League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Sean Connery leads a team of super-normals assembled to avert imminent world war by taking down a madman. Here's our verdict.

M o v i e D e t a i l s
Format Theatre	Director Stephen Norrington	Distributor 20th Century Fox	Genre Action Sci-Fi	Release Out Now (us) Oct 17 (uk)

Comic book fans have had a good run of it at the cinema lately. The success of Spider-Man and the X-Men films is making amends for the abominable superhero movies that went straight to video in the 1980s and 1990s. And its not just the mainstream comic characters that are getting much-deserved silver screen recognition. In 2001, Allen and Albert Hughes brought From Hell, comic book legend Alan Moore's dark and drug-infested take on the Jack the Ripper mythos, to the big screen, scoring critical acclaim in the process. This summer, Blade director Stephen Norrington takes the reins of Moore's most famous creation, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a story hailed by many in the comic book community as one of the best works in the medium. Disappointingly, the results here leave much to be desired.

"Most notable is LXG's unique premise and the liberal sprinkling of heroes from 19th century literature."

LXG has a few check marks in the positive column. Most notable are its unique premise and the liberal sprinkling of heroes from 19th century literature. The setting is the tail end of the 1800s, which sees a madman known as the Fantom (think Phantom of the Opera) hell-bent on starting a world war. By using his overwhelming firepower and a bit of the grey matter, the Fantom intends to play the nations of Europe against one another in order to reap the financial rewards the resultant war would bring him.

This of course will not do. Enter the home team, under the captainship of Allan Quatermain, portrayed by Sean Connery in his most physical role in over a decade. Hearing Her Majesty's pleas, Quatermain leaves Africa behind, setting off for Europe and the challenge of bringing an end to the Fantom's maniacal plan. Upon his arrival in London, Quatermain's team of novel protagonists is assembled under the watchful eye of the enigmatic M (Richard Roxburgh).

"It is inevitable that with a cast this size there's going to be little room for character development."

Joining our hero is a who's who of 19th century literature protagonists. There's Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), AKA the Invisible Man; vampire-slash-chemist Mina Harker (Peta Wilson); her ex-lover and current immortal Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend); the sea-faring, butt-kicking Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah); Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (both portrayed by Jason Flemyng); and good ol' Tom Sawyer (Shane West), now all grown up and knocking heads for Uncle Sam.

It is inevitable that with a cast this size there's going to be little room for character development. One of the rare examples of this is the relationship between Connery and West; this is probably one of the key reasons for introducing the latter's character into the movie version of the story. The two share a father-son bond that is strengthened as the film progresses, though the lackluster performances hardly help. And then there's Wilson and Townsend, who flirt unsuccessfully with their chemistry-deficient romantic past. The remainder of the cast could just as well not have shown up at all. Shah appears on camera merely to thrown down in anachronistic chop-socky sequences, while Jekyll and Hyde roam various corridors in alternating bouts of mousy diffidence and simian rage. The story flows ahead largely unhindered, eddying here and there with an unexpected surprise. It all seems a little too much like an 1800s Bond flick, though.

"To put it bluntly, League's visual effects suck. There are just no two ways about it."

Screenwriter James Robinson, whose previous work includes the execrable Comic Book Villians, has banged out a script that emphasizes action over acting, and while the action does border on good, this skewing leaves the performances threadbare. This is particularly disappointing as most of the characters are at least conceptually interesting, but there is just not enough screen time for each of them to really make their presence felt. Despite the excess of action sequences, though, the film surprisingly still manages to feel rather tedious. But that's not the worst of it.

To put it bluntly, League's visual effects suck. There are just no two ways about it. The interesting designs--especially for the vehicles--are let down by horrendous character prosthetics and the most jarring digital effects we've seen in years. Nemo's ship-cum-submarine, the Nautilus, is exquisitely detailed, but all that work goes out the window as we watch it slice through the ocean without an ounce of authenticity. There's a laziness that permeates the effects that can no doubt be attributed to budgetary concerns, but their inadequacies are no less damaging to the audience's suspension of disbelief. This laziness spreads to Trevor Jones's score, which is perfunctory and instantly forgotten. This is particularly surprising considering that the composer's resume includes such vastly superior flicks as the classic Arthurian tale Excalibur and Moore's aforementioned progeny, From Hell.

"League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a movie that could have worked. In fact, it should have worked."

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a movie that could have worked. In fact, it should have worked. But sloppy production values and horrendous pacing combined with characters that we aren't made to care for result in a poor movie that no one will remember six months from now. Alan Moore's award-winning creation deserves a lot better than this. Spare yourself the disappointment and pick up the graphic novel instead.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Film Critic, Kikizo Movies

T H E S C O R E S

Screenplay	Direction	Cinematics	Production	Overall
7.0	6.0	5.0	6.0	5.0

The Final Word: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a wasted opportunity. Instead of giving us an exciting adventure, Norrington and Robinson have turned Moore's classic story into a boring action-fest with decent production design tempered by oftentimes laughably bad visual effects. The unique premise is interesting, but its execution is fatally flawed.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Sean Connery leads a team of super-normals assembled to avert imminent world war by taking down a madman. Here's our verdict.

Kikizo:

Kikizo Classic:

Entertainment:

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Sean Connery leads a team of super-normals assembled to avert imminent world war by taking down a madman. Here's our verdict.

Kikizo:

Kikizo Classic:

Entertainment:

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