Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow review

Our hapless arachnoid investigator bumbles through jazz age intrigue with some charm, but spinning out the slender plot gets a little tiring

There is some fun to be had in this family animation about a creepy-crawly detective – though I did wonder if it might turn out to be less entertaining for its target audience than for the grownups watching with them. It’s set in the jazz age, and the film-makers have invested plenty of loving detail into their universe, right down to the art deco end credits. Precocious seven-year-olds may spot the Agatha Christie references, and the film noir inspiration behind the purring femme fatale black widow spider who is accused of bumping off her 13th husband.

The movie’s hero is Inspector Sun (voiced by comedian Ronny Chieng), a spider with waxed moustaches and a gold-topped walking cane. He bears more than a passing resemblance to Hercule Poirot – though he’s not exactly endowed with little grey cells. In fact, Inspector Sun is a classic nepo baby, given a leg up (or eight) by his police chief uncle. He is a prize nincompoop, and Chieng does a good job pulling off his irritating overconfidence without being too grating.