Magic, like the circus, is an inherently dark and cruel art form, so there's no harm in sprinkling a little S&M titillation around the edges of the production. After all, people come to Vegas for kinky thrills and the seductive whiff of make-believe danger.

The problem is that "Believe" doesn't really have the courage of its most extreme convictions. So it swathes its fearless Grand Guignol fetishes in an awkward mishmash of themes, metaphors and visual stratagems. You name it, they try it here: rear-screen projections of dramatic cloud-swept skies, Middle Eastern dance music, "The Night on Bald Mountain," giant poppies, whirling dervishes.