DVD Review | League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Written by: Kage Alan

Oh, I came sooooo close to going to the theatre to see this one!  My heart was set on it and after months of salivating while watching the previews, I was ready to defy my partner and pay to see a movie no matter what he said.  Unfortunately, all of my friends and most of the critics who I read at the time said it was poop.  (sigh)  I will realize one of these days that I need to stop listening to other people and find out for myself.  Perhaps not having read the graphic novel helped me since I wasn’t comparing the film version to the book, but I had just one heck of a terrific time watching this.

World renowned and aging adventurer Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) is contacted in Africa to serve his native country of England once again.  He has no love for duty or such requests anymore, especially after the death of his son, but an attack by members of the Phantom, a German mastermind threatening the world, changes his mind.  Fortunately, Quatermain isn’t alone.  A mysterious contact, M (Richard Roxburgh, “Moulan Rouge”), has also seen fit to procure several other unique members into the League; Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah, “Monsoon Wedding”), the Invisible Man (Tony Curran, “Blade 2”), Mina Harker (Peta Wilson, “La Femme Nikita”), Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend, “Queen of the Damned”), Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng, “Below”) and Tom Sawyer (Shane West, “Whatever It Takes”).

From London to Paris, Venice and then Asia, the League must not only uncover who the mysterious Phantom is, but what his true motives are and, of course, how to stop him.  That’s not going to be an easy task, especially with an enemy who is always two steps ahead of them, a traitor among their ranks and several other surprises along the way.  “League” goes back to the roots of what cheering for heroes is all about and on a grand scale.  Instead of giving us one hero, they’ve given us several in a team up, which, when we were growing up and had comic books, we loved to see and always craved more of.

Another strong point is that “League” does a phenomenal job of bringing technology to a time where there wasn’t anything like what we have today.  It reminds me a bit of what “Wild Wild West” did, only this does it better.  The effects compliment the action and the actors make the most of their shared screen time.  It’s almost a shame that the film wasn’t longer so that we spend a little more time with each individual character, but considering the film did very well worldwide (not particularly well in the US, though), perhaps they’ll be given the green light for the sequel.

Fox has released “The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen” in an impressive looking Widescreen Transfer.  Video quality is solid and colors are excellent, especially considering what year the film is taking place.  It has a very authentic feel despite some of the matt paintings, which can look like an effect.  Special features include a series of featurettes (“Origins” (9 ½ min), “Attire” (6 ½ min), “The Nemomobile” (5 ¼ min), “Making Mr. Hyde” (14 ¼ min), “Resurrecting Venice” (8 min) and “Sinking Venice” (10 min)), 12 Deleted/Extended scenes, a special anti-drug message and two audio commentaries, the first with Producers Don Murphy and Trevor Albert and actors Shane West, Jason Flemyng and Tony Curran and the second with Costume Designer Jacqueline West, Visual Effects Supervisor John E. Sullivan, Make-Up Effects Supervisor Steve Johnson and Miniatures Creator Matthew Gratzner.  The featurettes are okay, but I wished they’d included more interview footage with the entire cast.  As for the commentaries, they’re fairly informative, but didn’t strike me as a “must hear”.  If only Connery had participated.  The second commentary, though, actually seems to be the livelier of the two.  Oddly enough, there’s no trailer.

“League” isn’t going to change our lives or our perspective on anything, but it’s not meant to.  This is a fun film, that’s all it’s trying to be and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Forget what you’ve heard if you have a friend telling you how awful this film was.  I wish I had.  “The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen” is a rollicking great ride!

Film Rating: B
DVD Special Features: B