The story - grizzly cop has to beat corporate wrong 'uns to finding out where a beautiful girl is hiding - is something we've already seen.

But what we haven't witnessed before is the cinematic style with which this familiar yarn is brought to the big screen.

Using motion-capture photography and rendering the results in stark monochrome, director Christian Volckman has created an eerily engrossing otherworld.

It's Paris in 2054 and unorthodox rozzer Karas (voiced by Craig) is given the job of finding the feline Ilona, a leading geneticist for the multinational Avalon corporation (think Revlon meets Microsoft).

His key witness is Bislane (McCormack), Ilona's younger sister, an Eastern European scorcher with a rebellious streak as wide as the Danube.

Reluctantly joining forces, the pair are soon on the trail of Avalon scientist Dr Muller (Holm), whose research was a bit more controversial than finding a cure for acne.

To be honest, the detective story set in a dystopian future is nothing new (Blade Runner anyone?) and the look isn't a million miles from Sin City.

However, where the latter had all the nuances of a colour film rendered in black and white, the stark contrasts here offer no hint of subtlety; grey doesn't get a look-in.

The result gives the impression of a 1940s strip cartoon brought vividly yet crudely to life with the motion-capture process delivering eye-opening authenticity to the slightest gesture.

What it does lack is humour, although its naughty Gallic origins are apparent - the corporate baddie admits to sleeping with his wife, his secretary and his sister-in-law.

Fans of hardboiled, rain-drenched thrillers shot through with big business skullduggery will not be disappointed.

Tim Evans