Sean Connery’s new action-adventure “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” should be titled “The League of Extraordinarily Bad Ideas.”
The new, late 19th-century “X-Men” wannabe didn’t live up to my prediction in the summer movie guide published last spring. At first glance, “The League” might have been this summer’s sleeper hit, but director Stephen Norrington (director of “Blade”) has taken Alan Moore’s comic books to the depths of movie hell.
“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” originally was considered an interesting concept by most, a sort of nostalgic look at superhumans who existed in the pages of novels set at the turn of the 20th century.
“The League” is made up of the ancient superheroes Stan Lee forgot: Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (played by Jason Flemyng), H.G. Wells’ invisible man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), Draculess Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), American agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West), Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo (Neseeruddin Shah), immortally cursed Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend) and their leader, the Indiana Jones-esque Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery).
Quatermain is recruited by “M” (the same from James Bond) and the British Empire to assemble a special team of unnaturally gifted heroes, stop a villain from selling arms to a European powder keg and avert a “world war.”
Quatermain, an African explorer, assembles his team, finding many in London and hunting down Mr. Hyde in a disappointing chase on the rooftops of Paris.
The stunning architectural renderings are one of the high points of the movie, whose plot, action and even acting are lacking in almost every regard.
Shining in the middle of disarray is Sean Connery, past his prime as James Bond and nearing his end as a believable action star. Shane West is obviously the heartthrob of the movie, but his acting in ABC’s “Once and Again” and the Mandy Moore flick “A Walk to Remember” still doesn’t help him on the big screen. West could be a good actor, but he obviously didn’t have much to work with in “The League.”
The hectic, unbelievable fight scenes are careful to not show Connery actually doing any fighting. Rather, carefully placed cameras create a jittery, brain-twisting ride through every fight sequence.
Leading a pack of unbelievable technology is Nemo’s stylish submarine, the “Nautilus,” which transports the team from London to Venice in order to prevent an assassination attempt on a conference of European leaders.
The Nautilus is a character in itself, like a mob boss/Batman-wannabe roadster complete with guided missiles and a world tracking system.
Right.
The characters are remarkably interesting. Sawyer is not the fence painting young lad from Mark Twain’s novels, The Invisible Man looks like a character from “The Matrix” and Quatermain is a non-empowered explorer with a string of luck that hasn’t run out.
Perhaps the worst part of the “The League” is its nemesis, aptly named “The Fantom,” (they couldn’t spell back then either). “The Fantom,” dressed in a dark cape and a mask, was about as cliche as his personality. The melodramatic, open ending comes in a close second, leaving room for a sequel (or three).
Connery’s acting is par to his most recent performances in “Finding Forrester,” and “Entrapment.” Although “The League” certainly is not his swan song, one can only hope he will go out with more style than a ripped-off comic sequence with a mediocre story.