If there’s one actor who enjoys bursting into song, it’s Ewan McGregor, as can be heard in 2001’s Moulin Rouge!, which is enjoying a re-release, celebrating its 25th anniversary.

He has also sung in a Disney animation, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast as Lumiere. And he sings again in yet another animation here, as the Wish Collector accompanying two children on their adventure.

Living in a house on a top of a hill, over-looking the sea, are young twins Elise (Alisha Weir) and Alfie (Andre Shen). They are missing their father, who is a sailor, and has been away from home from some time.

Their mother (Jessica Henwick) gave them a gift their father left for them, that looks like a watch that doesn’t tell the time. They soon discover that it’s a wish watch, that summons the Wish Collector (McGregor) to their bedroom, and soon whisks them away to the Land of Sometimes.

Once there, he informs them that the watch can grant six wishes, but they have to do so before winter comes, when the land disappears.

It’s a strange land they find themselves in, and they soon discover they have to be careful what they wish for, as three wishes each are very precious indeed.

As animations go, this British feature is at least a pretty one. Unfortunately, it’s let down by a bland and uneven story. The land the children find themselves in doesn’t make much sense; there’s no cohesiveness to any of its sections, nor the characters that live there.

And the characters themselves, such as the Watch Maker, just exist, and don’t serve any other purpose than that, making them very much two dimensional in every sense.

The film isn’t helped by the children either; there’s something grating about them, especially Elise, as the pair sound obnoxious brats, played possibly by precocious Sylvia Young alumnus, who deserve all they get, quite frankly.

There’s a laziness in the story throughout, hobbling together elements previously used, like flying through the air à la Mary Poppins, and a talking time piece such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast; and they even steal an entire section, having a labyrinth containing talking doors (yes with a pair of knockers, sigh), that appeared in the 1986 film Labyrinth. It also features a flying ship, that has been seen numerous times, such as 2002’s Treasure Planet. And we recall a story/film that also involved wishes granted rubbing a lamp, which was quite popular. The fact that it’s an animated feature, that can be as creative as it likes, only makes its unoriginality even more offensive.

And there are songs, with a few written by none other than Tim Rice, but they are all woefully insipid and instantly forgettable.

It’s the first animated feature for Leon Joosen – and it shows – and although having worked on a number of shorts, telling a feature-length story hasn’t been his forte.

The Land of Sometimes had a lot of potential, but the result isn’t going to make the top of any wish-lists, as it’s all too wishy-washy.