And if you were looking for the mandatory megalomaniac, here it's Dr Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), a vengeful Southern aristrocrat who's had his legs blown off in the war. Branagh has kidnapped the mandatory scientists to create the mandatory ultimate machine of destruction, a giant mechanical spider with which he captures US President Grant (Kline again). The aim is sign up a treaty to carve up the US amongst the European powers

If this hokey plot weren't funny in itself then we have Salma Hayek playing the daughter of one of the kidnapped scientists. Ms Hayek's talents of course don't lie in the acting department. Will Smith looks like a rap artist who's strayed into the westand is fairly entertaining. Kline is passable.

But what a fall it's been for Shakespearean actor-director Branagh. Though this actor who's as Brit as Bond, pulls off a delightful Southern drawl, he's reduced to a pathetic ranting caricature as most Bond villains usually are. With the harem of tough Amazonian women as sidekicks.

WWW is another of those special effects rollercoasters with minimal plot and character development. Though it starts off well, it degenerates midway. It's pretentious and lacks the deprecatory humour of Sonnenfeld's earlier Men in Black, which is why it fails to impress. Watch it only for its sheer escapist value.