The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reviews

Surprisingly enjoyable rubbish

You know, I should have hated this: predictable plot, check; one dimensional characters, check; too many characters, check; annoying token american, check; over reliance on CGI, check. However, with a pizza on my lap and a beer in my hand, I really warmed to this overblown mess of a movie. Perhaps it was Connery, sly old dog that he is, drawing me in against my better critical intentions; or the sheer naive scale of the thing (that 'ship' steaming through Venice!!) but I gotta hold up my remote and admit a guilty fondness for this film. Hey, we all gotta have a quality cinematic bypass at some time.

Oh dear

I decided to ignore the bad press surrounding this film and give it a try, after all, what do the critics know? Well it turns out they are spot on in this case. I turned off about three times after losing interest, then decided to see it through hoping it would get better. It didn't. The characters have no character, the plot is barely there and slow would be understatement. The effects would be good if the film was good, but the film isn't 'big' enough for them and they just seem so over the top.

If you are expecting X-men type fun, this film will dissapoint. If you are expecting a Sean Connery masterpiece the same applies. This film could have been really good as the synopsis sounds great, so its a shame it is so bad.

The League of Ordinary Blockbusters

This film is your typical plotless blocbuster, the special effects rule the day here. You don't get to know any of the characters well enough to really care what happens to any of them, and as for the story, forget it. However, the plus points, in the end it is quite good brainless fun that is worth one watch and there seems to be always something happening, there's no really boring bits. X-Men it isn't, but a fun rental none the less.

What the ...

Quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of bad films (some of which are 'must see blockbusters'). It's not even good in a bad way, it's just awful.

A terrible attempt at what may have been a decent adaptation. And to think I actually took the time to request this film, then watch it, then review it - please learn from my mistakes!

I really should have learned from the faces of people leaving the cinema - but what do audiences know :o). Far more than me in this case.

Not Bad

I must admit I was unsure what this film was going to be like having heard so many bad things, but I was pleasantly surprised. I quite enjoyed it, its a good comic book film, not exactly true to the comic, but good none the less. I think you should give it a try.

Not as bad as you might think

I expected this film to be truly awful but in fact I was pleasantly suprised. For a film with no plot and an over-reliance on effects I thought it was pretty exciting with the set-piece action and overall look of the film really well done. I still see it as an opportunity missed as this could have been a fantastic movie and spawned a number of sequels. Overall, fans of sci-fi should definately give it a chance.

Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill must be crying still

I had been warned this was a terrible film bearing no relation to the fantastic graphic novels by Moore and O' Neill but I gave it a chance anyway. I truly wish I hadn't. I have never in living memory been so unimpressed by a film. The plot and script are terrible, every attempt at literary reference (which the books were packed with) was so over-explained it lost all point. The characters are different to the books and have no subtlety.

This film does not deserve to bear the name it has. The one and only saving grace is the artwork which has gone into the admittedly impressive sets. They are the only thing which does truly reference the books. The rest has been turned inside out and emptied of all value. And it's not even interesting, what's been left behind. A true crime on celluloid.

Unbelievable, but great fun

Very pleasantly surprised by this film. The premise is hokum, the science impossible, the story dodgy, but the overall effect is extremely watchable and great fun.

Special effects so completely over the top that they are brilliant (Nemo's Nautilus is superb). None demanding, very enjoyable Saturday night fodder.

[Highly rated reviewer]

The League of Extraordinarily bad gentlemen

This films unbelievably bad... a waste of a great cast playing mismatched legends in a world of ridiculously poor special effects.

Someone spent a lot of money making this film and they were mugged. On paper the film sounds like a great idea....in reality it a massive shame Sean Connery wasted his time on trying to hold the whole thing together and make it look half decent.

Nice design and premise. Who cares about plot?

This was strangely overlooked at this year's Oscars. I wonder why? ;-)

It's like an old-style whizz bang action adventure (in the mould of Raiders or King Solomon's mines) brought bang up to date with the latest effects and an astoundingly original premise. And I like it, even though the critics were less than kind.

The idea is this. Seven of the great heroic characters from literary history are alive and well and living in a sort of parallel universe, set in London in 1899. The League consists of Allan Quatermain (from.. uh.. King Solomon's mines), Dorian Gray, Captain Nemo, Mina Harker (a vampiress from Dracula), Rodney Skinner (an Invisible Man), Doctor Jekyll and erm.. Tom Sawyer. They are all gathered together to fight a new enemy called the Fantom who has developed all sorts of futuristic weapons such as machine guns and tanks (futuristic for Victorian times, of course) and who is threatening to start a world war.

What a great idea! It's based on a comic book, but one which I hadn't heard of before watching the movie. The plot skips along quite nicely, with a few surprises here and there, but the appeal of the film lies in the mix of characters and the superb effects. The invisible guy is very well rendered but that has all been done before, and just as effectively, in Hollow Man. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt016 4052)

Doctor Jekyll's monstrous alter-ego, Mr Hyde, is a great blend of makeup effects and CGI, and it is all very convincing until a fake-looking fight scene at the very end. Each of the other characters carries their own baggage and has their own quirks and abilities. These keep you amused long enough that you don't tend to notice the film's shortcomings.

But there are plenty of faults if you look close enough. The end is predictable. Some of the key end moments are signposted quite blatantly throughout the film, so that anyone who has ever watched one of these adventure yarns can spot them coming well in advance. The characters are one-dimensional and each one can be summed up in a single sentence. They are never really developed because there isn't time, such is the pace of the movie.

The character of Tom Sawyer seems to be an afterthought, appearing as a gun-toting all-American hero. Nothing at all like the character I remember.

And, ultimately, there is nothing here that requires a moment's thought. It's just not an challenging movie to watch. But if that's what you want, why not indulge yourself?