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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

meh — Written by rabbisanta on 05.01.2010

I have never felt more betrayed by a film premise than I was by this film. I made the mistake of reading Alan Moore's brilliant graphic novel of the same name, in which several villains, anti-heroes and protagonists of questionable value from victorian novels are tossed together as a sort of super hero group. His work was such a work of genius (including literary references in almost every panel and sometimes even in the background for the astute) that I couldn't wait for the movie to be released. So not only was I emotionally crushed once by the mind-numbing stupidity of this film, but a second time because I could recognize the squandered concepts. The characters had all been "laser-sharked" from their original incarnations to make them more acceptible as action movie heroes. For instance, Mina Harker, rather than simply a strong-willed survivor of a vampire attack, was depicted in the film as an actual vampire herself. Mr Hyde, instead of a repugnant monster that makes your stomach churn, has a heart of gold. Connery's character goes from being an elderly opium addict to being immortal. The Invisible Man wasn't even the same one from the novel or movie. There were a few moments that suggested at redemption: the use of Dorian Gray as a villain and the depiction of The Nautilus with a giant lingum for a conning tower (only those familiar with Hinduism would really catch that one), for instance. Ultimately, however, these moments became less and less frequent, the script became more and more inane, and the CG effects more and more tacky. As I said, not only did I find this to be a terrible film unworthy of the actors involved and the source material, but I actually felt betrayed that such a great idea could be ruined so completely.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reviews

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