G-FORCE (PG).

Family/Action/Comedy/Romance. Zach Galifianakis, Kelli Garner, Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Gabriel Casseus, Jack Conley, Justin Mentell, Niecy Nash and the voices of Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, Jon Favreau.

Don the snazzy, plastic spectacles for producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s first 3D film, which proves that if you want a job done properly, hire a team of guinea pigs.

Screening in the eye-popping format in selected cinemas and 2D everywhere else, G-Force is a light-hearted romp laden with gizmos including jet-propelled rodent balls that allow the cuddly characters to swerve through traffic in the film’s centrepiece action sequence.

“We need back-up! Tell them we’re in pursuit of three guinea pigs in mobile spheres,” barks an FBI agent, charged with stopping the furry operatives, as director Hoyt H Yeatman Jr keeps the tone light.

The turbo-charged screenplay panders to the short attention-span of children by packing as many thrills and spills and poop gags into 88 minutes as is possible.

There are a few concessions to parents, such as a verbal nod to Die Hard when one guinea pig attacks a killer espresso machine yelling: “Yippee ki-yay coffeemaker!”

G-Force is fast-paced and inoffensive, throwing a giant robot into the mix for a pyrotechnic laden finale that tests the critters’ ingenuity and courage to the limit.

The human cast takes a back seat to the digital trickery, and the vocal performances warmly bring the animal characters to life.

Favreau and Buscemi snaffle many of the laughs, while Cruz purrs her lines as the femme fatale who has both colleagues hot beneath their collars.

The 3D isn’t overused, but there is a terrific sequence which trails Mooch as he swoops through the pet store, darting through the snapping jaws of some Venus Fly Traps.