Hi everyone - life is a bit of a disaster area at the minute, so I'll pop in as much as I can, but I...
Hi everyone - life is a bit of a disaster area at the minute, so I'll pop in as much as I can, but I wont be around very much. Play nice, y'hear!
Member since:08.10.2002
Reviews:75
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The year is 1898, and the British Empire is in trouble. There is a gang, led by the nefarious Fantom, robbing the Bank of England and causing trouble all over the world, most of which is blamed on the Germans. It's sort of a capitalist terrorism, aimed at starting a world war, which will make a whole lot of money for somebody, somewhere.
The British government decides to enlist the help of several disparate Extraordinary Gentlemen, to put a stop to all the shenanigans. The main recruit is Mr Alan Quatermain - hero of King Soloman's Mines(played by Sean Connery) who resides in Africa, following his disenchantment with all things Empire. After a well choreographed battle scene, where Sean Connery shows that he's still got it going on - despite being quite old - he travels to London to meet the rest of the League, and goes on to lead them.
That's all I'm going to say about the story, as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is intending to see it. On to the other main characters:-
First we have Captain Nemo (played by Naseeruddin Shah) Oh yes, he of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea fame. He has a fabulous state of the art ship, and is fantastic with his curved scmitar. This character,
was in my opinion the most believable of the whole bunch, except for Sean Connery. This was probably because he didn't say much at all, and was just quietly brooding at the back. Shah does provide an air of quiet competence, reflecting accurately back to Jules Verne's original - hurrah.
Next, the Invisible Man (played by Tony Curran) The original invisible man is dead, but a thief named Rodney Skinner stole his formula, and so has taken his place in the League. This device was used to get out of a wrangle with the estate of H G Wells. This character provides much of the comic relief in the story, and so is bearable.
Mina Harker is not a man, but she is extraordinary indeed. In the comic books, she was the leader of the League, but she has been demoted for the film. As well as being very attractive, she is an eminent scientist, and along with her husband Jonathan, now deceased, she fought alongside Dr Van Helsing against Dracula - getting bitten along the way, and is so now one of the undead. Although Peta Wilson's performance was perfectly acceptable, I do wish that the script hadn't allowed her out in broad daylight, or to board Captain Nemo's ship with no serious repercussions - even the Count had to take precuations before travelling by sea. These parts were some of the main downfalls in the story for me, and really ruined it. I know it's fiction and all, but surely some Bram Stoker's rules of vampiric existance need to be upheld. Enough said.
Dorian Grey (played by Stuart Townsend - you may remember him from Backbeat)is of course, Oscar Wilde's creation of a perpetually young man with a secret in the attic. Dorian provides the League with an insouciant, devil-may-care feel, although he doesn't seem to have any specific skill except for his imortality, and immorality.
Dr Henry Jekyll (played by Jason Flemyng) is also present, and so is his alter ego Mr Hyde. The make up job here is superb, and I assume the Mr Hyde charcter was computer generated, becuase he is so huge. The change between the two characters is really well done, and the dialogue between them gives a feel reminiscent of Gollum talking to himself in the Two Towers - it's quite spine chilling really. Robert Louis Stephenson - probably not so much turning over in his grave, but maybe mildly fidgety - Dr Jekyll is superbly ineffectual, and Mr Hyde fascinatingly aggressive, but neither quite hit the exact tone of the novel.
Now, for the final member - and this is where the problems begin. All the above characters are ostensibly the stuff of English lore and fable. Obviously, with a film of this magnitude, there has to be someone to draw in the mainstream, non-comic reading Americans. So, enter Mr Tom Sawyer - American Special Forces. Exsqueeze me??? Shane West brings a wholesome, US College boy feel to the whole affair, which was absent from the comics. I think there was probably a good reason for Alan Moore (creator of the League, as published by DC Comics) to have left him out!!
Now, in addition to all the others, we should have had trhe pleasure of Mr Campion Bonds' company. Mr Bond (indeed, related to our James) was left out by Fox, although no mention was made of a conflict with MGM - who are somewhat litigious over their franchise. Also excluded was the original villain, Dr Fu Manchu.
Some of the special effects in the film were absolutely spot on although I was mildly irritated to see yet another Matrix style fight scene - too much of a good thing. Most of the other fights were great though - good old smack and bash, in the old school style. The sword fighting was very well choreographed, as you would expect, and Captain Nemo's ship is a sight to behold.
The scenery is superb, as you would expect, considering filming took place in Malta, England and Prague. It seems a near 80 million dollar budget pays for a lot of travel.
To sum up, this is a good no brainer, if you can put up with the inconsistencies from the original literary works. Director Stephen Norrington (Blade) does a great job with what he has available, and all the actors aquit themselves with honours. It's just a shame no-one was prepared to pay a bit more for the script as some of the dialog seemed a bit woodenish and stilted to me. This is certainly well below the standard I expected, and I don't think I'd want to watch it again.
Basically, teenage boys (both actual, and not) will love this, so if you have one or more to entertain over the holidays, this is probably worth the money. If not, I'd wait for the video.
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inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, th...
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The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects ... more
inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, th...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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Jul 26th, 2003
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