Directed by: Stephen Norrington
Written by: James Dale Robinson
Starring: Sean Connery, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh
Rating: [2.5/5]
Team up films present the unique opportunity to witness the interactions of characters we would normally be fine watching in isolation. However, this crossover answers the questions of how some literary figures would bounce off one another and what it would look like for them to potentially work together towards a larger goal. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does just that with several figures found in the public domain, and while elements of this feature do bring some fun, it mostly results in quite the mess.
With the threat of The Fantom looming though his brazen attacks and kidnapping, Professor James Moriarty (Richard Roxburgh) seeks to assemble a group of especially talented individuals to come together to put a stop to it. This includes legendary adventurer Allan Qatermain (Sean Connery), inventor Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), chemist and vampire Dr. Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), invisible man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), the notorious Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jason Flemyng), and the seemingly immortal Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend).
Operating as the Avengers but before their time, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen very much contained the right material to grab my attention. Having read the original books that encompassed these characters, they have always captivated many, which made the prospect of them all having to work together an intriguing prospect. Seeing how the Invisible Man would speak with Dorian Gray and any other combination meant these individuals would collaborate in ways one would not think possible as they take on a larger existential threat that poses danger to the larger populace.
A neat idea but one that needs proper execution in order to pull together in a coherent manner, which ultimately plagued this film’s attempts at success. The first act consists of bringing these individuals together as Quatermain tries to unite them at the behest of Moriarty. Seeing the various ways each of these characters needed persuasion certainly said plenty about them and for the most part this displayed some of the best the film had to offer. These initial conversations and realizations brought the intrigue that initially pulled me in but by the time the plot really began to play out and we learned more about what this group must contend with it quickly went downhill.
Eventual reveals and betrayals transpire and when we end up in Venice and everything else that follows really falters in trying to drive him what this film sought to bring to the table. Moments where cars get impeccably driven through the streets of Venice while everything comes tumbling down demonstrates not only terrible visual effects but just an ugly visual palette as well. It makes these scenes feel incredibly lifeless as these characters attempt to accomplish something historical but none of it looks visually appealing. This trend continues for the rest of the film as it withers away all of the goodwill the first hour presented for it. What this drop in quality ultimately indicates is that this film sounds good in theory but putting these characters together in all practicality just does not work in giving them moments to shine. Where instead we spend a large chunk of the time between Tom Sawyer (Shane West) and Quatermain, it takes away from the characters we were actually here to see get shafted in screen time. Seeing this decline in quality as the film goes along certainly comes at a disappointment.
While often a defender of this film growing up because of my fascination with the characters brought together for this shared purpose, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen falters when looking at the structure of the film and fairly shoddy filmmaking on display. I can finally acquiesce to the rightful criticisms this feature has received on my recent rewatch but that does not mean I cannot still find little pockets of enjoyment in what this feature has to offer. From exploring Nemo’s ship and the little bits of banter shared between the characters at the beginning, this film displayed the potential it had in bringing together all of these literary icons under one roof and singular objective. However, through the various reasons listed previously, the film squanders all of it completely by the time we finally reach the concluding moments.
Films with Josh 
