The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 2003 film very loosely based on the comic book limited series of the same name. It was released on July 11, 2003 in the United States.
It is an adventure film set late in the 19th century, featuring an assortment of literary characters appropriate to the period. The adaptation's plot and general atmosphere, however, is very far from the original comic book.
In an alternate 1899, several high profile crimes occur in various nations throughout Europe, each allegedly carried out by nationals of other countries, leading Europe to the brink of war. An emissary of the British government, Sanderson Reed, arrives in a gentlemen’s club in Kenya, hoping to recruit the legendary, but now aged, hunter and adventurer Allan Quatermain to investigate the situation. However, Reed finds that Quatermain's sense of patriotism has declined over the years, and he refuses to offer his services. Suddenly, a group of armoured men armed with machine guns appear, and begin killing the club members. Quatermain defeats the attackers single-handed, giving chase to finish the last one, thereby surviving the club's destruction by a bomb planted by the men. Quatermain reluctantly agrees to return to England, deciding that a full scale war between the nations of Europe will quickly spread to Africa.
Some time later, Quatermain arrives in London and meets the mysterious 'M', who explains his plan to assemble a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to combat the threat of The Fantom, who is the true mastermind of the current crisis, and ensure world peace, by stopping him from destroying Venice. In short order, Quartermain meets Captain Nemo, the invisible gentleman thief Rodney Skinner, and Mrs. Mina Harker, whom 'M' introduces as a well-regarded chemical scientist. Skinner had stolen an invisibility formula from its creator and is now helping the government in return for an antidote.
'M' sends the group to meet up with the mysterious Dorian Gray, whom they hope to convince to be another member of the League, but he refuses to join. While talking to Gray, Quatermain points out that a painting is obviously missing from a wall. Suddenly, the 'Fantom' and his men arrive, and the whole room erupts in a blazing gunfight, but one henchman reveals himself to be a friend of the group. During the fight, Dorian Gray's physical invulnerability is revealed, and The Fantom escapes. The fight ends with Mina being held with a knife at her throat. Mina's eyes suddenly turn red and she rips the throat from her assailant and feeds voraciously from his neck. Mina then explains her background, regarding her encounter with Dracula and her resultant powers. It is revealed the friendly 'henchman' is an American, Secret Service Agent Tom Sawyer, whom a mildly impressed Quartermain allows to join them. The previously reluctant Dorian changes his mind and agrees to join the League. The League then takes Nemo's submarine, the Nautilus, to France to round up the League’s last recruit.
In Paris, Quartermain and Sawyer capture Mr. Hyde who quickly reverts to the meek and haunted Dr. Jekyll. He is happy to help when he learns that the Queen will allow his return to London if he does so. With the team complete, the Nautilus sets off for Venice. The group worry there is a traitor in their midst when flash powder is found in the wheel room of the Nautilus, and a vial of Jekyll’s serum is determined to be missing. Naturally, all think that the invisible thief, Skinner, is the culprit, but nothing can be done about it since Skinner is nowhere to be found.
The Nautilus sails up the narrow canals of Venice, stopping under a bridge where it can go no further. A series of bombs has been planted under the city; they start to detonate and begin toppling buildings in a domino effect, one explosion after another. The team decides that knocking one of the buildings out of the sequence is the only way to stop the chain of explosions. Nemo has a missile that can be fired from the Nautilus at the building in question, but only if a beacon can be set in place. Since Nemo can track his "automobile," allowing it to serve as the beacon, the League piles in, with Sawyer at the wheel, and go racing along the streets of Venice.
Along the way, Gray and Mina jump out separately to fight groups of henchmen. Quatermain also jumps from the vehicle to give chase to the 'Fantom' on foot. The two fight in a graveyard, where the 'Fantom' loses his mask. Before he makes his escape, the 'Fantom' is revealed to be none other than the mysterious 'M'. At the same time, Sawyer crashes the car into the target building, while firing a flare, which signals Nemo to launch his missile. The building is destroyed, the chain of explosions stops, and Venice is saved. Meanwhile, back at the Nautilus, the first mate Ishmael is met by Gray and blames Skinner for their troubles, but is proven wrong when Gray shoots him.
The League regroups at the Nautilus, where Quatermain reveals that "M" is behind the whole thing. The dying Ishmael appears, denouncing Gray as the traitor. A small submersible vessel suddenly breaks from the Nautilus: it is Gray, making his escape with a smile and a wave to the assembled team. Nemo sets the Nautilus in pursuit, but along the way, a record is found and played on a gramophone. The voice of 'M' floods the room, as he reveals the scope of his plans. Everything leading up to this moment was a ruse so that 'M' could steal physical elements from each of the League members, so as to construct an army of super-powered soldiers; Captain Nemo's science, Jekyll's formula, Mina's blood, and a sample of Skinner's invisible skin. He also explains that he needed Quatermain only to capture Mr. Hyde. 'M' seeks to profit by starting a world war and selling armaments and weapons based on the powers of the League to the combatant countries. He blackmailed Gray into helping him by stealing his enchanted portrait, the missing picture from his home. As the record is played, its second unheard signal sets off three bombs in the ship, but Mr. Hyde is able to stop the ship from sinking, earning the congratulations of Dr. Jekyll. Following a signal from Skinner, the Nautilus follows to the Asiatic Arctic and the League travel across the frozen wastes to a cave overlooking an industrial fortress. Skinner approaches (he had fled when he learned of their suspicions of him), and tells them that 'M' has a number of scientists and their families held as hostages and slaves in his munitions factory. The workers are constructing Nautiloi (copies of the Nautilus), while the scientists are working on an army of Hyde-like brutes, invisible spies, and vampire assassins.
Splitting up, the League infiltrates the factory. Nemo and Hyde attempt to free the scientists and their families, while Sawyer and Quatermain go after 'M'. Mina goes in search of Gray, while Skinner sets off to plant some explosives. Nemo and Hyde run into the second-in-command, Dante, who drinks a very large dose of Jekyll's formula and transforms into a huge, hulking monster to combat Hyde. Mina has her showdown with Gray, which leads nowhere (as they are both immortal) until she confronts him with his enchanted portrait, causing him to decay before her eyes. Quatermain confronts 'M' in his lair and reveals his deduction that 'M' is none other than the supposedly dead Professor James Moriarty (nemesis of Sherlock Holmes). As Hyde is battling Dante, the explosives go off and Dante is crushed to death by falling debris. Quatermain, while holding Moriarty at gunpoint, sees in a reflection that an invisible man (Sanderson Reed), has Sawyer held at knife point behind him. He turns and shoots the invisible villain, only to be stabbed in the back by Moriarty, who makes another escape, fleeing across the ice. Quatermain is mortally wounded; Sawyer is forced to use the marksmanship skills that Quatermain had taught him. He shoots Moriarty before he can leave in his stolen submersible vessel. Moriarty's case, containing the secrets that Gray had stolen from the League, falls into the ocean, and Moriarty dies on the spot. Quartermain also dies soon after.
The group assembles in Africa to bury Quatermain. As the group sadly departs, a tribal witch doctor takes handfuls of dirt from Quatermain's grave and begins a ritual chant. We are reminded of a witch doctor's pronouncement, recounted by Quatermain at the beginning of the movie, that "Africa would not let him [Quatermain] die." The earth shakes violently, making the rifle that Sawyer had left on the grave shake. Lightning strikes Quatermain's grave right before the screen cuts to black.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Allan Quatermain
The English adventurer Allan Quatermain first originated in the Sir H. Rider Haggard novel King Solomon's Mines. The character matches with his original storyline as we are informed that he had two wives and a son. Although he does die in the movie, the final sequence with the shaman indicates that Africa "won't let him die," and that he is being resurrected. Allan describes himself as "an old tiger sensing his end" who wants to "go down fighting."
[edit] Tom Sawyer
The Tom Sawyer character is taken from the novels by Mark Twain and only has a brief cameo in the comic book version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (This would seem to contradict the actual record of U.S. history, which states that William McKinley was president during the period 1897-1901, during which the film is set; Roosevelt would not become president until after McKinley's assassination, two years after the events of the film. It also contradicts the reality of Tom Sawyer, who like Samuel Clemens was born in 1835. By McKinley's term, Tom would have been in his sixties, probably older than Quatermain.) Tom Sawyer is never directly mentioned by name in the film, instead referring to himself as "Special Agent Sawyer," while the end credits refer to him as "Tom." However in a deleted scene Dr. Jekyll calls him Tom, and he mentions his childhood friend whom M killed. This friend was, most likely, Huck Finn.
[edit] Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo is the Indian submariner from Jules Verne's 1870 novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, and Journey Through the Impossible.
He is very different from his comic-book counterpart, who is portrayed as a snobbish, world-weary, retired underwater terrorist with undertones of sexism, xenophobia, and misanthropy. In the comics he is also far more important to the League, realizing before the rest that their superiors cannot be trusted, and deducing both their identities and their plans. In the movie, the Nautilus does not bear any resemblance to the comic version (which has tentacles).
[edit] Mina Harker
The character of Wilhelmina Harker found her origins in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula.
Whereas the comic version of Mina had been divorced from Jonathan Harker (who was horrified by her bite marks), film Mina has been a widow for years, and some hypothesise that Mina killed him because she couldn't control her vampiric instincts. Mina usually wears black, meaning that she is probably still mourning for him.
Unlike traditional vampires, Mina can stand in the sun (something that Dracula could also do, but resulted in his powers being vastly diminished), cross the ocean easily, is never shown to need to sleep in a coffin, and she freely entered Moriarty's lair without invitation. Mina is also shown to cast a reflection. Her powers include rapid healing and immortality (she can survive being stabbed in the chest and says that it's possible she can't die, though she did berate Gray for missing her heart). She can call up a flock of bats to either attack her enemies or to cling to her and allow Mina to fly. She can leap approximately 10 feet into the air and cling to walls like a bat, and is strong enough to easily overpower one of Moriarty's men. When her vampiric nature is first revealed, Mina's eyes turn red, and, for a brief scene, Mina transforms into a more "classical" looking vampire: developes chalk white skin, her ears become pointed, her teeth transform into fangs, and her eyes become red again.
She was once a lover of Dorian Gray's, but claims that their love died. They briefly rekindle their affair during the course of the film, which makes his later actions a very personal betrayal.
In the comic book Wilhelmina goes by the name Wilhelmina Murray and displays no evidence of being a vampire apart from wounds on her neck.
[edit] Rodney Skinner
While Dr. Hawley Griffin from the comic is a sociopath and a rapist, Rodney Skinner, the thief who stole Griffin's invisibility formula and became permanently invisible, is merely mischievous. His heroic side shines through eventually, as he is the one to stow away on M's little sub with Gray, and he nearly dies in saving Sawyer from a horrible death, receiving some horrific injuries as a result.
[edit] Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Featured in the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film version of the character has a young Dr. Jekyll and a huge and muscular Mr. Hyde who is prone to getting enraged and fighting his enemies, using his tremendous strength and resistance to injury to his advantage, much like a more toned down version of the Incredible Hulk. However, like in the comic, the film retains the idea that Mr. Hyde is morally evil, preys on young women, and even suggests that he is the actual murderer in The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Unlike in the comic or in the original novel, the formula that Dr. Jekyll uses to transform into Mr. Hyde only lasts for a certain length of time, after which he reverts back into Dr. Jekyll. He also is unable to transform into Mr. Hyde through getting into a highly emotional state, which he could do in the comic, instead relying entirely on his formula to transform into his monstrous alter ego.
[edit] Dorian Gray
Gray is the main character from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. A mistake in the reading of the cover of the collected edition of the original comic led to his more resembling Sir Francis Varney in the film; the cover depicted both the original portrait of Gray as depicted in Wilde's book, and a portrait of Varney, which became the basis for the movie Gray's character.[citation needed] Like Tom, Dorian only makes a cameo in the comic.
[edit] Other characters
- The armoured men at the beginning of the film are reminiscent of the infamous Ned Kelly Gang.
- In a move reminiscent of the James Bond novels, the League is recruited by a character known as "M."
- The mysterious character that attacks military bases and banks is referred to as the "Fantom" who resembles the Phantom of the Opera or French master villain Fantômas. Upon first hearing that their adversary is known as the Fantom, Quatermain remarks, "How very operatic."
- When mentioned that Quartermain made excellent time from Africa, he remarks "Not as good as Phileas Fogg. Around the world in 80 days!?"
- In the library where Quatermain meets M, Nemo, and Mina, there are paintings meant to represent members of past generations of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Among those featured are Zorro, Doctor Syn, Robin Hood, Natty Bumpo, and the Three Musketeers.
- Captain Nemo's first mate is named Ishmael, suggesting the protagonist from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. The character's first line of dialogue is "Call me Ishmael," the first line of Melville's novel.
- The true identity of M/Fantom is Professor James Moriarty, the supposedly fallen nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, who won't resurface for a few years into the next century.
- After the battle in Gray's house, when Mina explains her power, she mentions her husband Jonathan Harker and Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
- Before entering Gray's house, Skinner mentions Jack the Ripper ("This is a charming spot. Does Jack the Ripper live here?").
- In Paris, while hunting for Mr. Hyde, Quatermain makes the observation that "this big monkey has terrorized the Rue Morgue for months." This is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, in which an orangutan is responsible for a series of grisly murders; the implication is that the so-called monkey causing the deaths may really have been Mr. Hyde. In the comic book, however, Chevallier Dupin asserts that it was an orangutan, though several years in the past. Now, the present series of murders only resemble those of the monkey. Furthermore, references are made to Jack the Ripper.
- In a scene deleted from the film (but which can be viewed on the DVD), Sawyer informs the rest of the League that he joined them because the Fantom murdered his Secret Service partner — his childhood friend, Huckleberry Finn. This is also the only scene in which anyone uses Sawyer's first name, identifying him as Tom Sawyer.
[edit] Eva Draper
 Eva Draper (Winter Ave Zoli) as she appears in the original scene (above) and the same scene with the character digitally removed Intriguingly, there was a character cut from the release version of the film that was not removed from the promotional materials, and still appears in one of the trailers (“Trailer B”). Eva Draper, played by Winter Ave Zoli, is the daughter of the German scientist (named “Draper” and played by Rudolf Pellar) who shouts, “Are you crazy?” at The Fantom when he shoots down Zeppelins during the film’s opening.
She originally appeared twice in the movie. Her first scene was completely excised and no further details are available; her second scene actually remains in the finished film, however she has been digitally replaced by another character. The scene in question occurs at the film’s climax, where she attacks Quatermain and Sawyer in a moment that leads to Sawyer’s “Eyes open” rebuttal line.
“This sequence was originally shot with a young blonde woman coming in and hitting Shane West over the head and interfering with this apprehension of M,” said LXG producer Trevor Albert, on the DVD commentary. “We realised, because we’d cut out another little bit of the movie, it made no sense… [Through] the miracle of digital effects we basically totally removed the character and put another character in, which made it less complicated. We were afraid that having the girl introduced in that sequence would’ve confused the audience, and as I say we had removed a sequence where we sort of indicated who she was earlier.”
In removing Eva, the filmmakers actually integrated a brief fight scene between Sawyer and the replacement character by rotoscoping footage of him from another scene, which completely took Shane West (the actor portraying Sawyer) by surprise when he saw the finished film. “There was a girl that was supposed to be the daughter of one of the kidnapped scientists,” said West, “and it just did not make sense throwing her into this and not having some sort of backstory, so they decided to cut her out. They replaced her successfully with some sort of soldier who’s creeping up behind me as Sean and I walk into this scene. And somehow, even though I never made the move, I butt him in the head with the butt of my rifle, and somehow I’m able to knock him out when it’s – I mean, it was just amazing. I didn’t know – I’d forgotten. I was sitting there with my eyes, my mouth was open wide, and Trevor [Albert, LXG producer] was just laughing, and I was like, ‘What happened to the girl? And how did I kick some guy’s butt when I never really did that?’”
Despite her appearance in the trailer, Winter Ave Zoli remains uncredited for her excised role, which is standard practice for characters omitted from the release prints of films.
[edit] Reception
The film was critically panned, garnering a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 165 reviews and a score of 30 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 reviews. Empire magazine gave it two stars out of five criticizing the film's expository dialogue and lack of character depth, saying it 'flirts dangerously close with one-star ignominy'.
The film domestically grossed an estimated $66,465,204 in the U.S. and $112,800,000 worldwide, easily recovering its $78,000,000 budget.
Alan Moore, the author of the original graphic novel, was reportedly unhappy with the adaptation of his story, with it being vastly different from his original story — a complaint he has had with other movies derived from his writing.[1]
[edit] Controversy
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The film's creators were sued in 2003 by Martin Poll and Larry Cohen. Poll and Cohen claimed that they had pitched a similar idea to Fox between 1993 and 1996, under the title Cast of Characters. They alleged that Fox hired screenwriters to adapt Alan Moore's comic long before it was finished, and instead used ideas from their screenplay to make up the story. The case was settled out of court, but not before Moore was called to testify. This led - in part - to his much-publicized disillusionment with the film industry's adaptations of his works.[2][1]
[edit] Planned sequels
According to IMDb, all of the main actors save Townsend signed for a four-movie deal. The possible sequels were to have resurrected Quatermain (as hinted by the movie's ending); introduced Campion Bond, possibly played by Roger Moore; and, according to Shane West, have placed Tom Sawyer as the head of the League.[3][4] However, given Connery's retirement from acting and the critical and relative financial panning of the movie, any sequels are unlikely.
[edit] Tie-ins
A novelization of the movie was written by Kevin J. Anderson and released shortly before the movie. Anderson would later go on to write The Martian War, a book with several similarities to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II.
The soundtrack album was also released, although not in the United States.
[edit] Trivia
- During the scene on the London docks just before the appearance of Dorian Gray, a poster appears on a wall with a headline describing the sighting of "mysterious explosions on the planet Mars, may be volcanoes," an allusion to H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds, which provided the major backdrop for the second comic series.
- During the scene where the bank is being robbed, the first design of a tank was used to knock down the bank wall. This tank was actually developed during the early 1900's, while the movie takes place during the 1890's (though in an alternate universe with more advanced technology).
- During the bank robbing scene, as the Fantom steps out of the tank a ring with the symbol of the Freemasons can be seen on his finger.
- In the original graphic novel Alan Quatermain had written himself out of public life and become an opium addict. At the start of the story he is rescued from an opium den by Mina Harker and enlisted as a member of the League. In the film adaptation, Sean Connery reportedly refused to play an opium addict, so the writers changed his story so he was merely hiding from the public.
- In the scene at the docks before we first see Dorian, there are newspapers on the wall. Two of them read the names: "Alan Moore" and "Kevin O'Neill," the writers of the comic book.
- ^ a b Johnston, Rich Lying in the Gutters: "MOORE SLAMS V FOR VENDETTA MOVIE, PULLS LoEG FROM DC COMICS" Vol. 2 #1, Monday May 23, 2005. Accessed January 18, 2008
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. Connery Flick Sparks $100 Mil Lawsuit, People Magazine, Thurs. September 25, 2003. Accessed January 18, 2008
- ^ LXG Novelization Update
- ^ Trivia for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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