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League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
7/11/03 - PG-13
Sean
Connery - Allan Quatermain
Naseeruddin Shah - Captain Nemo
Peta Wilson - Mina Harker
Director: Stephen Norrington
Written by: Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Official
Website
LYN
A highly charged, fast paced, action packed adventure film based
on the graphic novel of the same name! Graphic novel? Hmmm? For those
of you who don't know…it's just another name for comic book, but
they like to call them novels so they can get more people in the theater,
especially when it's not a well-known name something like "The Hulk"
or "X-Men". Regardless…being a recovering 'Fan Boy' myself,
I was still intrigued enough by the cast of characters to wander in to
see the film, although I've never heard of the comic book. But as for
the "…highly charged, fast paced, action packed, blah, blah,
blah…" I spouted above earlier, we'll see about that.
I have to give credit to the premise of the story, and kudos to Allan
Moore…What a collection of literary notables! But 'Captain Nemo'?
What was he doing there? And he looked nothing like James Mason in '20,000
Leagues Under the Sea'. 
For that matter who did Tony Curran aka 'Rodney Skinner' steal the invisibility
formula from, Claude Rains? I don't think so.
And 'Tom Sawyer'? Where does he fit in? And I thought 'Dorian Gray' was
immortal to an extent, but I never knew he could also take several bullets
to center target and still survive. I guess just the thing Oscar Wilde's
book was lacking.
Anyway, I think the point I'm eluding to here is the ensemble itself,
and taking a moment pausing to the authors who penned them, and the movies
these characters spawned. Truly cherished icons from my movie going past,
and hours spent with my nose in the books reading these classics. It's
sad, because I'm sure the original comic book would prove to be a good
read, but I think my distain for this film goes far beyond the poorly
slapped together excuse for an action-adventure film. It's a simple matter
of respect. I'm not saying that every film made from some classic novel
has to be revered and held with unwavering admiration, just look at "Young
Frankenstein", a true classic within it's own right. But, what I'm
saying is look at the subject matter, and the opportunity that laid before
20th Century Fox. This film had all the ingredients, including a very
convincing cast to be simply amazing. But instead simply turned out to
be nothing more than a two hour car chase with a bunch of explosions.
Hmmm… very disappointing to say the least.
And one final note, I just saw this movie recently and I can't even recall
why they needed to be "Extraordinary" Probably some bad guy
doing something…um bad? I guess. Mmmhmm…Great story…Bravo.
Lyn
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Buy This Original Poster At AllPosters.com