Rating: 
Summary: Incrediable movie for fans of british litrature
Review: Ok, so the plot was odd.. yeah, 7 characters from old british literature (1 from american) join forces to stop the phantom. The action scenes were good and all, but what a lot of people don't realize, and probally why they don't like the movie, is that its about the characters. Everything about each individual character is intact, and its very easy to tell the original novels were used to derive most of the script. Put this together with some remarkable actors, and you have a good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: When' s the sequel ?
Review: The best thing about this movie is that director Stephen Norrington came to blows with Sean Connery because he thought he was supposed to direct. Connery apparently knew this was a piece of crap and wanted the millions of dollars the producers were dumb enough to pay for his name with the least amount of fuss. Norrington has since vowed never to work in Hollywood again.
Connery may be offfered a decent and demanding role some day. Who knows? It doesn't look hopefull. Hollywood is not only churning out comic book films after The Matrix, such as 'Underworld' ( best flick I've seen since 'Oklahoma', btw) but it's now turning out BADLY WRITTEN comic books, no less. Outside of the Godawfull premise of Tom Sawyer teaming up with Dorian Gray (Yeah, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde would have loved it) the film is incoherent and thinks it can make up for its lack of structure and plot with cute one liners. Sorry, but they're about as memorably lame as when our present Gov. of CA uttered the inmortal " Take two of these--and call me in the morning. " In Batman 3 (or was it the fourth?) as Dr. Freeze--or whatever his name was. Anyway, we've had dumb spectacles since 'Braveheart' and may have a few good ones in the works, so who can foretell what the comic book trend will bring next? Perhaps a 24th century gothic sequel with 20th century heroes like Ice T, JFK, Martha Stewart, and Captain Kirk battling Ultimate Evil ( Walt Disney come back to life? ) Stay home and read The Savage Sword of Conan.
Rating:
Summary: Connery must be getting deperate
Review: I saw this movie on a transatlantic flight, and wished nothing more that to be given the chance to jump from the plane. I would venture to say that it is the worst made movie that I have seen is quite some time (barring 'Ishtar' fame). Here you have some great actors playing characters that just were not developed for this movie. I can only assume that Connery is desperate for the money and did not bother to read this script prior to signing on to the project. Do not waste your money or time on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: lots of premise, lots of explosions, messy plot
Review: There are two ways to evaluate this film -- as an adaptation of a popular graphic novel and as a film in its own right -- and this film fails on both counts. I wanted to like this movie -- I love adventure films and Sean Connery, I really enjoyed the graphic novel on which it was based, and I am a fan of the literary figures depicted -- but it was such a mess. The premise is fantastic -- a team of 19th century literary figures is assembled to fight for the British empire -- a Victorian Action League -- awesome!! The cast is great, the acting is fine, the sets and costumes and makeup look great and capture the mood of the novel -- but the screenplay is a gigantic mess. You'll be lost fast if you aren't familiar with the characters -- Wilde's Dorian Gray, Mina Harker from Dracula, Wells's Invisible Man, Haggard's Allan Quartermain, Verne's Captain Nemo and Stevenson's Jekyll/Hyde combo, with Twain's adult Tom Sawyer thrown in for good measure. The characters and the team aren't really developed or motivated well and the villain never seems as interesting as the league. Impressive action sequences blur together and the ending is cliched, abrupt and mawkish. Warning! Minor spoilers: If you're a fan of the graphic novel, you will probably see this anyway. It's irresistible. But lower your expectations. The comic has Mina Harker assembling the league, and she finds Quatermain is a slovenly drunk, but in the film he is the leader and the assembler (hmmm, and the executive producer -- coincidence?), and she is a vampire. While I think having her a vampire was a good move, other departures from the written material are questionable. Instead of taking place in London, the team moves to Venice (so the filmmakers can blow it up, basically) where they have a car chase (even though Venice has no streets that would enable the car to race around!) and then we see Piazza San Marco destroyed. Strangely, while I was willing to accept the league of fictional characters, watching the basilica collapse was quite jarring. I think adding Tom Sawyer (to appeal to Americans, presumably) was goofy, though the actor did a fine job, and adding Dorian Gray was questionable as well, though actor Stuart Townsend (the original Aragorn before being replaced by Viggo Mortensen) also gives a fine performance. DVD extras include two commentary tracks -- one with the producers and the actors who played the Invisible Man, Tom Sawyer and Dr. Jekyll, and one with the costumer, fx people and makeup artist -- no commentary by star and executive producer Connery! Also included are 12 deleted or extended scenes, Assembling the League -- a set of featurettes about the source material and adaptation, costumes, Hyde, the Nemomobile and Venice, and a bizarre "special message" psa on the dangers of driving under the influence of marijuana. Did somebody have a community service obligation, or what? The film can be heard in English, Spanish or French, and subtitled in English or Spanish. Basically a great premise and a great team torpedoed by a poor script.
Rating: 
Summary: stop being snotty, this WAS adventure
Review: This movie, although fanciful, is a wondrous, exciting adventure. As the tale unwinds, more and more literary surprises hit you. Excitement overtakes wrote memorization of great books. Take a step away from your english class and sit back...love this movie. A true tall tale. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Comic Book Flair but no Substance...
Review: What a great idea it is to bring England's most famous literary characters to life. And such a wonderfully diverse group....who'da thought Dorian Gray and Captain Nemo could possibly meet Mr. Hyde, Tom Sawyer, and more? The premise is enchanting and exciting...........however the follow-thru is the same-old same-old of many previous cartoon hero movies. It's worth a rent, fairly fun, but leaves you thinking how much better the idea could and should have been.
Rating:
Summary: ITS NOT THAT BAD REALLY!
Review: Not another comic book film? Continuing the current trend of turning graphic novels to film, LXG sees a collection of classic misfits such as The Invisible Man & Dr. Jekyll form a late 19th Century X-Men-styled unit. A league of extraordinary gentlemen you might say? Yup! So what happens? Like most groups formed by such men, crime & evil doesn't tend to stand a chance & while the plot is predictable Director Stephen Norrington (Blade) beefs up the action with style and a punch or two to the gut. Supported by an able cast, it is Sean Connery as the legendary Quartermain however who steals the show with an onscreen awe that captures the other character's hearts as much any audience's. The Verdict: Let down by special effects that are surpassed by the polish of today's car adverts there is still an undeniable charm to this yarn that sets the bar for Saturday Morning films to come
Rating:
Summary: Lots of things blow up and that's about it
Review: This movie is as random as it gets. The characters dislike each other for no reason I can understand, they travel to different places but I don't know why, and a LOT of stuff explodes. The filmmakers added Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray to the original League, but why? The villain isn't interesting, either --- that's a real problem in a superhero action movie. In addition to melodramatic acting, a slurring Sean Connery, and a senseless "plot," the special effects are horrible. Although I did like Mr. Hyde, everything else was flat and lifeless. They made Hyde look smelly and sweaty, but everything else looks like a cartoon. Fortunately, I rented this one for two bucks. Avoid it.
Rating:
Summary: The League Of Extra-Ordinary Gibberish!
Review: Disappointing. Disjointed. Disastrous. Dis sucks!
Repeat after me: "I would like to feed the screenwriter, director, and producer to the wolverines."
Rating:
Summary: Bad move for Sean Connery, bad movie for the rest of us
Review: I wish those ... Hollywood executives would stop mangling comic strips into movies. With a few rare exceptions, it doesn't work. Comics are a medium that can make extremely illogical scenes seem plausible, whereas film can take that same scene and render it ridiculous. Consider these examples from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: · The League is introduced to the Nautilus, a prototype Submarine. It's roughly the size of the Titanic with sexy lines rivaling anything modern, with speed and maneuvering capabilities to match. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be @ 1899.
· Oops, somebody took a high-performance sports car and tacked a body shell over it to resemble a Victorian land yacht. That's the vehicle our heroes are jerking around through the streets of Venice on a chase scene. Is it still 1899?
· In his over-the-top "Darth Vader meets Colonel Klink" getup, the villain just looks like he stepped out of a comic book. Since this is a film, he shouldn't.
· Captive scientists in the villain's lair are performing genetic manipulations such as cloning with samples from our heroes. Uhhhh....
· There's much more, but I think your intelligence was insulted enough with those. A few words about the plot: a motley assortment of people from around the world with extraordinary abilities are called to help Britannia foil an evil plot to start World War 1. These include fictional literary characters like Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and Captain Nemo, as well as a few made-ups. An interesting set up with lots of potential that just didn't get explored enough IMHO. However, because of the above-mentioned problems with translating this to a film that was, oddly enough, marketed toward teens and adults sophisticated enough to sneer at it, this concept just seemed stupid. Some nice things can be said about this movie. The cast was well-chosen for their character roles, and do reasonably good jobs. Visually, TLOEG was a wonderful rendition of a Victorian world made fantastic. The special effects and art direction at least deserve nominations. But that, my friends, is IT. Rent TLOEG if you're into the comic series, just so you can see how our modern special effects technology did justice to it. But remember to keep the volume turned off to avoid brain cramp.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
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