‘I don’t know how many more times I can die,’ groans Benicio Del Toro’s beastly business titan Zsa-zsa Korda after narrowly surviving yet another assassination attempt. This seemingly indestructible rogue has made enemies across the globe with his ruthless approach to money making, though a reunion with estranged offspring Liesl (Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet), now a pipe-smoking novitiate nun, gives him a last gasp crack at redemption.

With its awe-inspiring attention to detail, deadpan delivery and abundant absurdity, The Phoenician Scheme is unmistakably the work of Wes Anderson. It instantly improves on his previous feature, the underwhelming Asteroid City, grabbing your attention from the outset with some hilarious airborne action.

The film follows the incorrigible Zsa-zsa as he attempts to get his titular infrastructure project back on track in a fictional Middle Eastern nation, following an act of US government-orchestrated sabotage. Michael Cera plays Norwegian insect expert Bjørn, who is tutoring Zsa-zsa and gets caught up in the shenanigans. Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric and Jeffrey Wright appear as Zsa-zsa’s variously batshit business associates, while Scarlett Johansson is his second cousin Hilda, Benedict Cumberbatch his hirsute and malevolent brother Nubar, and Bill Murray pops up as God.

The convoluted plot is a head-scratcher but it’s really just an excuse for a series of eccentric and perilous encounters while Del Toro, Threapleton and Cera make for an appealing central trio. Del Toro is deliciously shady and Threapleton gives a no-nonsense, Daisy Ridley-like turn as Liesl who casts a sensible eye over the madness, while Cera’s offbeat delivery is a hoot (astonishingly, this is the first time the actor and Anderson have worked together despite them being an obvious match made in heaven). Although not up there with his finest efforts and lacking a little bit of heart, Wes Anderson’s latest remains as visually delightful as ever, with squabbles and silliness in spades.

The Phoenician Scheme is in cinemas from Friday 23 May.