Through an odd confluence of events, Margie and I ended up at loose ends, while Katherine was still in day care at Margie’s office. So, among other things, we went out and grabbed a matinee — The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Before we get to the details, a couple of notes.
First off, despite the ad campaign, this is not The League of Extraordinary Supporting Actors to Sean Connery. While Connery gets the lion’s share of scenes (and more than that of publicity), the movie actually does a decent job of maintaining a large ensemble cast (with more LXG members than even the Alan Moore graphic novel).
Second, forget the graphic novel, at least for the duration of the film (then go out and buy it or read it and get a far better work). The movie is eye candy, some mindless (and sometimes kinda stupid) summer entertainment. I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if a sequel ever gets made, no matter how much one was set up at the end. But in either case, dwelling too much on the differences (vast) between the graphic novel and the movie will only be irksome. Take the movie for what it is.
For more … SPOILERS BELOW.
Random bits, in no particular order:
- The film is certainly action-packed, even when the action makes no sense.
- The movie is riddled with computer graphics, some of it lingered on or repeated far too often (endless shots of the gorgeous Nautilus, for example, or endless repetition of the automobile-zooming-through-crashing-Venice). In other cases, the interface between live action and CG is not handled very well — crashing walls of water that people run through the middle of, for example.
- There are odd, even inexplicable bits in the plot. The Nautilus making its way through the canals of Venice is laughable. The whole “Venice is all collapsing, but it’s really tumbling like dominoes, except that we keep seeing it all falling apart all over, but knocking down just one building will stop it” bit was … well, okay, fine, whatever you say …
- While the CG is overused but effective, there are various bits that are less so. Where landscapes are done through matte paintings, they look … well, a lot like matte paintings. The tiger walking through the snow is apallingly bad. The CG-faced Skinner is interesting; the white-make-up-with-dark-stubble Skinner is amateurish.
- I found it interesting what they felt compelled to explain, and what they decided the audience would understand. Captain Nemo passes without question (though some folks will be surprised to see him portrayed as Indian). Allan Quartermain’s exploits are mentioned very briefly in passing (he’s enough of an archetype that even folks who’ve never seen the movies, let alone read the books, can still figure out who he is). Everyone knows about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Invisible Man’s Return gets explication (though it doesn’t need to be). Dorian Grey’s peculiar “curse” gets explained along the way. That Tom Sawyer grows up to be a government agent and gunslinger seems to need no annotation. Oddly enough, neither does the backstory of James Moriarty, though I suspect that the name of Harker would be at least as familiar, and she gets a full (and clumsy) biography.
(Okay, that wasn’t entirely correct. Part of what allowed the original graphic novel, and this movie, is that the various properties involved have fallen into public domain. All, it seems, except the Invisible Man — who is, you note, never referred to as such, and whose canonical name of Dr. Hawley Griffin is retconned away.)
- The director and editor get around any messiness about the various battles and fighting by simply keeping the camera shaking, the shots short, and the air full of paper/snow. It’s a clever enough idea, but at times it ends up obscuring stuff you should be able to see, and simply becomes annoying.
- I can certainly see getting the DVD for this — if there is a lengthy (and there should be) selection of deleted scenes.
- So Mina is a vampire. She has an odd collection of vampire powers, including standing out in the sunshine with evidently no problems at all. Given the general popularity of vampires, and the “standards” of what they can do, the distinction or difference should have been described.
- The basic plot (SUPER MEGA-SPOILERS) of Moriarty seeking an arms race that he can profit from, and, in particular, “stealing” the powers of the LXG membership, is actually pretty clever. Though the scope of the story is both broader but less grand (and less rich) than the graphic novel, this bit of plot works well. Unfortunately, one of the key aspects to the book — that nobody in the group has any good reason to trust each other, and every reason not to — gets a few faltering references, but quickly fades into obscurity. Ah, well.
- The two best lines belong to Stuart Townsend as as Dorian Gray — “I’m … complicated,” and “We could be at this all night.”
- Naseeruddin Shah as Capt. Nemo gets some good moves, and some good lines, but never really gets a chance to gel as the complex character he should be. Peta Wilson’s Mina Harker alternates between quietly capable and sensuously brutal; as in the graphic novel, her character is key, and she gets some of the best (swarm of bats) effects in the flick; it’s a shame that, unlike the calm leader of the GN League, here she is simply the token female. Tony Curran plays Skinner, the
Invisible Maninvisible man, as the rogue-who-find-a-hero-within, but without much success as either (it’s difficult to act well when you’re either invisible or badly made-up). Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray is the most enjoyable “nasty” member of the League; his addition to the canon actually works. Shane West plays the inserted-for-American-sensibilities Tom Sawyer, Secret Agent, as a charming and affable guy who basically gets to be the young counterpoint to Connery. Jason Flemyng as Dr Jekyll competently plays the bi-polar and schizophrenic riff ironically more recognizable today as Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk (the Mr Hyde CG is alternately interesting, realistic, and goofy); his “redemption” early on seems a bit facile. Richard Roxburgh as M is, sadly, only moderately intriguing, even in his more meaty appearances later on in the film.In sum, the players do a competent job, and what characterization they’re given (a surprising amount for the size of the cast) is done reasonably well. That the roles will be (one hopes) merely footnotes to further careers is not necessarily their fault.
The Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill graphic novel is a classic in modern comics — literate, erudite, ripping fun, bitterly realistic amid its gaslamp fantasy. It’s worth borrowing, even more worth buying. If there’s anything interesting or intriguing to you about the idea of blending various literary fantasy characters into a dark Victorian “ripping yarn,” then the original is a must. It’s a hearty stew to the movie’s popcorn.
That the movie doesn’t live anywhere up to its source is, perhaps, understandable. The real LXG is far darker, far more complex, and, frankly, Sean Connery wouldn’t be caught dead playing that Quartermain. As a summer release, though, LXG is just fine: some nice eye candy, some mildly thought-provoking plotting, some decent acting, and a flick that may be forgotten by next summer, but which will certainly find its way into various geeky fanboy DVD collections.
I never got the idea that Mina was a true vampire in the books, either… just that she had a number of interesting abilities that came from being very very close to one for a long time.
Out in the sunlight? Eh. Dracula does it in the book that created her.
As for the “harker” name… it took me awhile to figure out who she was in the books, and then only by inference… it had been long enough since I’d read Dracula that I’d forgotten the name… she was the biggest mystery of all of them… really, the subtlest and least easily-guessible member.
I do like the idea of Dorian Gray, though… that’s fun.
I guess I picked up on Mina unusually quickly, then. But I used to read a lot of Tomb of Dracula, so the Harker name pricked up my ears.
While the original Drac might not hesitate to hang out in the sunlight, it plays so much against current perception that — well, on the other hand, nobody thinks of Nemo as Sikh any more, so maybe that’s just another subtlety. Or … maybe not.
Dorian Gray was a good idea, and well played (even if his whole story arc was more than a bit predictable).
Harker alsoo tweaked me via the comics.
The guy playing Nemo was the father in Monsoon Wedding, an excellent Bollywood film worth renting.
Though the movie had many other problems, I was please that Coppola’s Dracula had the Count out in the sun, just as the origianl book does (where he is supposed to lack any special powers as well). And I caught the Harker reference in LXG because I’m a vampire junkie (ah, er fan, well, you get the point).
I also heartily recommend Shadow of the Vampire for those who enjoy a good vamp story.
I found the film to be quite enjoyable. I have never read the LXG graphic novels, but I will now. I was aware that there were certain cast members with specific powers and abilities, and I believe that the website for the movie goes a long way towards helping those of us out who may or may not have any idea what they’re in for. I didn’t actually go to the website until after the movie, though.
I wasn’t aware that the characters were all public domain, but that does explain quite a bit. I was intrigued with a group of pre-X Men anti-heroes setting out to save the world; that’s a very cool concept.
One thing anyone reading my comments should understand is that I pretty much see every movie that comes out. I either need a better hobby or a girlfriend. I also have an 11 year old son who dearly loves any action movie that comes down the pike, but is choosing his movies more wisely as time goes one (one of the interesting thing about being a writer and having a child who is into writing is having an 11 year-old explain what he thinks the character’s ghost or arc is…sometimes he scares me!).
As an overall rating, I liked this movie better than Pirates, but less than Sinbad – which is a cartoon (a SPECTACULAR cartoon!).
Overall, I’d recommend the movie.
THE REST INCLUDES SPOILERS. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE. FAIR WARNING!!!
I agree that the film is indeed action packed. Not overly action packed – in my opinion – but full of juuuust about the right amount of action packing. It didn’t bother me.
The CGI stuff was interesting. I did like the overall look and feel of the film, and thought that everything was well designed and mostly fit into the age (circa 1899) that they were shooting for.
The Nautilus was absolutely beautiful; someone took that whole “sword of the sea” thing to the extreme with that ship. I have never seen a better looking version of that ship in any of the movies that showed it.
The automobile was also very interesting. I’ve tried locating better pictures or find out who designed and built the movie car, but to no avail (if anyone has any info, feel free to forward it on along to me mmmeat@pacbell.net).
Some of the CGI or matting didn’t work for me, I’ll note the shooting water and lack of falling people, the tiger, the shot of M running in the snow towards the Nautilii, and even the Nautilus in the streets of Venice as well as appearing at the London dock. That ship was big, wide, long and tall…Suspending belief can only go so far.
What I really liked was how they explained the members of the League; I thought it was much more effective that – for instance – the X-Men/X2; “here’s a character in a suit, they’ve got some powers, but Wolverine is the only character we’re going to explain in any detail.” I thought they laid the characters out well and I didn’t find it too distracting (I did find that first little library where they met – the Templer library – interesting; if you look in some of the pictures, Dorian Grey is in them!). Tom Sawyer I just didn’t understand. And HOW – exactly – did he learn to drive an (as yet unknown, untested and revolutionary mechanical marvel) automobile when he was never in the car in the first place? And how did Quartermain STEP out of a car that was obviously speeding?
Mr. Hyde. Oh my lord, he was sooooooo much better and well done than the over-the-top crap in the Hulk. Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde is so well done; he fights his inner (or outer) demon, the character has a serious and BELIEVABLE flaw. I never ever got that from the Hulk movie.
I did agree that the flying paper/shaking camera and snow was a bit annoying.
I also have to say something about the elasticity of time in this movie. Sure it may take a day or two to get everyone together and down to Venice, but it only takes a scene or two to rebuild the blown up Nautilus? C’mon!
I did find the Mina character believable, and in keeping within the original premise of the Vampire. I think that our modern sensibilities about what a vampire can or cannot do is a bit askew from what the original idea of the vampire could or could not do. I had no problem with her outside in the daylight, other than when they were on deck of the speeding Nautilus, the water around them didn’t move.
I did have problems with Skinner’s makeup; in one scene, he just dabs a bit on, in the next scene his whole head is made up (and he’s got stubble), and in the next scene he’s only got partial makeup on again. He does that quite a bit, and I found it a bit annoying. They need a better continuity guy.
The story was odd. I understand that there are certain point and plot bits that have to take place to make a story interesting and keep the audience’s attention. But I thought that the movie switched from “we have to stop the bad guy from doing something naughty in Venice” to “okay, new movie: we’re going after the bad guy in a frozen wasteland now.” It was like watching LXG and LXG II in one sitting. I didn’t really care for the whole story, the switch, or the ending as much as I’m sure someone wanted me to.
I did like the movie, I have seen it twice (once with The Boy, and once with a group of writers). There was some interesting discussion after each showing. Overall, I’d recommend it.
Your pal,
Meat.
Thanks for the review, Meat.
Only thing I’ll add is that the initial library in which they meet is full of Masonic symbols — and the Fantom has a Masonic ring. Which connection makes sense, ultimately, but goes unnoted (any number of cool Mason/Templer type conspiracy things that could have been done, but weren’t, for simplicity’s sake).
The Tom-drives-the-car thing was indeed weird. Unless we missed a scene in there where he practices while on the Nautilus. And even then …
Guys, come ON!!! Find your inner little boy/girl and let go! We bounced in our seats like children, haven’t enjoyed a movie this much in years! Well, months anyway.
And as for believability…this one had less suspension of disbelief than Charlie’s Angels! Sure, the matte paintings and backdrops were a little obvious, but when you’ve got Tom Sawyer, all growed up and working for the Secret Service, WHO CARES?!?!?! 🙂
Now, tell me, where can I get the books, please? 😀
Here‘s a link to the first series graphic novel.
My nitpicking is less that there were parts that required a suspension of disbelief (well, duh), but that even within the bounds of the reality portrayed, there were things that just didn’t make sense.
But, as I said, it was fun and fluffy.
Another good review here. “Good” as in “says a bunch of stuff I agree with, but better than I did.”
Actually, the history of cars dates back quite a bit before 1899. The car in the movie was obviously more advanced than what existed at that time, but the concept was there. In fact, Henry Ford’s work actually began in 1890 – so you never know…
Here’s yet another review, even harsher in its faint praise — and noting that LXG was a lot like The Avengers — something that should have, could have, been absolutely fabulous, but instead was, in sum, uttelry mediocre.
Hmmm. Come to think of it, Connery was in that one, too.
(via Xkot)
In addition to the obvious Masonic references in the movie (the Fantom’s ring and masonic symbols on the templer library door…itself a Masonic reference), note that a good half of the characters in this film were originally created by authors who were Masons. Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain and Alan Moore, all Masons. Sean Connery is also a Mason. I’d have to go back and look but I bet the Nautilus is styled in some way after the sword of the Knights of Templar.
Huh. That’s interesting. (I’d noticed the symbolism in the ring and the library.)