The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Review by Dustin Gast

The year is 1899, and there is a terrible evil brewing in Europe.

Attacks in both Britain and Germany have left these countries suspicious of one another. As more events continue to unfold, the threat of war continues to grow.

It is discovered that a man named The Phantom has developed weapons far superior to anything else of this time period, and through these is planning on making the war a reality.

To help counter this threat, a mysterious man, who goes by M (Richard Roxburgh), has put together a team of extraordinary gentleman to stop the madman's plan.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a movie that would have been much more impressive had it been released before Spider-Man last year.

While the storyline itself isn't bad (though quite different from the graphic novel it's based on), the effects are not at the level people have come to expect from these types of films.

The storyline is, at the heart, a very simple one: it's good fighting a seemingly unstoppable bad. However, the way in which it incorporates these British literary heroes (and one American hero) does make for a fairly interesting story. Their unique backgrounds come together to make an interesting band of heroes; they are almost the anti-heroes, making for an interesting twist.

In addition to the story, the acting is also good here. Sean Connery is a solid as ever, taking the lead as the Indiana Jones-like adventurer Allan Quartermain. Tony Curran is great as the goofy Invisible Man.

Stuart Townsend is also good as the mysterious and invincible Dorian Gray and one of the better performances comes from Jason Flemyng, who plays Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. He's great performing in these two very different roles.

The weak aspect of this film is its special effects. While they aren't as bad as some, they aren't as good as you would expect from a big budget movie such as this one. They are choppy at times, and are really unconvincing. The one exception to this is when the Invisible Man is on screen. If they had spent as much time on all the effects as that one, they would have been stellar.

Overall, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is an average film. If you're a fan of the novel, you'll probably be quite frustrated with it. If not, then you'll probably think it's at least decent. It's a film that sits firmly in the average category.

3 out of 5

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Australian release: Thursday 2nd of October
Cast: Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson, Shane West, Naseerudin Shah, Jason Flemyng, Tony Curran, Richard Roxburgh.
Director: Stephen Norrington.
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