Perhaps one of my most anticipated movies of the summer, the League of Extraordinary Gentleman was at best a comedy masked by the pretense of an action film. Although the film sports Sean Connery as the lead, it is anything but extraordinary. I found myself disbelieving the graphics, and laughing at times when I doubt they meant to be comedic.
The story takes place during a period in 1899 when a man - who calls himself "The Fantom" - is wreaking havoc in many of the European countries in an attempt to create a world war and a financially beneficial (to him) arms race. One of the first scenes involves a new-age tank breaking into the Bank of England, where it steals the plans for the city of Venice. And so the plot thickens, slightly. Later, we see Agent M (Richard Roxburgh), who represents Her Majesty, requesting the aide of Allen Quartermain (Connery), a famous marksman and thrill seaker. Only after a semi-western showdown in his posh African mansion with the enemy does he agree to help.
Following that, there is a congregation in England of the first members of this league, whose job it is to save Europe from another world war. The first gentleman we see is Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), a retired pirate. Sooner than later, invisible man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran) "appears" and the league starts to form. Disrupting the flow of men, Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), whose power, for now, remains unknown, enters as the Chemist of the group. However, before they can be complete, they must win over Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), a seemingly indestructable immortal, and accidently take on American Special Agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West). Their posse is finally topped off with Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jason Flemyng) and his alter ego, Mr. Edward Hyde.
Their mission is to go to Venice and stop The Fantom's plans to drown the whole city with high powered explosives while a meeting of the top advisors from each European country is going on. But, it seems impossible, according to Quartermain, to make it to Venice in 4 days. That, of course, is before they see Nemo's 10 story submarine, The Nautilus. This massive ship, perhaps as big as an air craft carrier, travels the distance and is able to navigate smoothly through the rivers of Venice. Strike one. I couldn't help from leaning over to ask one of my friends how in the world it could do that. The comedy had begun. But, for their sake, we'll disregard the impossibility of a) a gigantic ship in the Venice canals and; b) the impossibility of it stopping so quickly as to avoid taking out a "low hanging" bridge.
Article comments