It is difficult to discern from this latest film spinoff from the TV series why these two bears and their friend Vick have been so successful

If you’re a card-carrying member of the substantial fanbase of the Chinese animated television series Boonie Bears, which has already spawned half a dozen feature films, you probably know more or less what you’re getting into here. If you’re new to it, welcome to the life of two bears and their friend Vick, a former logger. This adventure focuses on Vick, and explores the road less travelled, via an alternative-realities-slash-time-travel plot involving wispy guardians of the timelines and mad scientist hocus pocus gone awry.

Say what you will about the likes of more traditional “what if” stories such as A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life, but they do at least keep things simple. Boonie Bears: Time Twist is nothing if not convoluted.