So whereas Chicago came to the screen with big name Hollywood stars blaring out the hits and shaking their stuff in a passable, if hardly overly ambitious, version of the stage play, here almost the entire original Broadway cast has been brought from stage to screen. The only vaguely recognisable name - at least to those unfamiliar with the Broadway version - is that of Rosario Dawson, most recently seen as the violent prostitute gang leader in slick comic book adaptation Sin City, but she hardly counts as a star.

In fact, the only apparent concession to Hollywood is the appointment of the decidedly second-rate Chris Columbus as director, following early dalliances with the infinitely more imaginative and interesting Spike Jonze and Baz Luhrman. Moulin Rouge's Lurhman in particular would have been a fine choice, yet Columbus - now probably best known as the man responsible for the first two Harry Potter movies - is at least a reliable hack, and certainly provides a more interesting stage to screen translation than Chicago's inexplicably Oscar-nominated Rob Marshall did. 

Sadly, as with Chicago, much of the energy and spontaneity of the stage show has been lost in the transition to the screen. But as with that other recent transition, the songs, story and characters remain largely intact, and with them the prime reason for the success of the original show. As a film it is nothing amazing, and not a patch on the great musicals of yesteryear - but as theatre it is undoubtedly still a great, if often depressing, spectacle. If you're a fan of the stage version, or of musicals as a whole, you won't be disappointed.

ANY SPECIAL FEATURES?

Audio commentary by director Chris Columbus and stars Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal as well as never-before-seen deleted scenes with optional director's commentary.