This fascinating documentary from director Jean-Michel Carré examines Vladimir Putin's rise from obscure KGB officer to the office of Russian President in March 2000. Former colleagues, dissidents and political analysts describe how the dream of democracy in the post-Soviet era was superseded by Putin's vision of a new, all-powerful Russian empire. Putin's shrewd recognition of "energy as a tool for power", his manipulation of oligarchs like Boris Berezovsky and his ruthless intervention in Chechnya confirm his status as a consummate political operator. Archive footage is effectively used to contrast the pomp of the Kremlin with the bloody realities of recent Russian history - as well as the odd lighter moment. But, as in Michael Moore's attacks on George Bush, there's a feeling that any sense of balance here has been totally subsumed by the desire to create another 21st-century bogeyman.