League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Review
by Terri Clark (TerriClark4 AT aol DOT com)August 15th, 2003
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a Big Budget Bore
West Life News (7/23/03)
Review by: Terri Clark
Good or bad, I generally like movies with Sean Connery. Until now. Even he couldn't save "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" from being extraordinarily bad.
The premise held promise, but the execution was shallow. Director Stephen Norrington relied too heavily on inferior special effects and not enough on characterization and plot.
Based on the comic books by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, the story is centered
around Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery), a famed adventurer who has retired to the wilds of Africa. Her Majesty's British Government calls him back into duty in order to stop an impending world war that's being instigated by a mysterious
menace referred to as The Fantom. This masked madman intends to destroy civilization by attacking a conference of world leaders. Quatermain has nine hours to stop the mass execution. He'll attempt the rescue with the aid of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and one woman) which is comprised of the pirate, Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), the vampiress, Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), the invisible man, Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), the immortal and indestructible, Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), the brash American Secret Service Agent, Tom Sawyer (Shane West) and the dual personalities of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng). Together these singular individuals form a unique
super hero squad.
A novel concept in more ways than one. Unfortunately, the film doesn't focus enough on these powerful personas and their interactions among each other. Instead it focuses on frenetic fight sequences, that are difficult to follow because of their quick cuts from character to character, and shoddy special effects that often look unintentionally cartoonish. The largest of which is Mr.
Hyde. He's a cartoon cretin. Moviegoer's criticized "The Hulk" for his unrealistic appearance, but Mr. Hyde's animation is laughably bad.
In fact, laughably bad might best describe this big budget bore. In a long line
of comic book movies "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is quite simply...out of its league.
MOVIE FACTS
Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Grade: D
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of fantasy violence, language and innuendo.
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Director: Stephen Norrington
Cast: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng
Time:110 minutes
Genre: action/adventure/sci-fi/thriller
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Terri Clark ([email protected]) is a freelance movie critic. She writes reviews for West Life News, Moviefone.com and the Apollo Guide.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-5505/
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