THERE'S nothing worse than an anti-climax. Imagine a balloon being slowly inflated and then pppprrrtttt, shrinking down into a saggy mess behind the sofa. Thus we have the experience of watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Directed by Blade helmsman Stephen Norrington, and adapted from a "graphic novel", it's a more absorbing comic plot than most.

A mysterious masked man known only as The Phantom is attacking world freedom in 1899, so the Queen's liege "M" (Richard Roxburgh) assembles vampire Mina Harker, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo and legendary adventurer Allan Quartermain to request their assistance.

They concur, adding Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray, and Dr Jekyll (with Mr Hyde for company) to the equation, and the league is complete.

And then it all goes horribly wrong.

Unfortunately, the plot suddenly develops as many holes as Rab C's wardrobe of choice, skewing off into Venice to look for a bomb, back to the ship shaped like a sword, and to a palace in the middle of nowhere. The developing tension between the characters becomes implausible and over-egged, leaving the audience adrift and thinking "eh?".

The stories of this project's problems are legendary, with sets being destroyed by flooding and Connery's reported harassment of the director, which must shoulder some blame for the sudden drop in quality. And Connery, who has become a parody of himself, hissing in his speech even more than ever, is absolutely dire throughout the entire proceedings, shouting and argy-bargying his way over the rest of the predominantly British cast.

He has secured an executive producer credit, but at what price for the film? The cringeworthy puns - saying "Rule Britannia" when a dying man gets covered in a union flag - bear his ex-Bond stamp, and don't work.

It's a terrible pity, as the rest of the actors are excellent, particularly Stuart Townsend as the beautifully obnoxious Gray and Peta Wilson as a feisty Mina Harker. The film also looks fabulous, with truly amazing sets there to be destroyed. It's a bit of a theme for the film, wrecking.

But judging by this standard, the only truly great league are our "local people" on BBC2.