Review of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) by Paul B — 07 Jun 2011

Let's get a couple of things straight. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novles, written by Alan Moore, are some of the smartest and well written stories in comic book history. The film very loosely based on said comics? Not so much.

It suffers from poor set design, obviuos plot twists, and overuse of poor CGI, campy dialogue and hammy one-liners. Hearing talented actors like Sean Connery and Stuart Townsend utter lines like "Bomb voyage" is extremely painful. It also falls victim to large lapses in logic. How is causing a large explosino supposed to stop some buildings from falling over? I dunno. How does Fantom jump from a ledge hundreds of feet high and glide down to safety using nothing but his Obligatory Bad Guy Cape TM? I dunno.

On the other hand, the film is nearly perfectly cast. The talent is mostly composed of talented indie film actors, and they do the best job they can with the one-dimensinoal characters they're given to work with and make the film a bit more watchable despite it's ultimate craptacularity.

If you're just looking for action though, League delivers... kind of. It's PG-13, so don't expect much, although Sean Connery is quite manly in combat, often punching a bad guy in the face before he can be attacked with a blade or shot at.

It's ultimately a very flat film that falls short of nearly every expectation set for it. Only die-hard fans of the comic and the curious should bother, but only to laugh at.