The classic musical-based plot of the new Annie movie holds up, but the songs are a bit shaky

MOVIE REVIEW: The new Annie movie has a sturdy musical plot to draw on that holds up well, but the rearranged songs are mighty shaky.

Annie (PG)

Director : Will Gluck (Easy A)

Starring : Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Cameron Diaz, Bobby Cannavale.

Rating : **1/2

Story holds up without sound foundations

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In Annie, we have a pleasing enough second movie adaptation of the famous stage musical about a lowly orphan girl hitting the heights in New York City.

Pleasing enough is one thing. Come on now. Who could possibly be offended by such a sunshiny song-and-dance affair like Annie?

But is Annie really good enough? That’s a whole other thing.

The sturdy old plotting of Annie does bears up well to a slew of modern renovations.

That’s mainly due to the irresistible lead performance of little Quvenzhané Wallis (the youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscars history for 2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild).

Best friends ... Quvenzhané Wallis in a scene from the movie Annie.

This kid is so adorable, she could ask for the access codes to nuclear warheads, and they would be handed over with a friendly pat on the head.

An updated storyline sees Annie initially toughing it out with her fellow orphans in a dubious foster home run by a disoriented ex-pop singer (Cameron Diaz).

A chance encounter and a sudden rescue sees Annie invited to move in to the penthouse of one of New York’s richest men, a mobile phone tycoon named Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx).

Adorable girl ... Quvenzhané Wallis with Jamie Foxx in Annie.

Mr Stacks is in the process of running for Mayor, so temporarily adopting a walking, talking photo-opp like Annie ain’t gonna hurt the polls none.

Little Annie goes on to become big friends with Stacks’ pretty assistant (Rose Byrne), and gets on the wrong side of Stacks’ shifty campaign manager (Bobby Cannavale).

It’s perky pantomime stuff on all storytelling fronts, by and large, and very agreeably done considering the target age groups that will be watching.

Lots of highs ... a scene from the movie Annie starring Australia’s Rose Byrne.

However, the filmmakers’ handling of the production’s vast array of winning songs gets a lot harder to like with each passing minute of Annie.

All that director Will Gluck really needed to do was tell Wallis and her fellow cute moppets where to stand, and when to warble.

Straight renditions of supersonically infectious classic cuts such as It’s the Hard Knock Life, Tomorrow and You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile would have done all of the heavy lifting necessary to make Annie a top-shelf movie musical.

New songs ... are forgettable in the new movie Annie.

Instead, the results never rise above the middling. Every number in the Annie songbook has been rearranged for rearrangement’s sake. In some select cases - such as the once-beautiful I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here - it is like you are hearing them for the very first time.

Those songs that do skew closer to their original forms still don’t catch the ear and keep it in the manner expected.

Vocal treatments that have been Auto-Tuned to processed perfection are probably the main reason the music fails to truly connect. The addition of a few forgettable new tracks do not help, either.

If nothing else, the makers of Annie are guilty of overheating a dish that would tasted just fine if served at room temperature.

Originally published as The classic musical-based plot of the new Annie movie holds up, but the songs are a bit shaky