Pretty but overrated

Rating: 4/10 (3 March 2001)

This movie is a grand, sweeping comic book of a movie and about as deep, though certainly well photographed for the most part. It was a shame to see so many good actors with sriking faces wading through such a formulaic script, though the sets were lovely. I suspect the only reason so many people have been blown away by the movie is that it features women fighting each other with more than marginal competence. The fight scenes are all too relentlessly high-speed to be savored, however, and the anti-gravity element gives the whole thing a puppet-theater quality which is jarring. I think I would have enjoyed the movie more if the characters had worn masks; the surrealistic, fairy-tale element would have made more sense then.