League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Towards the tail end of his legendary career, it became clear that Sean Connery was clearly at the point where he was doing roles just for the money, with one bad, embarrassing effort after another. On this 2003 effort, the onset relationship between Connery and director Stephen (Blade) Norrington became so toxic that inevitably BOTH men announced their retirement from the business. While the latter may possibly make a comeback, it seems that Connery is content to let this be his swan song, a mixed bag based on an Alan Moore graphic novel that could just as well be called The League Of Public Domain Literary Characters. Connery plays the legendary Allan Quartermain of the H. Rider Haggard books (most recently played in legit adaptations by Patrick Swayze and Richard Chamberlain) called out of hiding to lead a group of familiar faces in order to prevent a possible World War (in 1899) being brought about by a mysterious villain in a metal mask called the Fantom. Among those in this special group are Captain Nemo (from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea), Mina Harker (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Dorian Gray (from Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (likewise from Robert Louis Stevenson), Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer (now an American Secret Service Agent), and an Invisible Man (not THE Invisible Man since H.G. Wells’ estate still owned the rights there). In some ways, the premise is fascinating, in other ways the execution is a massive clusterfuck, with each character competing for screen time. Among the good is Peta Wilson’s alluring Mina, Jason Flemyng’s convincingly scary Jekyll and Hyde, and Shane West’s likable Sawyer, while the bad includes Naseeruddin Shah’s bland and boring Nemo, Stuart Townsend’s overly-mannered Gray, and Tony Curran’s cheesy comic relief Invisible One (why he sneaks around in Connery’s quarters late at night is beyond me). As for Connery himself, he plays Quartermain with a somewhat tired intensity, annoyed at getting old but still up to the challenge (though Moore’s original story showed him as an opium addict, which Connery refused to do). The plot and villain’s master plan veers dangerously into Sky Captain Territory at times, though the big twist about his true identity comes as little surprise to anyone familiar with 1800s literature, as it’s so predictable that even for those with a basic knowledge, who else could it be? Still, there’s some pleasure to be had here, with fairly good action scenes even if the pacing drags somewhat, and doesn’t really insult the viewer’s intelligence even as Nemo invents the first automobile and one villain whom at the end could have prevented his demise by merely closing his eyes adds to the absurdity at times, and the ridiculous final scene (which implies one character may very well come back as a zombie) basically means that this is all one big goofball exercise, and if Sir Sean chooses to go out on that note (by entertaining people), then more power to him…
7/10