monsieur Hulot as Mr Bean heads out through the door, over a billboard sign and down over cars and lorries to the beach, with the whole cast singing in an enjoyable stylistic ending.

The idea for the film was probably conjured up over a lunch in Cannes and the plot probably sketched on the back of a restaurant serviette by Working Title execs, and could have done with 1-2 more laughs.

The plot scenario and the obviously bankable character may seem over-exploited, but as a film to take the kids to it's harmless and will keep them amused.