A few unfortunate lines of dialogue aside, it's hard to see why Luc Besson's epic was met with such derision - it's full of some terrific film-making, the battles are the right size, the story's well-told and Milla Jovovich comes over surprisingly well as someone caught somewhere between God's will and psychosis. The inclusion, two hours in, of Dustin Hoffman as her conscience to address her own and the audience's doubts as to whether she is driven by divine guidance or self-delusion is an inspired touch that is completely unexpected in a mainstream epic on this scale. Unfortunately, it's also the point when the film almost crosses the line into Monty Python - the dialogue's just too funny too often, and somehow the notion of a 15th Century French Catholic peasant girl's conscience manifesting itself as a 62-year-old New York Jewish actor in a cowl doesn't seem overly likely. Curiously, these scenes work better on a second viewing when you're not caught so off-guard by them.