Wandered up to one of the downtown theaters today to catch the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Enjoyable, and worthwhile as either a matinee or a rent, but enough problems that it’s not a definite must-see.
Plotwise — well it was basically a Bond film (perhaps that was why they got Connery’s involvement?). Insane mastermind criminal bent on conquering the world, and our intrepid heroes have to stop him at all costs. The true draw was the heroes themselves, all of whom were drawn from literary works: Alan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Dorian Grey, Dr. Jekyll (and, of course, Mr. Hyde), Tom Sawyer, and the sole female member of the group, Mina Harker (wife of John [?] Harker, assistant to Professor Van Helsing during that nasty incident with Count Dracula — yes, she’s a vampire). That alone made some of the scenes quite entertaining to watch, as various references would occasionally be dropped in (though not as many as I felt could have been).
Unfortunately, the plot has holes — well, holes big enough to sail the Nautilus through, some of the most astounding of which involve Venice, which is apparently some alternate-reality Venice. I’m still trying to decide which surprised me more: sailing the Nautilus (roughly the size of an aircraft carrier) through the canals of Venice, or driving a car pell-mell through the streets of Venice. Streets? Yeah, streets. And there’s more to come….
Sean Connery was, well, Sean Connery. As enjoyable as he is to watch, I can’t say that I’ve seen him in a role that really required much of him in a good long time. It’s unfortunate, too, but lately he seems to be just riding on the “Sean Connery is a crowdpleaser no matter what” wave, instead of getting anything actually challenging.
The rest of the cast — adequate, and they all filled their parts well, but none of them particularly stood out, for good or for ill.
Effect wise, it was a mixed bag. Some of the shots I liked a lot — the Nautilus, for example, I thought was gorgeous (if a little ridiculously large). Gleaming alabaster, with silver filigree and decorations, even to statues on the fore and aft of the submarine. Impractical, but gorgeous to look at. The shots of the Invisible Man were also quite impressive, especially when he had facepaint on (to make himself visible) and you’d get a shot of him from behind. Hard to describe, but fun to see. Other shots were less impressive, including an exploding building towards the beginning of the film, which was something of a surprise. I know there’s a push to do as much as possible with CGI, but would it have been so difficult to actually create a practical explosion effect? Oh, and Mr. Hyde just didn’t impress me in the least. Ah, well.
End result: not great, but not horrible, as long as you don’t think too much. Worth matinee prices or a rental, but not anything to stand in line for an evening show over.
Oh, two last things. First — I want fight scenes that can be watched, not fight scenes that have so many half-second cuts that it’s impossible to follow any of the action. Second — can we please have a movie that doesn’t have the obligatory five-minute “Look! If you give us enough money, we’re gauranteeing yet another vapid sequel!” sequence before the end credits?
Roger Ebert’s review is priceless, by the way.