When the director of a film criticises his own work, there's not much hope left for the movie paying public is there? That is exactly what French director Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine) had done here. Kassovitz was openly scathing with the producers of this production. His original cut came in at a whopping 160 minutes but when the distributors shaved it back to a more conventional running time, Kassovitz saw red to the point where he pretty much wiped his hands of the whole thing. After watching it, we can see why.

Set a few decades into the future, Vin Diesel stars as Toorop, a mercenary gun-for-hire who accepts an assignment from Russian mobster Gorsky, played by Gerard Depardieu (wearing the most ridiculous looking make-up seen in quite a while on an actor). He is given the task of smuggling a young woman named Aurora (Melanie Thierry) - who could quite possibly be the only hope for the future of mankind - from a convent somewhere in Russia to New York.

With a messy storyline and screenplay to boot, the film feels disjointed and lacking true punch. Diesel looks uninterested as do the others. The only bright spark is that Kassovitz has done a credible job in creating a futuristic society but this coupled with the obligatory car chases, shootouts and high tech explosions, certainly does not make up for its boring plot.

With its original running time of 160 minutes, Kassovitz obviously intended this to be more of an epic sci-fi adventure. Alas, the final cut here comes across more like a movie that has been roughly put together just to make a quick buck! And sadly, it shows.

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