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"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" assembles a splendid team of heroes to battle a plan for world domination, and then, just when it seems about to become a real corker of an adventure movie, plunges into incomprehensible action, idiotic dialogue, inexplicable motivations, causes without effects, effects without causes, and general lunacy. What a mess.

And yet it all starts so swimmingly. An emissary from Britain arrives at a private club in Kenya, circa 1899, to invite the legendary adventurer Allan Quartermain ( Sean Connery ) to assist Her Majesty's Government in averting a world war. Villains have used a tank to break into the Bank of England and have caused great destruction in Germany, and each country is blaming the other. Quartermain at first refuses to help, but becomes annoyed when armored men with automatic rifles invade the club and try to kill everybody.

Quartermain and friends are able to dispatch them with some head-butting, a few rights to the jaw and skewering on an animal horn, and then he goes to London to attend a meeting called by a spy master named--well, he's named M, of course.

Also assembled by M are such fabled figures as Captain Nemo ( Naseeruddin Shah ), who has retired from piracy; Mina Harker ( Peta Wilson ), who was involved in that messy Dracula business; Rodney Skinner ( Tony Curran ), who is the Invisible Man; Dorian Gray ( Stuart Townsend ), who, Quartermain observes, seems to be missing a picture; Tom Sawyer ( Shane West ), who works as an agent for the U.S. government, and Dr. Henry Jekyll ( Jason Flemyng ), whose alter ego is Mr. Hyde.

These team members have skills undreamed of by the authors who created them. We are not too surprised to discover that Mina Harker is an immortal vampire, since she had those puncture wounds in her throat the last time we saw her, but I wonder if Oscar Wilde knew that Dorian Gray was also immortal and cannot die (or be killed!) as long as he doesn't see his portrait; at one point, an enemy operative perforates him with bullets and he comes up smiling. Robert Louis Stevenson's Mr. Hyde was about the same size as Dr. Jekyll, but here Hyde expands into a creature scarcely smaller than the Hulk, and gets his pants from the same tailor, since they expand right along with him while his shirt is torn to shreds. Hyde looks uncannily like the WWE version of Fat Bastard.

Now listen carefully. M informs them that the leaders of Europe are going to meet in Venice and that the mysterious villains will blow up the city to start a world war. The League must stop them. When is the meeting? In three days, M says. Impossible to get there in time, Quartermain says, apparently in ignorance of railroads. Nemo volunteers his submarine, the Nautilus, which is about 10 stories high and as long as an aircraft carrier, and which we soon see cruising the canals of Venice.

It's hard enough for gondolas to negotiate the inner canals of Venice, let alone a sub the size of an ocean liner, but no problem; "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" either knows absolutely nothing about Venice, or (more likely) trusts that its audience does not. At one point, the towering Nautilus sails under the tiny Bridge of Sighs and only scrapes it a little. In no time at all there is an action scene involving Nemo's newfangled automobile, which races meaninglessly down streets that do not exist, because there are no streets in Venice and you can't go much more than a block before running into a bridge or a canal. Maybe the filmmakers did their research at the Venetian Hotel in Venice, where Connery arrived by gondola for the movie's premiere.

Bombs begin to explode Venice. It is Carnival time, and Piazza San Marco is jammed with merry-makers as the Basilica explodes and topples into ruin. Later, there is a scene of this same crowd engaged in light-hearted chatter, as if they have not noticed that half of Venice is missing. Dozens of other buildings sink into the lagoon, which does not prevent Quartermain from exalting, "Venice still stands!" Now back to that speeding car. Its driver, Tom Sawyer, has been sent off on an urgent mission. When he finds something--an underwater bomb, I think, although that would be hard to spot from a speeding car--he's supposed to fire off a flare, after which I don't know what's supposed to happen. As the car hurtles down the non-existent streets of Venice, enemy operatives stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the rooftops and fire at it with machineguns, leading us to hypothesize an enemy meeting at which the leader says, "Just in case they should arrive by submarine with a fast car which hasn't been invented yet, I want thousands of men to line the rooftops and fire at it, without hitting anything, of course." Later, there is a sinister encounter in a Venetian graveyard, among the crumbling headstones. But hold on: Venice of all cities doesn't have graves because the occupants would be underwater. Like New Orleans, another city with a ground-water problem, Venetians find it prudent to bury their dead in above-ground crypts.

But never mind. The action now moves to the frozen lakes of Mongolia, where the enemy leader (whose identity I would not dream of revealing) has constructed a gigantic factory palace to manufacture robot soldiers, apparently an early model of the clones they were manufacturing in "Attack" of the same. This palace was presumably constructed recently at great expense (it's a bitch getting construction materials through those frozen lakes). And yet it includes vast neglected and forgotten rooms.

I don't really mind the movie's lack of believability. Well, I mind a little; to assume audiences will believe cars racing through Venice is as insulting as giving them a gondola chase down the White House lawn. What I do mind is that the movie plays like a big wind came along and blew away the script and they ran down the street after it and grabbed a few pages and shot those. Since Oscar Wilde contributed Dorian Gray to the movie, it may be appropriate to end with his dying words: "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Rated PG-13 For Fantasy Violence, Language and Innuendo

110 minutes

Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain

Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo

Peta Wilson as Mina Harker

Tony Curran as Rodney Skinner

Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray

Shane West as Tom Sawyer

Richard Roxburgh as M

Directed by

• Stephen Norrington
• James Dale Robinson
• Kevin O'Neill

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• DVD & Streaming

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

• Action/Adventure , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain; Shane West as Tom Sawyer; Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray; Peta Wilson as Mina Harker; Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo; Jason Flemyng as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde; Tony Curran as Rodney Skinner; Richard Roxburgh as M

Home Release Date

• Stephen Norrington

Distributor

• 20th Century Fox

Movie Review

On the eve of the 20th century, classic characters from literature are recruited to thwart a megalomaniac ready to light the fuse on global war. The senior member of this erudite Justice League, African explorer/adventurer Allan Quatermain, is joined by the gun-slinging Tom Sawyer, an invisible man named Skinner, eccentric Indian inventor Captain Nemo, the immortal and hedonistic Dorian Gray and a blood-sucking female vampire named Mina. Also on board is Dr. Jekyll, who must rein in his Hulk-like alter-ego until there’s a need for the brute strength of Mr. Hyde. Based on a series of graphic novels by Alan Moore, this effects-heavy action film imagines what would happen if they all climbed into the Nautilus and traversed the globe on a joint mission … with a traitor in their midst. [ Warning: some spoilers revealed ]

positive elements: Each of the flawed personalities in this so-called League of Extraordinary Gentlemen needs personal redemption. Most find it through teamwork and self-sacrifice. Nemo refers to his pirate days and high-seas larceny as “old wrongs.” Quatermain confesses to vanity, pride and a history of costly mistakes (he atones for them by “adopting” Sawyer and saving his life at personal risk). To save the submarine and its crew, Dr. Jekyll willingly enters what could be a watery grave. Bad guys’ greed and lust for power ends in their destruction, both at personal and corporate levels. At a time before civil rights and racial equality, Quatermain makes it a point to say of his dangerous lifestyle, “I’ve lost friends-white men and black.” Dr. Jekyll’s internal struggle demonstrates the virtue of and need for self-control. When he realizes that his transformation serum has been stolen by the enemy, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep society from reaping the whirlwind (“I will not let my evil infect the world”).

spiritual content: An African witch doctor performs a ritual over a grave, and it is implied that the person will be resurrected. Capt. Nemo kneels before a statue of Kali, the Indian god of death (Mina asks if it’s wise to go into battle with a man who “worships death”). Quatermain says that a witch doctor blessed him once and told him that Africa would never let him die. Crosses mark graves on the veldt.

sexual content: The smoldering sensuality inherent to vampire lore surrounds Mina. That includes sexualized violence. Her identity is first revealed when she turns on an attacker and feasts on his neck, wiping blood from her mouth and licking her lips in ecstasy. In spite of witnessing this display, the men in the group vie for her affection. Dorian Gray has a sexual history with Mina. They kiss before eventually squaring off in a battle of immortals. Their vicious engagement is set in a bedroom, which leads to some very modern innuendo. The invisible Skinner touches Mina inappropriately and jokes about frostbitten body parts and the fact that he’s naked.

violent content: The action violence is so incessant that it’s numbing. It’s impossible to detail all of it. Machine-gunfire, explosions, knife fights, fist fights, sword fights and more. Men are stabbed or shot at close range. Some have their necks snapped. One hero takes a dagger in the back. Quatermain impales a man on a mounted rhino’s horn (it goes in his back and comes out his chest). When Gray is riddled with bullets, his wounds heal automatically, but other victims aren’t so lucky. The bodies really pile up. A man is engulfed by a blowtorch. Mr. Hyde tosses men around like rag dolls, and is contorted painfully as he’s transformed back to Henry Jekyll. A policeman is run down by a tank. A man holding a knife to Mina’s throat has the tables turned when she goes for his throat, killing him and sucking his blood. The city of Venice endures widespread destruction. A man is quickly reduced to an emaciated skeleton. A duel between Gray and Mina finds each stabbing each other with swords. When a villain gulps down Jekyll’s formula, he turns into an über-Hyde who creates a swath of destruction, and prepares to stab people with a giant icicle before being crushed to death. He and Hyde go at it in a battle of gargantuans. Mina and her swarm of bats attack men firing on them from rooftops.

crude or profane language: The film’s 17 abuses of language include several exclamatory uses of God’s name (“my g–“), mild profanities (“d–n,” “h—“) and a half-dozen uses of the expression “bloody.”

drug and alcohol content: Men drink alcohol in a bar/social club. Gray sips from a flask.

conclusion: What we have here is a bunch of quasi-heroic Victorian literary characters who’ve been thrust into a very busy, very violent action movie and forced to adopt all the postmodern traits needed for that context. I can’t help but wonder what Oscar Wilde, H. Rider Haggard, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson would think of someone turning their beloved creations into a pulpy excuse to blow stuff up. Granted, the revisionism began with Alan Moore’s graphic novel, but the whole thing feels rather exploitative. Is it entertaining? At times, especially when these tragic heroes allude to their origins and discuss their need to slay personal demons. It lends some humanity to a lot of wild chases and absurd special effects (is it logical to think that Nemo’s enormous sub was submerged 40 stories deep right alongside a London dock?). This quirky genre-bending popcorn flick isn’t a complete disaster on the level of Wild Wild West or Hudson Hawk , but it’s not likely to spawn a franchise, either. Personal taste aside, there’s just too much violence—some sexualized—to put a stamp of approval on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Bob Smithouser

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The league of extraordinary gentlemen, common sense media reviewers.

Enough deaths here for a more restrictive rating.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

All the characters have special abilities and must

Peril and violence, many on-screen deaths (includi

Sexual references and innuendo.

Strong language.

Social drinking and addiction to a body/mind-alter

Parents need to know that this movie contains strong violence, a great deal of peril, and deaths enough for a more restrictive rating. Nameless characters are killed in every manner of way, from the traditional (flame-throwers, guns and explosions) to the supernatural, including the unwanted attentions of a vampire…

Positive Messages

All the characters have special abilities and must work together to solve a problem, strong female and South Asian characters.

Violence & Scariness

Peril and violence, many on-screen deaths (including those of primary characters). Peril.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Social drinking and addiction to a body/mind-altering chemical concoction in the case of Dr. Jekyll.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie contains strong violence, a great deal of peril, and deaths enough for a more restrictive rating. Nameless characters are killed in every manner of way, from the traditional (flame-throwers, guns and explosions) to the supernatural, including the unwanted attentions of a vampire. There are some sexual references as well as sexuality between characters. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (8)

Based on 3 parent reviews

hulk too angry for younger kids

What's the story.

Based on the comic book/graphic novel series by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN is about a team of iconic adventurers from 19th century English literature who are members of a "League" imbued with the task of protecting England. In this movie, Mysterious "M" (thought by the comic book characters to be Sherlock Holmes' older brother, Mycroft Holmes) recruits individuals with special abilities to protect England from a master criminal. These individuals are harvested from the writings of a rich crop of authors from H.G. Wells' "Invisible Man" to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Where vampire hunter Mina Harker ( Peta Wilson ) is the leader of this band of "gentlemen" in the graphic novel, great white hunter, Allen Quartermain ( Sean Connery ) is given the task in the movie. The group--once assembled--track the mysterious "Phantom", a man who looks like a cross between Genghis Khan and the Phantom of the Opera, to stop him before he can realize his goal of starting a global war.

Is It Any Good?

This film takes the graphic novel as a start, drains it of its quirky, prim Victorian tone, turns the characters more Hollywood, and leaves the audience on their own to find something to like. Director Stephen Norrington, best known for his vampire movie Blade , and writer James Dale Robinson throw in unnecessary tweaks and additions. The dark ambiance and low-lit sets rob the colorful comic book settings of everything but their two-dimensionality, and multi-layered action style--splicing scenes into a visual barrage of images—turn fight scenes with many protagonists into an unimpressive jumble. Pat little biographical descriptions clog the flow of the story and talk down to the audience. All of these additions leave a potentially extraordinary film drowned in a cloying soup of mediocrity.

On the bright side, the movie has potential and originality, with familiar legends placed together in an interesting situation. The rich, imaginative fantasy that the idea of this movie represents is ambitious and intriguing. It is a pity that the story does not realize even a fair share of what it could be, but it is entertaining and each of the characters deserves a second look, which is an extraordinary quality for any action movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each of these very different characters.

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 11, 2003
• On DVD or streaming : December 16, 2003
• Cast : Naseeruddin Shah , Peta Wilson , Sean Connery
• Director : Stephen Norrington
• Inclusion Information : Indian/South Asian actors
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of fantasy violence, language and innuendo
• Last updated : December 18, 2023

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

The dawn of the age of superheroes and weapons of mass destruction is imagined in literally overblown terms in "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." One must ask whether the youth audience will be much interested in a picture populated by 100-plus-year-old names. The answer is almost certainly no, which spells a dicey B.O. future.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Remember Me 14 years ago
• Shutter Island 14 years ago
• Green Zone 14 years ago

This review was amended on July 10, 2003.

The dawn of the age of superheroes and weapons of mass destruction is imagined in fanciful but literally overblown terms in “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .” Operating from a disarming premise that brings together several of the late 19th century’s most celebrated literary figures to battle an evil mastermind of unprecedented ambition and technological means, this highly elaborate venture offers some appealing elements — exceptionally beautiful design, atypical characters, literacy and an intriguing intellectual basis — that are ultimately engulfed by explosions, effects and an affiliated ponderousness. Commercially, one must begin by asking whether the international youth audience will be much interested in a picture populated by such 100-plus-year-old names as Allan Quatermain, Dorian Gray, Jekyll and Hyde, Captain Nemo and, of all people, Tom Sawyer. The answer is almost certainly no, which spells a dicey B.O. future for this obviously pricey 20th Century Fox release.

Popular on Variety

After a century marked by mass annihilation or the threat of it, and by tyrants who wreaked havoc on an unprecedented scale, “League” harks back to a time — 1899 — when violent evil perhaps had narrower, more specific targets. It thus comes as a shock to late Victorian London when a terrorist known as the Fantom is able to invade the Bank of England with a tank and, after destabilizing the continent, plots to blow up Venice during an emergency conference there among all the Euro heads of state.

But given the lack, back then, of what we now know as superheroes, or even of someone like James Bond, a British gent with the conspicuous name of M (Richard Roxburgh) gathers together several famous and variously gifted figures to stop the Fantom in the four days that are left before the gathering on the lagoon.

They are: the Indiana Jones of his time, legendary hunter-adventurer of “King Solomon’s Mines” Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery, who might as well be playing the old James here); Jules Verne’s brilliant underwater nomad Captain Nemo (Indian cinema vet Naseeruddin Shah); Oscar Wilde’s ageless and indestructible aesthete Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend); the equally invulnerable scientist-turned-vampire Mina Harker (Peta Wilson); invisible man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran); the brilliant Dr. Jekyll and his beastly alter ego Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng); and last and, under these circumstances, definitely least, Tom Sawyer (Shane West), the former Mississippi River rat who turns up here as a member of the Secret Service.

Even if these characters mean little or nothing to many viewers, they are introduced with a certain brio by “Blade” director Stephen Norrington, working from a screenplay by James Dale Robinson that warmly embraces but doesn’t overdo the literary refs already in place in the comicbooks by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. For starters, there are large egos involved, not to mention some back story: Quatermain distrusts the “pirate” Nemo; Mina Harker and Dorian Gray had an affair some years back; Skinner and Jekyll/Hyde are outcasts of dubious standing; and all have questionable loyalty to, or enthusiasm for, the Crown.

But more striking still is the world these living legends inhabit. Dark, gilded and resplendent with the trappings of empire at its height, the innumerable settings created by production designer Carol Spier, abetted by arresting natural locations and the work of more than a dozen visual effects houses, create an alluring environment rooted firmly in the past but edging into the future. The obviously artificial but vividly rendered look most recalls those of Alex Proyas’ “The Crow” and “Dark City,” except set in recognizable turn-of-the-20th-century Europe.

In this time when secret technology far outstrips that visible in everyday life, the group is able to speed to Venice on Nemo’s enormous and elegant Nautilus submarine, which looks 10 times the size of the beauty featured in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” nearly 50 years ago. But they’re almost too late: Shortly after the Nautilus plows down the canals looking for explosives, underwater bombs start going off that start the city tumbling down, and only some heroic fast-thinking prevents its total destruction. In short order, Quatermain unmasks the Fantom, and the final act is devoted to increasingly ordinary excuses for mayhem before the de rigueur fireworks of the finale.

Far too little effort is paid to creating a compelling villain; for most of the time, he’s just a disfigured fellow behind a silver mask. A fascinating bad guy is always a worthwhile commodity in fare like this, and the material presented a ready opportunity for one, a sinister genius whose visionary ways with technology is perhaps only approached by that of Nemo. That opposition alone could have provided a fertile rivalry.

It’s easy to imagine that, had such a film been made in an earlier era, the late ’30s, for instance, when the limitations upon special effects would have forced the emphasis onto personal drama, much more would have been made of the confluence of these colorful characters, all of whom were Hollywood staples at one time or another.

As it is, they are competently realized on the outside, but are given no inner life and few individualistic wrinkles. Quatermain is an all-purpose prince of the realm who resents the (slight) incursions of age; Nemo is a devout Hindu with pronounced anti-Brit sentiments; Skinner is almost as invisible dramatically as he is physically; Dorian Gray, who is immortal as long as he doesn’t peer upon his portrait, is an unreliable dilettante when it comes to crime fighting; Harker is able to instigate bat attacks when needed; while Sawyer (who is never referred to as Tom onscreen) is the odd man out, seemingly dragged in despite his limited talents just to have an American on board.

Robinson’s script is alive to the material’s literary roots, although there is a sense that the brakes have been applied so as not to push into territory perceived as too esoteric for American teenagers. All the characters are invested with a prideful dimension that makes them reluctant to share the stage with others of their stature, and at least a couple of them are not without some wit about themselves. Some serve the story’s purposes better than others, and aside from Sawyer, the Jekyll/Hyde creation is least successful, mainly because the ungainly and heavily muscled Hyde resembles an unfortunate combination of the Hulk and Fat Bastard.

Script is also gracefully unemphatic about its intentional prophetic side, suggesting the conflict to come with WWI 15 years hence, as well as the greater and more unimaginable horrors awaiting further along in the century, without pretentiousness or self-importance.

Except for a few clumsy perspectives of Venice toppling down, effects are fun and beautiful to watch, and pic is a visual treat, with key contributions coming from lenser Dan Laustsen and costume designer Jacqueline West. Trevor Jones’ score rumbles with ominous vigor behind much of the action.

• Production: A 20th Century Fox release presented in association with Mediastream III of a Don Murphy production. Produced by Murphy, Trevor Albert. Executive producers, Sean Connery, Mark Gordon. Directed by Stephen Norrington. Screenplay, James Dale Robinson, based on the comic books by Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill.
• Crew: Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Dan Laustsen; editor, Paul Rubell; music, Trevor Jones; production designer, Carol Spier; art directors, James McAteer, James F. Truesdale, Elinor Rose Galbraith, Jindrich Koci, Marco Bittner Rosser; set designers, Gordon White, Gordon Leberedt, Grant Van Der Slagt, Patrick Banister, Andy Thomson, Milena Koubkova, Jason Knox-Johnston, Stephan O. Gessler, Jan Svoboda, David Wood, David Baxa; set decorator, Peter Nicolakakos; costume designer, Jacqueline West; sound (Dolby/DTS), Mark Holding; supervising sound editor, Jay Wilkinson; visual effects supervisors, Janek Sirrs, John E. Sullivan, David Goldberg, Thomas J. Smith; creature effects, Steve Johnson's Edge FX; visual effects, Double Negative, Digiscope, Computercafe, Pixel Magic, VCE.COM, Peter Kurran, Riot, Giant Killer Robots, Engine Room, Big Red Pixel; digital visual effects and computer animation, Cinesite (Europe) Ltd.; Venice and Tiger Bay miniatures and camera, New Deal Studios; special visual effects, Industrial Light & Magic; associate producer, Rick Benattar; assistant directors, K.C. Colwell, Michel "Mishka" Cheyko; second unit directors, Vic Armstrong, Michael A. Benson, Rich Thorne; stunt coordinator, Eddie Perez; Czech stunt coordinator, Dusan Hyska; casting, Donna Isaacson, Lucinda Syson. Reviewed at 20th Century Fox Studios, L.A., July 8, 2003. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 110 MIN.
• With: Allan Quatermain - Sean Connery Tom Sawyer - Shane West Dorian Gray - Stuart Townsend M - Richard Roxburgh Mina Harker - Peta Wilson Rodney Skinner - Tony Curran Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde - Jason Flemyng Captain Nemo - Naseeruddin Shah Nigel - David Hemmings Dante - Max Ryan

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

With all the top tier superheroes like Hulk and the X-Men lighting up the box-office over the past year, who would have thought that characters taken directly from classic adventure and horror literature would fit into that mold so well? The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is not exactly a wham-bang superhero spectacular in the same vein as Spider-Man or Daredevil , but it is an undeniably interesting experience for a mid-July blockbuster. Like many popular movies of late, The League puts a new spin on an old story. Not an updated retelling, or a “re-imagining” as some filmmakers have put it (cough- Tim Burton -cough), but a meeting of several classic stories combined to create a fairly entertaining popcorn distraction.

The story opens at the end of the nineteenth century with a familiar yet somehow displaced metal object running amok in the streets of Victorian London. That object is a tank, but as this is early 1899, the police force is as baffled by the steel behemoth as we would be. The tank pummels through building after building before finally settling in front of a bank vault, as a mysterious masked figure carrying a silver scepter appears to be planning something big. We jump-cut over to blazing Kenya as a bowler-wearing man enters a grungy bar to meet with famed adventurer Allan Quatermain ( Sean Connery ). Quatermain is then asked to lead a team of “unique” individuals for the Royal Empire to prevent a tyrannical madman known as the “Phantom” (no, not the operatic one) from sinking Venice to the bottom of the sea and setting off a “World War.”

Quatermain is given the orders by LXG recruiter (Richard Roxburgh), known simply as “M” (one of two James Bond references; Connery's character is also given the nickname of “Q”) and he is soon introduced to the colorful team of outcasts. Scientist Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), vampiress Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), invisible man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), Immortal Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), American Secret Service agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West), and Dr. Henry Jekyll & Mr. Edward Hyde (Jason Flemyng, whose alter ego looks like a distant cousin of the Hulk).

The League begins on a strong note, dazzling the viewer with an array of sumptuous production design, clean visual-effects, and strong mood lighting to set the tone for this unique tale. The most curious thing is how much it reminded me of Wild Wild West . Both films use the technological ideas of Jules Verne to move the story forward by placing advanced mechanisms such as automobiles, submarines, rockets, and bulletproof vests in the late 1890's and making them clunky, yet still advanced. Both also use ongoing political turmoil as a backdrop to the villains' plot.

This strong sense of setting is one of the early reasons that The League is at least a marginal success. A nice time-warp affect propels the viewer into this faraway place while entertaining with some nice summer blockbuster clichés: a villain who wears a silver-mask and carries a scary-looking scepter, an army of foot soldiers who cackle as they perform their evil deeds, and an early confrontation between the heroes and villains to establish each other’s goals. The first half of the film introduces the characters perfectly and sets up some old-fashioned adventure that sparked fond memories of straight popcorn like The Mummy and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider . Shootouts, explosions, one-liners, and colorful characters all pulled me in immediately.

But like The Mummy Returns and other failed fantasy blockbusters, The League falters around halfway through, and becomes the type of bloated, CG-driven video game that the first previews had indicated. The film loses its sense of excitement in favor of some very cheesy special effects (particularly another cousin of the Hulk, only blood-red). There also seems to be a strong effort to make the film bigger and bigger right up until the finale. There are some exciting moments even then, but the climax turns out to be a major letdown.

Surprisingly, Sean Connery looks and sounds terribly bored. Perhaps he is unenthusiastic about being in a fantasy adventure that takes place in a distinct period of London's colorful history, a situation that could only remind him only of The Avengers , which, ironically, also saw him give a rare boring performance. The problem here is that he is the lead hero and needs to hold up the whole enterprise. He also shows a lot of his age in the action scenes. As the rest of the team uses their bizarre talents to win the battle (which could make them the original X-Men), Connery throws weak punches and barely moves. But give the 72-year old credit for trying.

These Gentlemen are certainly extraordinary. But The League is nothing out of the ordinary.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reviews

Your enjoyment of this fascinatingly flawed action-adventure fantasy will come down to how far you are prepared to go along with its original and absolutely off-the-wall premise.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2020

Appallingly stupid and incompetently made.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | May 10, 2020

It's big, silly, and entertaining, and even its most naked franchise ambitions feel fun rather than frustrating, because they're so blatant.

Full Review | Mar 9, 2020

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman can be summed up in one word: ordinary.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Nov 16, 2019

Sadly, the rot sets in just over the halfway mark when the action loses its identity of fustian heroism and degenerates into another arcade video game of mundane destruction. A pity.

Full Review | Jan 11, 2018

When you have time to think these thoughts while you're watching $100 million+ explode on a screen, that's one more sign the movie doesn't work.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jan 4, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Sep 7, 2011

Enough deaths here for a more restrictive rating.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 28, 2010

A guilty pleasure from top to bottom

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

Without a strong, juicy villain -- one that we love to hate -- the film lacks an important ingredient.

Full Review | Oct 18, 2008

This grouping of extraordinary egos brushes against the personality flaws and clashes that initially make the film intriguing, but then the film slips into a special-effects extravaganza with a monstrous, rampaging Mr. Hyde headlining.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Easily one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4 | Jul 14, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 28, 2007

Full Review | Apr 26, 2007

So little of real consequence is at stake that you'll have plenty of time to notice how the names on not one but two tombstones are misspelled.

Full Review | Mar 1, 2007

No matter how troubled the shoot was, the movie was shanghaied from the off, courtesy of Hollywood's dependence on market-defined 'success'.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 30, 2006

... the effects and sets are marvellously fantastical and there are one or two neat comical allusions to the heroes' literary roots. But where's the excitement, the thrills, the tension, the style?

Full Review | Feb 9, 2006

The problem with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the filmmakers tried to give everyone a main storyline and ended up diluting everything.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

This one isn't for everyone, but it's still good in my book.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 5, 2005

The League is a project that was doomed from the moment the studio threw out Alan Moore comic and decided that they knew better.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Mar 5, 2005

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Review

17 Oct 2003

110 minutes

League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The

Of all the comic book properties eagerly purchased by studios following X-Men, Alan Moore's highly-acclaimed melding of Victorian adventure fiction and super-heroics was undoubtedly the most exciting. Teeming with inspired wit and invention, only a supreme effort could screw it up. "Prepare For The Extraordinary" screamed the presumptuous trailer. You should indeed - albeit, crushingly, an extraordinary display of creative cowardice and mishandling.

The drive to concoct a period X-Men results in a depressingly clumsy action movie, one which treats the audience's intelligence with infuriating contempt.

The promising start - Quatermain (Connery's craggy charm on form) is lured from his colonial African home to London (hats off to Carol Spier's beautiful production design) to assemble the League - is quickly evaporated by the film's most damning trait: the assumption we know nothing of these characters. They are, of course, literary icons of many decades' cultural standing. The first hour comprises tediously detailed, ham-fisted character introductions via Robinson's painfully expositional dialogue - the actors flounder with characters free of depth, life or chemistry. Nemo merely provides the gadgets and martial artistry, the now-vampiric Mina Harker is wasted eye-candy, the new Invisible Man is an irritating Cockney spiv, and the Hulk-like Jekyll and Hyde moans and sweats between appearances as poor CG. Ironically, Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray, who are not in the source comic, fare better. West's Sawyer has a good mentor/protegÚ schtick with Quatermain, while Townsend's Gray is undoubtedly the most fun role.

By the time the League actually does something, the film drowns in its own forced spectacle. Fight scenes are shoddily edited, ridiculous set-pieces fail to hide woeful effects and worse are the bewildering array of continuity errors. Anyone who has seen Blade knows that Norrington can direct slick action fare, but there's scant evidence here.

No matter how troubled the shoot was, the movie was shanghaied from the off, courtesy of Hollywood's dependence on market-defined 'success'.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

There was a squirming dude sitting next to me in the front mezzanine of the theater that was showing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen . Midway through the film, he plotted his escape. Surrounded on both sides by viewers with feet up and vats of popcorn on their laps, he squeezed through the bars in front of him and leapt to his freedom. Now that’s a hero.

For the rest of us, League did prove extraordinary in its rank ineptitude, crude computer effects and rude indifference to the dark Alan Moore graphic novel on which the film is based.

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Set in 1899, League starts with a recruiter named M (Richard Roxburgh), who brings together nineteenth-century literary rogues and asks them to form an alliance to — what else? — save the world. Sean Connery stars as Allan Quartermain, the great white hunter. Tossed in for spice, if little sense, are vampire babe Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), who gets it on with Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend). There’s also an Invisible Man (Tony Curran), Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng) and — just to get an American lad in the mix — Tom Sawyer (Shane West), who’d like to get his blood sucked by Mina. It’s Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) who ferries the league off to Venice in his submarine Nautilus.

Except for Connery, who is every inch the lion in winter, nothing here feels authentic. Director Stephen Norrington ( Blade ) uses computers to paint in the f/x, which look as fake as Connery’s hairpiece. Jekyll’s transformation into a Halloween-costume Hyde is laughably bad. You can say the same of the movie.

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The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen review

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Comic books have done well by superhero legions - Justice League, Fantastic Four - but The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen is truly strange and beautiful. The brainchild of writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill, it brings together mythic Brit-lit characters Allan Quatermain, Henry Jekyll, Captain Nemo, Mina Harker and an invisible man (but not The Invisible Man for copyright reasons). Great idea, huh? Even better, it's wittily executed, packaged as a rollicking fin de siècle sci-fier. Shame that so few people have ever bloody read it.

Hollywood chucking $110 million at the screen could have changed all that... If it had worked. Instead, Stephen Blade Norrington's version of LXG is hamstrung by unnecessary changes and an incoherence that's painfully at odds with Moore's storytelling acumen.

It's not so much the changes to the plot (now a race against time to stop a technology-savvy fiend called the Fantom from starting a world war), as the changes to the characters. Moore's tale pictured them as has-been doubters finding redemption among icons; James Dale Robinson's script transforms them into invincible ass-kickers. It's a Hollywood no-brainer.

The problems pretty much begin and end with Sean Connery. On paper, he's a natural choice to play the ageing - no, aged - Quatermain. But Connery, who also acts as an executive producer, isn't content to be a team player. So what we've got here, ladies and gents, is a star vehicle, the revered Scotsman moulding Quatermain from the opium addict of the comic into an unstoppable septuagenarian with Arnie-style quips. Too often, this feels like a League Of One.

Then there's the addition of two more characters: Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend) and American Secret Service agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West). Why? To bring down the average age of the cast and allow for a little sex appeal. That, and to give Peta Wilson's Harker a pair of romantic rivals - not that it plays with a hint of credibility. Sawyer also acts as a son figure to Quatermain, introducing the kind of schmaltz that the comic book so assiduously avoids.

That said, the rest of the cast is appealing enough, especially Jason Flemyng's twitchy Dr Jekyll and Wilson's regal vampiress. But the film's real sell is its look, from a shadowy, gas-lit London to the gleaming beauty of Nemo's sub Nautilus. (Impressive, but you know a movie's in trouble when reviewers have to bang on about the production design to get in a few kind words.)

And that's where the praise stops, Norrington's direction taking the movie to the brink of being unintelligible - and beyond. Big bangs, one-liners and (frequently terrible) CGI whizz before our eyes like a video game as characters, drama and plot are drowned out by the frenzied pyrotechnics. League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen? League Of Decidedly Ordinary Geezers, more like.

Not entirely in league with the comic book and weighted far too heavily towards Sean Connery, LXG occasionally looks good but has little else to offer. Approach with caution.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Movie Review

• Holly McClure Movie Reviewer
• Updated Aug 07, 2007

Genre: Action, Thriller, Adventure

Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of fantasy, violence, language and innuendo)

Release Date: July 11, 2003

Actors: Sean Connery, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh, Naseeruddin Shah, Tony Curran, Max Ryan, Tom Goodman-Hill, David Hemmings, Peta Wilson

Director: Stephen Norrington

Special Notes: A friend of mine was the hairstylist for Sean Connery on this movie, and she told me lot of "Connery" stories of what happened to him while making this movie. Apparently everything that could go wrong did, including one of the worst floods to strike Prague in 130 years. Ironically the rain destroyed Captain Nemo's submarine set with over 20 feet of water in the warehouse. Connery even went on television to make a plea for help. Another interesting note: the "Hyde" suit Flemyng wore (his character is Dr. Henry Jekyll) weighed 45 pounds, and it took seven hours to apply all of his makeup.

Plot: The story is based on the Alan Moore/Kevin O'Neill graphic novel miniseries set in the late 1800s. When a group of literary figures [Allan Quatermain (Connery), vampire Mina Harker (Wilson), the Invisible Man (Curran), Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Flemyng), Tom Sawyer (West), Captain Nemo (Shah), and Dorian Gray (Townsend)] are summoned by agent "M" to join the league of extraordinary gentlemen, they discover their talents are needed to stop a mysterious madman from turning the nations of the world against one another and achieving global domination with powerful machines.

Bad: This is an adventure aimed at mature audiences, because of the mild language, numerous fight scenes with guns and swords and special effect "monster looking" bad guys. The plot is detailed and takes place in several locations, so it will require a mature viewer who can keep up with the storyline. At times, the story gets a little complicated but it's nothing that ruins the movie. Some of the special effects are a little cheap looking (Nemo's boat, the water spray, some of the cityscapes, etc.) compared to some of the special effects we see in other big budget movies , but I don't think the movie should be judged on that standard because it was still interesting. The character that seemed to be the odd one in the bunch was Harker, the female vampire who was bitten by Dracula. She attacks a soldier who's going to kill her and bites him savagely, then stands up and licks/wipes the blood off her face. It's one of the more graphic scenes in the movie and solicited groans from my audience. She kills again when they attack their enemies, but we don't see her attacks played out as bloody or as graphically as the first. Lots of sword fights, gun battles and even a fight between Hyde and another monster keep the action going. In the end, there's a witch doctor dancing over a grave and chanting.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

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Story: Allan Quatermain ( Sean Connery ), the world’s greatest adventurer, must lead a legion of superheroes the likes of which the world has never seen. Quatermain’s extraordinary League is comprised of Captain Nemo, Dracula vampiress Mina Harker, an Invisible Man, American secret service agent Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. The League members are staunch individualists, outcasts in fact, with checkered pasts and singular gifts that have been both blessing and curse. Now they must learn to trust each other and work as a team for the very hope of civilization.

I t’s unfortunate and ironic that this film can be summarized in the now-famous Sean Connery line from its own promotional trailer: “I’m waiting to be impressed.” “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” could have been an excellent film. I spent most of the last half wishing they would have continued in the original costume drama thread ala Sherlock Holmes rather than to forge into some strange post-modern game of cat and mouse.

The original premise is actually quite interesting, as it brings famous literary characters together. Allan Quartermain, the legendary explorer. Dr. Jekyll and his counterpart Mr. Hyde, the man-turned-monster. Captain Nemo and the Nautilus from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” The Invisible Man. Immortal Dorian Gray, and Mina Harker, former assistant to Van Helsing (the famous Dracula hunter). Throw in a notorious fiend from the literary works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a hoard of sly winks at other novels and histories ( Around The World in Eighty Days , “The Phantom of the Opera”, and Jack the Ripper) and you have what starts off as a promising film.

In a dark alleyway a number of Victorian policemen are assaulted by a massive iron tank which boldly smashes into the Bank of London and robs not only the vault of its valuable contents but a set of original blueprints of the Venice underground as well. Since the only survivor (left alive to “tell the tale”) heard the thieves speaking German, England launches a series of accusations against their former allies. In the meantime the same gang of roughens seize control of a German laboratory and blow it sky high. Germany believes this to be the work of England—and British Secret Service Agents are frantically attempting to prevent an all-out war.

Explorer Allan Quartermain is sought out in Kenya by a British agent sent to persuade him to help them capture the fiend responsible, known only as “The Fantom.” The legendary hero journeys to England where he is briefed by “M,” a man of high position in the government but no intention to do more than set their plans for a counter-attack in motion. (Viewers are encouraged to believe he is Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older and less physically ambitious brother.) Quartermain’s mission is to bring together an elite crime-fighting team comprised of some of the most notorious individuals of their age and protect the world leaders as they gather in Venice for a secret summit meeting.

Among those already enlisted to join him in battle are Captain Nemo, a Hindi “pirate” and inventor who seeks to right past wrongs, Mina Harker, a former vampire-hunter and scientist, and Rodney Skinner (who, thanks to an invisibility formula with no anecdote, can only be seen when wearing clothing). “M” wants two more to make up the “dream team”—Dorian Gray, an immortal whose fate is tied to a cursed self portrait, and the infamous Dr. Jekyll, whose counterpart Mr. Hyde could be a valuable asset in battling the Fantom. Dorian has already been approached by the British government and turned them down. “M” hopes the reappearance of his old flame, Mina Harker, will change his mind. In the meantime, Jeckyl lurks abroad in Paris, having been run out of England for his violent crimes against humanity.

They have only three days to bring together the League and stop Fantom from rampant destruction. Along the way they’re joined by a spirited American by the name of Thomas Sawyer, a crack shot, fast driver, and doubly suspicious individual. As they journey together aboard the Nautilus, the characters each reveal a different side. Dark secrets, unrequited love, past sins, and old wounds. They will all be called to use their talents against a diabolical evil which, unleashed on the world, could create rampant chaos… and may find themselves unwilling pawns in the process. When a traitor is discovered among them, none of the League may make back to England alive.

LXG looked promising from the trailers and for the first half hour was tolerable. Then it turned just plain strange. The script simply fails to go anywhere—it doesn’t give us any complexities in the characters, seems to wander with no true idea of where it’s leading itself, and comes up with a true stinker of an ending.

How Marvel talked Sean Connery , Richard Roxburg, Shane West , and Stuart Townsend into this will forever remain a mystery. The movie is all about high-action fighting sequences with nothing of depth interspaced between. It’s never a good sign when the villain turns out to be the most fascinating character—and his death isn’t even dramatic. (I might also add “pathetic” and “below him,” considering just who he turns out to be.)

One plot twist did surprise me, but the other was easily foreseen. Since there’s no time for character development, the ending climax wasn’t as poignant as it might have been.

The special effects are fairly decent but are also grotesque. Seeing Jekyll transform into Hyde is a bone-wrenching experience with disgusting results (facial contortions, a massive hunched back, and sinewy flesh). Seeing a character age eighty years in three seconds and have his rotted corpse fall to the floor wasn’t particularly edifying either.

The content is limited to primarily intense fighting scenes, but unfortunately they aren’t even that well filmed. In order to keep the PG-13 rating the director was forced to use choppy editing techniques. The result is that most of the time you can’t see what’s going on and it feels as though you’re inside a video game. The bodies pile up by the ending credits, including several main characters (who may or may not be dead).

Language is mild—limited to some British slang and a few profanities, as well as some innuendo.

The relationship between Mina and Dorian is presumed to be sexual—we see them kissing passionately after he bandages her cut finger with his handkerchief. Minor spoiler: Mina is “turned on” by blood… because in her adventures helping her husband defeat Dracula with the aid of Van Helsing, she was bitten. The beautiful woman is now a vampire with the ability to transform herself into a legion of bats at will. The first evidence of this comes with no warning—when she suddenly turns on an attacker threatening her with a knife and bites him savagely in the neck. The camera briefly lingers on her licking blood from her lips before composing herself.

There were moments when I found the movie enjoyable, but these were few and far between. I found myself wishing they’d taken a much more natural approach and engaged the characters in a psychological battle against evil rather than merely pitting fang against claw.

There are some witty lines, but most failed to get laughs. LXG just doesn’t hold a candle against Spider-Man , which has a much better message for teens and doesn’t have the troubling elements—the presence of a lady vampire (which arguably incorporates “sexualized violence” into the film) and a particularly disconcerting ending which leaves the viewer with the impression that an African witch doctor is resurrecting one of the dead heroes. My only conciliation is that Sherlock Holmes himself never made an appearance, though the film could have used his intelligence and foresight.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) Parent Guide

Imagine the "greatest hits" of Victorian era literature, and you'll get a small inkling of the idea behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Release date July 11, 2003

Run Time: 110 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Imagine the “greatest hits” of Victorian era literature, and you’ll get a small inkling of the idea behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

When the once acclaimed but now retired British adventurer Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery) is called upon to serve his country, he will only go as far as extending his ale upward for a toast to Her Majesty. Ignoring the persuasive promptings from the messenger sent all the way to Africa in hopes of soliciting his support, Quartermain’s ears suddenly become more attentive after an assassination attempt on his life destroys the Nairobi bar where he’s been hiding from the searing heat and public attention.

Together they are directed to stop a mysterious being, known only as The Fantom, from sabotaging a conference of world leaders in Venice. Considering the already fragile political stage, the nefarious criminal’s plans to set off a domino chain of explosions that would sink the entire city could have globally catastrophic consequences.

The “novel” idea of combining fiction’s greatest characters into one setting pays off with a literary action-adventure that will make the recent Hulk turn a new shade of green… especially after watching Dr. Jekyll down a gulp of his transformation poison. The resulting Mr. Hyde is a visual feast of real special effects with few digital manipulations.

Typically movies with casts this large spend far too much time introducing characters and fail miserably at telling a story. Fortunately these writers literally “cut to the chase,” allowing us to better understand these people by watching their interactions. There’s also an assumption audiences will already know these famous personages (and hopefully young audience members will be inclined to read more about them when the movie is over).

Nearly free of even mild profanities and only one nude scene played (fortunately!) by The Invisible Man, this movie might be recommendable for your older teens. However, it has many scenes with guns (including on-screen shootings), knives, and fist-to-fist combat along with many more large-scale depictions of bombs and destruction. While most of this fantasy violence is bloodless, that can’t be said about the unwitting bloke Mina sinks her teeth into. Caught in the hold of her would-be assassin, the woman’s Dracula DNA takes over and she kills her aggressor with a gruesome bite to the neck.

Pegged as one of the more unusual releases of Summer 2003, this movie truly sits in a league of its own by delivering a strong story that’s not diluted with the usual sequel possibilities. However, families sensitive to violent portrayals may not find these men (and woman) all that gentle and should carefully heed the PG-13 warning.

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Rod Gustafson

The league of extraordinary gentlemen (2003) parents' guide, related home video titles:.

You can find Captain Nemo’s story in Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . Tom Sawyer’s childhood is depicted in Tom and Huck . A multi-talented group is also brought together in the comic strip spin-offs The X-Men and X2: X-Men United .

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Blu-ray Review

I think that the makers of this film should be congratulated for trying to helm such epic subject matter.

This is a movie that seemed to have too many characters for its own good.

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Blade director Stephen Norrington gave us his take on Alan Moore's comic book of the same name. It features characters out of literary classics like Allen Quatermain (Sean Connery), Tom Sawyer (Shane West), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng), and Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) among others. They have been brought together by Queen Victoria to fight the evildoers in the world. However, once we get passed establishing who all these characters are we then find out that they have been pitted against a foe that wishes to destroy the planet.

All in all The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's primary flaw is that there's just enough movie here to service this story. While I think Norrington should be given credit for what he tried to achieve, this movie sadly seems that by the time it got going it was over.

Commentary Tracks and Animated Pop Up Trivia Track

The creators of this DVD have put two commentary tracks on this Blu-ray release. They are:

- Commentary by Jackie West, Steve Johnson, John Sullivan, Ian Hunter and Matthew Gratzner

- Commentary by Trevor Albert, Peta Wilson, Jason Flemying, Tony Curran and Shane West

I chose to listen to the second one mainly because I recognized the names Peta Wilson, Jason Flemying and Shane West. Overall, I was kind of disappointed as I think the amount of voices on this track sort of made everyone afraid to let loose and really talk. Also, nothing that was said really went beyond cursory production details or the actors and others talking about how great it was to all work together. Check this out if you are a fan of this movie otherwise you might want to try the other track.

The Animated Pop Up Trivia Track offers information about this movie's production and characters as the film plays. I sadly didn't have a lot of time so I only watched a tiny portion of this.

Interactive First Person Shooter Game

Offering 12 unique play modes this is actually a set-top game that users can play. While I think it's somewhat weird using a Blu-ray player for a game that is clearly remedial, perhaps if you are big fan (or a little kid) you will enjoy clicking around with this.

2.35:1 - This film looked really sharp on the Blu-ray player that I screened it on. There are a lot of blacks and grays and everything seemed really well compressed for this release. In fact, I wouldn't mind going back and seeing one of the earlier standard DVDs because there is no way that they could look nearly as good as this release does. Also, there is a lot of quick moving action and that all serves to help enhance the cinematic experience that this is supposed to have on Blu-ray Disc.

Dolby - DTS Surround Sound. The audio for this release complimented the picture really nicely. There was a fullness to it that went really nicely with the images. Again, I couldn't help feeling as I was watching this movie that it was only 3/4's of the way done. At 110 minutes this film played in a very rich way but it seemed to not have enough juice, even with solid audio, to pull off the payoff that the setup seemed to establish.

Showcasing Sean Connery on the cover of this Blu-ray disc (as well as the rest of the main cast), this cover seems identical to the theatrical one-sheet and Standard DVD cover from the original release. The back showcases a description of this film, a Special Features listing and technical specs.

I remember when this movie was first released and I was surprised that it didn't fare better at the box office. I guess it can't be considered a failure because it did do $66 million in the US against a budget $78 million. However, with worldwide numbers bringing this movie's theatrical total to $180 million, I guess this film could be considered a pretty big success. At the same time, I tend to think that they probably wanted this film to gross somewhere in the range of $250 million. When you have a large cast that's based on a very popular comic (by a very popular comic writer), I am guessing that while the suits were happy with the numbers they probably weren't falling all over themselves.

In closing, I think that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen could certainly have a place in anybody's Blu-ray collection but something tells me it's half-finished production values could leave them wanting.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was released July 11, 2003.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, SF and adventure characters team up on a secret mission.

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

What would happen if you took the stoic characters from classic, nineteenth century literature and reimagined them as the superheroes of their day? This was precisely the question that intrigued reclusive comic-writer extraordinaire Alan Moore following his success with "The Watchmen." The resulting mini-series, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,' was a masterwork that somehow managed to keep its premise genuinely compelling while turning fictional history on its ear.

In 2003, I nervously sat in my local theater, waiting to see how one of my favorite graphic novels would be handled by director Stephen Norrington (at the time, an absolute god in the comic industry after his cinematic treatment of 'Blade'). Two hours later, I left the theater in a haze -- shocked, muttering, despondent -- alright, maybe I wasn't that upset, but you get the point. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was a flashy, mediocre, blaring attempt to cash in on a piece of pulpy brilliance that failed at almost every turn. I swore I'd never watch it again. Now, almost four years later, I sat down to watch this Blu-Ray release and, I have to say, the film isn't nearly as disastrous as I remember.

It's 1899 and humanity stands at the edge of a new century. A secret organization is attempting to bring about the first World War and England calls upon legendary adventurer Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery) to stop the growing threat. He organizes a team consisting of Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), The Invisible Man (Tony Curran), Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), Tom Sawyer (Shane West), and Dr. Jekyl (Jason Flemyng) -- a strange group of unlikely heroes that must work past their differences to ensure the survival of civilized society. Sound familiar?

Where the comic succeeded in moving beyond its X-Men influences with a careful attention to detail, the film version of 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' is mainly concerned with attracting the same audience that made Marvel's mutants a success at the box office. Norrington increases the violence, amps up the effects, and moves the story in any direction that has more visual bang than the subtle pages of Moore's work. However, even the surface sheen of the film is muddied by shoddy effects, obvious wire-work, and cartoony CG. Take one look at the climactic slug-out between the Dante monster and Mr. Hyde and you can see the holes a limited budget tears in a hopeful blockbuster of this size. Even worse, the story ironically would've been more thrilling if it was translated directly from the comic -- the villain is a pale imitation of his original inception, and the characters are stripped of their complexities in the comic (Quartermain's alcoholism, The Invisible Man's psychosis, and Nemo's imposing ruthlessness... just to name a few).

Fortunately, if you remove yourself from the source material (as most will), you're left with an amusing ride hindered by occasional missteps that, for the most part, is a cut above the cartoons that litter the comic-film genre. The actors clearly had a good time and Townsend, West, and Curran, in particular, bring a lot of wry wit to their performances. Connery is the only member of the ensemble phoning it in and the screenplay is constructed well enough to ensure a good time regardless of his predictable plodding. The addition of Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray works nicely, enhancing the story with increased humor and sarcasm.

All in all, I was surprised to find myself mildly enjoying this movie on my second visit. I only wish, years ago, I could've put aside my high expectations and succumbed to this entertaining-crap rollercoaster that romps around Victorian London with a style completely entwined with the twentieth century.

Video Review

Released using an AVC transfer, this 1080p Blu-ray presentation shares the same hit-or-miss quality as the film itself. The most noticeable problem is a lack of consistency from one shot to the next -- videophiles will likely find themselves distracted in key scenes. During the library ambush, pay close attention to the video quality as shots switch between the characters. When the camera focuses on The Phantom, a pristine crispness highlights his coat and the reflective surface of his mask. When the camera flips to any angle that includes Nemo, the colors and sharpness suddenly fade and soften, an effect so jarring that you may feel as if you're switching between the high definition and standard-def versions of the film. I tallied at least a dozen other scenes where this occurred and eventually gave up tracking the problem.

Contrast inconsistency is peppered throughout the film as well. Every time a scene is set in the war room of the Nautilus, you'll see a disappointing reduction in contrast levels between the stark whiteness of the walls and the black costumes of anyone on screen. This is baffling because scenes that take place in the snowy tundra near the end of the film really popped even though they were based around the same conflict between light and dark. In fact, almost everything that will impress you during the movie has a counter-example of a moment that is entirely unimpressive. Fire in a zeppelin explosion splashed vividly across my display while industrial firestacks belched colorless flames, stones on the ground could be counted and catalogued while blades of tall grass blended together in a haze, and quick-shots would showcase solid image stability while still-shots would occasionally flicker.

The only consistent video qualities I caught were sharp water detailing, a depth to smoke and dust, and the pop of the film's cityscapes. Although... that statement's only true if we're talking about the good things with the video presentation. A lot of this transfer is consistently disappointing when you can point out a slight veil of murkiness over the entire picture, clouded shadow detailing, soft Kenyan nature shots, a lack of texture dimension, and a stutter to long pan shots -- particularly of the exterior of the Nautilus. Even more noticeable, the CG effects have a more exaggerated, blue-screened appearance in high definition that made me cringe on a regular basis. It's a noticeable upgrade from the standard edition DVD, but the jump is nowhere near the level of most Blu-Ray releases.

Audio Review

'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' has a powerful DTS HD 5.1 audio track that boasts a lossless transfer of the original master. A deep bass rumbles convincingly during explosions and gunfire (both of which happen a lot), dialogue is never lost under the action, and the soundfield is overworked with channel movement. It's definitely clear why lossless audio is the wave of the future and I never found myself wondering if a complaint I had with the mix was anything other than a dissatisfaction with decisions by the filmmakers.

Which brings us to the reduction in the grade I gave the audio. Sound effects grow tiresome, repetitive, and crowded... there's such a determination to make every action scene shake the speakers, that a realistic treatment of the soundscape seems to be the last of Norrington's priorities. Not to harp on the ambush in the library, but after you've watched Nemo fade in and out, pay attention to the fight that follows. Gunfire, ricochets, sword clangs, shattering shelves, and splintered wood all assault your ears at the same volume. There's no layering in the sound design and everything battles for your attention -- no matter how loud or soft the actual effect would be in the midst of the chaos. To make matters worse, the sound bellows out of the speakers and there's never an effort made to create a convincing illusion of space and position in the soundfield.

Special Features

First up is a commentary featuring separate recordings of producer Don Murphy, producer Trevor Albert, and a room packed with actors Jason Flemyng, Tony Curran, and Shane West. The three groups have been edited together without much thought to commentary flow and the results are less than spectacular. The actors are great fun and their discussions and chemistry made this track reminiscent of the four-Hobbit commentary track on "The Lord of the Rings" extended release DVDs. The producers are less exciting with Albert sticking to crew salutes and Murphy giving an interesting (but dry) rundown of the entire production. Most bizarrely, Albert is so proud of the end results that he compliments people responsible for the most laughably bad moments in the movie. At one point Jekyl tips his formula back and begins to turn into Hyde through a series of unintentionally funny jump-cuts that are more Ed Wood than anything I've seen in the last decade. As Hyde prepares to save the Nautilus from sinking, Albert comments, "here you can see the terrific transformation work by our effects people". I'd keep quoting him but he goes on about it every time it happens... at length.

Last and, well, least is a commentary track featuring Costume Designer Jacqueline West, Visual Effects Supervisor John E. Sullivan, Makeup Effects Supervisor Steve Johnson, and Miniatures Creator Matthew Gratzner. This was an extremely boring track for me and, unless you're aspiring for a career in these areas, I'd avoid it. The only relief is Gratzner whose short examinations of the miniatures in the film, their creation, and the careful detail put into each one, is a welcome relief from the trite, congratulatory party between the other three participants.

'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' is an inconsistent experience on all fronts. The movie is best when viewed as mindless entertainment, the video lacks the punch of most other Blu-ray discs, the audio is technically solid but aesthetically challenged, and the supplemental features are a bizarre mix of unnecessary additions and monotonous commentaries. I'm glad this wasn't my first introduction to Blu-ray and I definitely wouldn't recommend that you try to wow your friends with this one, but ultimately it does deliver on the bottom line.

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