Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears  ★★½

THERE are some films you just know won’t be your cup of tea.

The Australian film Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears is a big-screen version of the ABC television mystery series.

Miss Fisher is a cross between Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes and Lara Croft, a woman able to do everything well, from flying planes to exchanging gunfire, all the while exercising both her impressive mind and sense of fashion.

She has been the stylish heroine of three seasons of the series which was initially in danger of being cancelled but has since been viewed in 170 countries.

The same legion of vociferous fans that saved the series also helped crowd-fund the attempt at a big-screen version.

Essie Davis, so good in The Babadook, attached the lead role with relish and no doubt this story set in the Middle East in the 1920s has enough fun and thrills to satisfy the fans.

For the rest of us, it’s too much of a B-grade Raiders of The Lost Ark with average action scenes and story and few engaging other characters.

The best sequence of the film is a flashback to a small village where an horrific incident occurred that is at the heart of this mystery.

The sequence stands out in a very old-fashioned romp aimed solely at an already captive audience.