Activision’s new Funny People: The Game is a meandering mess, a collection of ideas better expressed in earlier titles with little to offer a discerning gamer. The unapologetic cash-grab features uninspired vocal performances, dull and unlifelike character animations, and a plot better suited for a third-tier Japanese RPG than a AAA summer release.

Based on this weekend’s hit movie, Funny People: The Game translates the Los Angeles standup comedy scene into a 2.5D brawler, full of sound, fury, and canned punchlines. Players choose from one of several fighters from the movie, from the sturdy but powerful Jonah Hill to the quick but weak Jason Schwartzman, and do battle across several stages.

While the game will be of great interest to anyone who saw the movie and said, “I want to see all these people get punched in the face,” the motion-capture performances prove to be just as wooden as Adam Sandler’s performance in the film. Punches that seem like they should land turn out to be thrown-off missteps, much like the stand-up comedy performances that punctuate the two and a half hour movie.

Female gamers are sure to take offense with the game’s portrayal of women, especially the Leslie Mann character who functions as the final boss in the game. The enemy is perhaps one of the most retrograde characters we’ve seen in video games in years, a conniving but weak temptress as quick to shift as midwestern weather. The overall effect is much like playing a game written by a spurned teenager lovesick over someone else’s girlfriend, and out to show the perceived slight by any means necessary.

The game’s graphics are unexpectedly vivid and often distracting, with oddly-framed levels, sudden dreamy lens flares, and long, quiet sections where we are apparently supposed to reflect on our own mortality. Player character models are well-realized, although Seth Rogan’s model appears about 40 pounds lighter than we remember him. However, enemy models consist mainly of stock knock-offs of Dane Cook and Larry the Cable Guy, hastily camouflaged and wearing slightly different outfits from level to level.

In the end, one wonders why Funny People: The Game turned out this way, with the incredible pedigree of its development team and the unexplainably large budget. After playing the game, though, this reviewer is left with the sensation that perhaps, the lives of standup comedians really aren’t the most interesting things in the world, and almost definitely not the grist of a AAA video game.

Final Verdict: Slightly more believable than 500 Days of Summer: The Game, but just as likely to have you scratching your head when you see the end credits roll.