THE PLOT: Frank Miller, the creator of Sin City and 300 directs this visually arresting adaptation of the comic series about a rookie cop (Gabriel Macht) in the crime-riddled metropolis of Central City, who returns from the dead as the masked avenger The Spirit (12A).

In his new guise, The Spirit wages war against arch-nemesis and cold-hearted killer Octopus (Samuel L Jackson), with the help of punk secretary Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) and various henchmen.

Aided and hindered by a bevy of beauties – including girl next door Ellen (Sarah Paulson), jewel thief Sand (Eva Mendes), young cop Morgenstern (Stana Katic), phantom sister Lorelei (Jaime King) and nightclub dancer Plaster Of Paris (Paz Vega) – The Spirit fights to restore justice to a city where the good die young.

THE VERDICT: Like Keanu Reeves’ latest offering, The Day The Earth Stood Still, this film set alarm bells ringing when advance media previews were cancelled. It’s clear to see why the distributors were nervous – while this is dripping with Frank Miller’s trademark cool visuals, the flat, silly script lets it down.

The dialogue is so ridiculous you can almost sense the A-list cast cringeing, action scenes lack pizzazz, and were it not for the striking production design, the whole unstructured mess would be one big bore.

If the camera spent as much time developing its one-dimensional characters as it does poring over the curves of a procession of beautiful women, the story would have had half a chance.

As it is, we’re left with a pale imitation of the excellent Sin City, with a hollow core.

Rating: 4/10