LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Reviewed by Terry Anderson
7/13/03

I did something today that I have NEVER done!  I read reviews from "professional" reviewers before I wrote mine.  Question.  WHAT are these idiots looking at???  They've been very harsh on this picture and I wonder if they live in the real world or some artsy-fartsy world where only "message" pictures have any real value.  Look, I like a good "art" movie or a serious story about about real world problems, but sometimes I want to go and just be entertained.  Plain and simple.

This picture has the basic premise of one guy wanting to rule the world.  Set in Victorian England at the turn of the last century, Her Majesty's Government calls Allan Quartermain (Sean Connery) to the rescue and asks him to join The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  Even he is impressed with the other members.  Captain Nemo, Mina Harker (female vampire), Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man and an American Secret Service agent named Tom Sawyer are joined later by Doctor Jekyll (and Mr. Hyde) to make one of the strangest groups of "heroes" ever assembled. Even the villain turns out to be a famous literary name and the chase is non-stop to keep him from blowing up Venice, Italy, and taking over the entire world.  The "talents" of The League members are used to secure the fate of the world but not before one of them is found to be a traitor.

This is a huge picture and though the action moves too fast to see at times, it has all the elements of a summer blockbuster.  LOTS of continuous action and a plot just thick enough to carry it.  Sean Connery is his old "Bondish" self and is the focal point of the story and the picture.  There are few slow spots but there are a few questions that do arise.  Like, how do all these people (the League members) just HAPPEN to be around at the same time and at the same age?  Answer?  WHO CARES!!!   This is a fun ride and if taken for what it is, FUN, it is extremely enjoyable.  Is it a "Gone With the Wind" or "The Godfather"?  No, not at all but it is great entertainment and sometimes THAT'S enough.  I remember the words of the late Louis B. Mayer (MGM), "If I want a message, I'll call Western Union."  No "messages" here, just plain old unadulterated fun.

RECOMMENDATION:  IGNORE the so-called REVIEWERS who are slamming this picture.  They wouldn't know entertainment from SHINOLA!

TWO VICTORIAN, WITH LITERARY LICENSE, THUMBS UP!!!

Movie Review © 2003 Terry Anderson