The success of co-directing 2005's Sin City with Robert Rodriguez obviously spurred Frank Miller to make more of the same.

Like that film, The Spirit has a comic book history; it's dark and brooding and provides a wonderful combination of the real and the imagined. But that's where the similarities end: Sin City is entertaining - thanks in no small way to an inspired lead performance by Mickey Rourke - but The Spirit is a mess.

It's a cinematic car wreck that keeps making you rubber-neck, even though you know it would be better for all concerned if you just turned away.

Not that the story is too bad: there's a policeman (Gabriel Macht) with powers he doesn't understand and bad guys (including a scenery-chewing Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus) threatening the stability of the city he patrols.

There's also some tasty eye candy (Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson) and some visual and creative tricks.

But Macht is wooden and the dialogue lacks the spark and wit that made Sin City so good. What we are left with is a production that is far too self-conscious. It wants to be cool but just doesn't make the grade. Extras: Green World featurette; Miller on Miller featurette; alternate storyboard ending with voiceover by Macht and Jackson; commentary with Miller and producer Deborah Del Prete; theatrical trailer.