The film lacks the more corrosive aspects of [Jacques] Tardi's work, but Besson replaces it with something that gives the story a larger shape and meaning.

It is a pleasure to look at, but the performances are heavy-handed rather than pleasantly stylised and the whimsy over-abundant.

Coasts in on a waft of burlesque acting and droll good humour, with each episode metaphorically framed by quotation marks.

Imagine a zany mix of Amélie and Lara Croft, Indiana Jones and Tintin, and you have Louise Bourgoin's plucky heroine.