The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Directed by Stephen Norrington
To prevent a world war from breaking out, famous characters from Victorian literature band together to do battle against a cunning villain.
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What critics compared The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to
The film's premise--inherited from the graphic novel by "From Hell" creator Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill--is promising: What if a handful of the most compelling Victorian literary icons were assembled to form a kind superhero team in an age before such things as superheroes existed?
First things first – if you’re a fan of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s excellent comic book, then you won’t fail to be disappointed with the big screen adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (or “LXG”, as Fox are insisting on nick-naming it) as it pretty much suffers the same fate that befell From Hell.
It takes a certain kind of talent to sanitize a comic book and then dumb it down, but that's exactly what's been done to this brainchild of Alan Moore (From Hell) and Kevin O'Neill, which brings together a number of great figures from literature and sets them out on new adventures.
Such is the cruel fate that awaits "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," a handsome but frustratingly shallow adaptation of the comic book series by Alan Moore ("From Hell") and Kevin O'Neill.
So it is that Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) of "King Solomon's Mines," Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) of "Dracula" are brought together with fussy fop Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), the schizoid Dr. Jekyll (Jason Flemyng) and Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), who has followed in the footsteps of H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man."
Writer/producers Andy and Larry Wachowski ("The Matrix" series) may have given the directing reins over to their "Matrix" first assistant James McTeigue, but their fingerprints are all over this adaptation of the 1980's Alan Moore ("From Hell," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") anti-Thatcherism graphic novel.
Alan Moore made quite a stink earlier this year by publicly disassociating himself from the cinematic adaptation of his 1982 graphic novel V for Vendetta, which he assumed – after unpleasant experiences with From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – would be bastardized in its translation to the screen.
The years since September 11, 2001, have made V for Vendetta's story more resonant, although it's no longer about Thatcher, which may be one reason Moore has dissociated himself (as he has with other movie adaptations of his work, such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).
Previous screen adaptations of the English writer's comics and characters had resulted in movies that ranged from bad ("Constantine," 2005) to worse ("From Hell," 2001) to worthless ("The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," 2003).
Thanks to the debacle that was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and, to a lesser extent, From Hell), comic-book fans have rightly come to be suspicious of any cinematic adaptations of Moore's work.
Though it's based on a short story by Robert A. Heinlein ("All You Zombies"), this Australian sci-fi item arguably comes closer to the spirit of Alan Moore's writing than the movie adaptations of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen did.
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In the eight years of the modern superhero wave, I'm not sure that there has been such a perfect example of a wholly mediocre comic movie, not as crushingly awful as Fantastic Four or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , but still lacking even the slightest hint of inspiration on any level.
Director Antoine Fuqua Infinite ’s production design is built on the warmed-up leftovers of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the Underworld franchise.
What’s essentially X-Men: First Class meets The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and women) takes entirely too long to uncover excitement, as the production opts for a dusty generational perspective instead of fantastical teen orphan adventure.
Remember "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" — also from the mind of Constantine's abused creator, Alan Moore?) There's a reason why Marvel's track record on film is better.
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During the American parts of this story, the movie (photographed by Dan Laustsen, whose middling career up to this point has included The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the movie version of Silent Hill) goes in for a burnished look, with lots of burgundies, maroons, browns, and golds.
Set in Esa’ala, Papua New Guinea, one of the biggest cave systems on the planet, many underwater, the film tells of a group of hardy cave divers headed by Frank (Richard Roxburgh of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Van Helsing”), “the most respected explorer in the world,” his fiercely rebellious, 20-something son Josh (Aussie pretty boy Rhys Wakefield), who wears either an insincere smile or a disapproving scowl, the team’s arrogant, wealthy benefactor Carl (Ioan Gruffudd of those appalling “Fantastic Four” films), his latest, attractive, mountain-climbing girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson), veteran diver Judes (Allison Cratchley), team manager Crazy George (Dan Wyllie) and others.