If the producers of the Bond films are looking for a new nemesis for 007 to confront, the makers of The Corporation would doubtless suggest one of the faceless multinationals that govern and influence so much of our daily lives. In their meaty documentary, co-directors Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott bring these institutions to book for their environmental record, allegedly unethical practices, and ruthless pursuit of profit. The only thing missing is a CEO stroking a big white cat.

The targets in Achbar and Abbott's sights are oil companies that sanction human rights abuses, advertising analysts who target infants, and commodities traders who saw a financial upside in the World Trade Center attacks. The film also reveals how the likes of IBM and Coca-Cola invested in Nazi Germany, the latter specifically creating Fanta for the Teutonic market.

"THIS IS ALL RIGOROUS, CHALLENGING STUFF"

What kind of creature could behave so abominably? Writer Joel Bakan suggests that, because a corporation is legally defined as a person, it must therefore be a psychopath - a self-interested, callous, and deceitful entity only interested in money and power. True, there are exceptions to the rule presented here: the carpet manufacturer who restructured his business along ecologically sound lines, or the kindly chairman of Shell who served tea to the activists camped out on his lawn. But the film questions what difference the occasional good apple makes if the barrel itself is rotten.

This is all rigorous, challenging stuff, and over the course of their lengthy treatise the filmmakers occasionally lose sight of their argument. Still, if The Corporation makes just one audience member think twice before buying a new pair of Nikes, the makers will consider it a job well done.