The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [Blu-ray]
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Movie Reviews of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: "How many times do I have to kill these cretins?"
Summary: 3 Stars
Based on the graphic novels (i.e. comic books) created by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Kevin O'Neill, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) was adapted for the silver screen by James Robinson (Hot Wheels) and directed by Stephen Norrington (Death Machine, Blade). The film features an interesting cast including Sean Connery (Dr. No, Highlander), who's also credited as one of the producers, Peta Wilson ("La Femme Nikita"), Tony Curran (Blade II), Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Naseeruddin Shah (Monsoon Wedding), Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned), Shane West (Dracula 2000), and Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing).
The film, set in the year 1899, begins with a bang as we witness some mysterious assailants with German accents breaking into the Bank of England in a giant tank. Next we see a zeppelin factory in Berlin assaulted by what appears to be British troops brandishing sophisticated weaponry. As the various attacks continue Europe is thrown into turmoil as countries begin pointing the accusatory finger at each other. Seems the British gooberment, believing an individual named The Fantom, who uses a Phantom of the Opera mask to conceal his identity, to be orchestrating the attacks, decides to assemble a team of extraordinary gentlemen (and a lady) including the following...hunter/adventurer Allan Quatermain (Connery), scientist/pseudo vampire Mina Harker (Wilson), sailor and inventor Captain Nemo (Shah), Rodney Skinner (Curran), who possesses the trait of invisibility, a snide, effeminate immortal named Dorian Gray (Townsend), and an American secret service goober by the name of Tom Sawyer (West)...oh brutha...anyway, after an run in with The Fantom, the group pops over to Paris in Nemo's ridiculously ginormous submarine called the Nautilus to gather a hulking Mr. Hyde, who, when in his non brutish form as Dr. Jekyll is played by Flemyng, finally setting sail for Venice, where a group of European leaders is set to gather offering a prime target for the villainous Fantom (seems The Fantom is interested in starting a world war so that he may profit from selling his fantastic weapons). Anyway, the group manages to foil The Fantom's plans and avert a catastrophic disaster, but there's treachery afoot as one of the team members is a double agent, working with The Fantom, eventually escaping in Nemo's mini-submarine called the Nautiloid...that's cute...but not before seriously crippling Nemo's ship through some sabotage. Soon after the group manages to get a line on The Fantom, following him to his secret base, which is actually a massive fortress somewhere in Mongolia, and learn the true nature of his nefarious plans along with his actual identity.
I'm not familiar with the source material for this film, but I am a little familiar with some of Alan Moore's other works including V for Vendetta, which I thought translated into an excellent film, and Watchmen, which was in the process of being adapted to the screen but currently seems to be in limbo. Given this familiarity, I got the impression the film strayed a bit, the focus on the special effects emphasized over the actual content within the source material. Now generally films do lose something in translation (they're rarely as good as the books they're based), but in this case it seemed especially true...anyway, as far as the positives...the movie was very slick, the action sequences plenty, the performances relatively decent...and the negatives...the dialogue often felt goofy, the heavy reliance on computer generated effects grew tiresome (I thought the miniature work awesoma), and the characters had little substance. I particularly despised the hokum, pseudo father/son relationship developed between Quatermain and Sawyer as it the more it grew, the more I gagged on its sickly sweetness (apparently Quatermain had a son-in-law who got killed under his watch, and now has found a sort of surrogate in Tom Sawyer...bleeech). I thought Peta Wilson looked good (she actually looks better here with dark hair than her normal blonde) but I thought her character odd in that she was supposed to be a vampire, but had no difficulty venturing into the daylight. Seems with what I know about vampires sunlight is especially harmful, with a special exception to Wesley Snipes character in the Blade films, but that seemed not the case here. The silliest character, for me at least, was Hyde. He was ridiculously huge, in league with Marvel's The Hulk...near the end there's a bit, without going too much into the story, where Hyde ends up fighting a misshapen Mega-Hyde, and things move into the realm of the asinine. As far as the other characters, well, they were there I suppose...I found it difficult to root for these so called `heroes' mainly because they possessed little of the substance one would have expected from their namesakes. Perhaps this was a case of trying to incorporate too many characters in a single film, and as a result most of them come off like cardboard cutouts, lacking various qualities necessary to flesh them out fully. As far as the main villain, well, I thought his plan, as initially presented, an interesting one, but once his full plan (which included a number of aspects) was revealed it mired itself into convoluted mess, at least in terms of execution, specifically because it was dependant on elements which were out of his control. I thought the `Fantom' persona unnecessary, overly cumbersome, and senseless in general. I also thought, given the character's obviously extensive resources, it seemed foolish that he should always be in the middle of the action (and danger), especially since he had an army equipped with highly sophisticated weapons of mass destruction. By the way, one might feel a certain sense of immunity having their secret hideout/fortress in a remote location, but that doesn't mean one should skimp on security measures. The League showed up at The Fantom's door, knocked out like two guards, and they were in. just like that. Oh well...all in all a there's a whole lot of colorful, farcical action throughout, but if you're looking for substance, given the abundance of so called literary characters, or something akin to Moore's original vision, you're probably going to be disappointed.
The picture, presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) looks excellent, and the audio, available in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround (English and French), and Dolby Digital Surround (Spanish), comes through most excellent. As far as extras there's two commentary tracks, one with producers and cast members, and another with a number of crew members, along with 12 extended and deleted scenes, a behind the scenes documentary titled `Assembling the League' which provides a lot of `making of' materials, and subtitles in English and Spanish. I dunno...seems kind of skimpy for a film that was as heavily promoted as it was prior to its theatrical release.
Cookieman108
A couple more things...I thought the film could have used a couple more comely females running around because as it stands, it kind of comes off as a sausage fest (and it's not like a couple extra characters would have hurt the film as it is). Also, did anyone else who saw this have a hankering to yank on Captain Nemo's extraordinary long beard? He kind of looked like the lost member of ZZ Top...
Movie Review: Not reccomended DVD
Summary: 3 Stars
If you are a serious DVD collector, do not get this DVD. The extras are low rate, even so, this is the only release since its original DVD release. The extras include:
*Audio Commentary by the Producers and Actors
*Behind the Scenes Documentary
*12 Deleted Scenes
Movie Review: Interesting Though Uneven (For Sony PSP)
Summary: 4 Stars
Once again we have the temptation to compare the book to the movie, which I will succumb to just a little. Books and movies are different media, and each brings its own strengths to art. Such is the case here. The book was full and lengthy and while it brought the same breadth of characters, it was able to provide a broader background for each of the characters. There were some spots where I thought the book was just a bit fuzzy on the plot, but I loved the style.
The movie provides more visuals, but with a two-hour length it had to cut back on the length of background for the characters. The movie glossed over some of the darker aspects of the characters, particular Alan Quatermain, but enhanced others, particular the background of Mina Harker. The other strange addition was that of the character of Dorian Gray. I also objected to the change in the invisible man character from the book to the movie. I much preferred the book's Hawley Griffin as the invisible man versus Rodney Skinner, who supposedly stole the formula. Griffin was a much stronger, more tormented character, though his characterization would require more film time to establish and would likely have weakened the roles of the primary actors.
In terms of characterization, Sean Connery clearly shined as Quatermain, as he always seems to do in every role. Peta Wilson is excellent as the sultry, dangerous Mina Harker. Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo returns Nemo to his original characterization by Verne as a Sikh. Shah's Nemo was a welcome variation to previous Nemos, providing a sense of command, control and honor in comparison to those others who sometimes seemed simpering and typically talked far too much for Verne's Nemo. The other actors have insufficient screen time to fully flesh out their roles, partially because of the large number of lead characters.
The plot itself is a bit of a muddle. It's difficult to follow the progression and contrivances that lead from point-to-point. Often the logic is non-existent, and the viewer is left to wonder how they knew they were headed the right direction other than a trite explanation by one of the lead characters. Had the movie been extended by another 15 or 20 minutes many of the incongruities could have been reduced and the story flow could have been smoothed. To try to minimize the various confusions: Essentially the story is about a group of sort of good guys out to stop a definite bad guy from conquering the world, except the bad guy has been cleverly manipulating the sort of good guys all along and has a nefarious reason (of course) for doing so.
The special effects end up providing much of the focus of the movie in lieu of a more coherent plot. Some of the special effects are very good, such as the bizarre image of the Nautilus sailing the canals of Venice. The destruction of Venice by underwater bombs is mundane by today's standards. The other special effects vary in their quality and effect on the viewer, but are generally good. As noted before, the special effects often substitute for plot.
Though some of my criticisms are not encouraging, I actually liked the movie. As a B movie it is okay. Clearly not in the league of movies such as the Lord of the Rings, it is nonetheless a rousing adventure. In general the movie rates 3 stars, but I'm giving it 4 stars because of the three actors that really made this movie for me: Connery, Wilson and Shah.
Movie Review: One of the coolest movies I have ever seen.
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a 51 year old woman and I loved this movie because of all
the action and drama that was going on I will recomend this movie
for any body who loves action , drama and cool special effects!
Movie Review: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Summary: 4 Stars
Great movie! The storyline is very creative using literary characters. It's a film anyone can watch and enjoy. The more knowledgeable you are about the historical/fictional characters and their individual stories, the more of an enjoyment it is. I'd love to see a sequel.