When a young rabbit has a prophecy that the communal burrow will be destroyed by man, a group of survivors seek out a new home, unaware that there are far more vicious rabbits out there.

Bright Eyes, burrrrning like fire! Or rather not. This is a very different version of Richard Adams’ 1972 cunicular classic than the 1978 animation that claimed a number one hit in the UK singles chart for Mike Batt and Art Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes. And it’s not (so far) as terrifying for youngsters who back in the day assumed they were going to get Disney’s Thumper but instead witnessed vicious claw slashing and a one-eyed monster bunny.

This new four-part version by Noam Murro (300: Rise of an Empire) is being shown in two parts in the UK as part of the BBC Christmas lineup and on Netflix elsewhere. Featuring an A-List cast (John Boyega, James McAvoy, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Colman) and with a luscious and exciting score by Federico Jusid, it has all the ingredients of a classic, and yet… something is not right with the animation.

I’ll goes as far as to say that the 1978 painted cels were more realistic than this modern CGI, which is just too jerky and unrealistic. No one is looking for photorealism, and the backgrounds are suitably panoramic, but the movement of the bunnies is too turn-of-the-century computer game footage. Another issue is that they all look the same when they’re running (and there’s lots of running). Only when the rabbits are conversing can you differentiate between them, though John Boyega has a dark tuft of hair to identify him.

Verdict: It’s a classic story (a bunch of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world looking for sanctuary and finding other groups of militant scavengers) but this rendering is nothing special, and Peter Capaldi’s comedy seagull aside, it’s all a bit grim. 6/10

Nick Joy