Paul Bettany steals every scene he’s in.
Trips over itself on occasion, but it’s frequently so much fun that it doesn’t matter much. Maybe it’s the bias of my youth. This was constantly on at my house when it came out; if I recall correctly, it was one of the first DVDs I owned.
I remember learning later that this was not critically adored, and lambasted for threatening to lower the standards of Hollywood filmmaking. Compared to the slop the big studios make now, this is practically a breath of fresh air: subversive needle drops, wish fulfillment feel-good fantasy, and a vibrant colour palette. Imagine!