It is a puzzling melange of live action and cartoon, real life and fantasy that is almost stupefyingly incoherent.

You can almost see money dripping off the walls of the sets and cybersets in this special-effects extravaganza.

The design is often brilliant, although the film is nowhere near as tasteless or funny as it ought to be.

It’s a lot of fun, even though it’s so damn weird at times I’m glad I didn’t see this as a kid so it wouldn’t give me uncontrollable nightmares. Brendan Fraser gives a delightful performance in the kind of role only he could really pull off.