“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (20th Century Fox)
“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” is yet another look at action as handled by a group of super heroes. In this film the heroes are not persons with super powers per se, they are characters straight out of fiction who can do extraordinary things. Sadly what they do is not all that interesting, and aside from the star power of Sean Connery, the rest of the cast is second rate.
The story is set at the end of the nineteenth century. Connery plays Alan Quatermain, the hero of “King Solomon’s Mines” and other epic adventures. He is contacted by the British government to help track down a crazed killer named “The Phantom” who is committing terrorist acts that could bring Britain and Germany into war.
The government official named “M” (play on the James Bond story there) has assembled a “league” of extraordinary men, and one woman. These include Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), Tom Sawyer (Shane West), Jekyl and Hyde (Jason Flemyng), the invisible man (Tony Curran) and Mina Harker (Peta Wilson). And with hail, hail the gang’s all here! They are off to see “the Phantom.”
One of the major drawbacks of the film is that all the action appears to take place in murky, dark places. This cuts down on the visibility and the excitement. Plus the audience never really gets a feel for the characters. Mina Harker and Dorian Gray seem to have had a past together but it is never really explained. Quatermain seems to have a fatherly connection with Tom Sawyer but that is not fleshed out in any way.
The acting is also limited in skill. West is much too boyish as Sawyer. Wilson is too subdued as Harker. Townsend is not handsome enough for Gray, and Curran, well his “invisible man” is devoid of personality. Shah is plodding as Nemo and Flemyng is ineffective as Jekyl/Hyde. Connery is the only one with big star presence and he IS the movie.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Aside from Connery the group of actors in this film are out of their “league” and any adventures they have are more of the “ordinary” kind.
I scored “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” a run of the mill 4 out of 10.
