Psychotronic Cinemavision: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In an alternate 1899, a group of famous literary characters called The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, are recruited by the British Empire to stop a mysterious villain called The Fantom from igniting a world war. The aging adventurer Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) is persuaded out of retirement to lead the team. He’s joined by the immortal Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend); vampiric chemist Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) who is also nearly indestructible; the invisible thief Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran); Dr. Jekyll who becomes the superstrong beast called Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng); American Secret Service agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West); and the duplicitous inventor, Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah). Each character with their own complicated and dubious past who all have special gifts that the team needs to succeed. The League journeys across Europe to Venice in Nemo’s fantastical submarine, the Nautilus, to thwart The Fantom’s plot in starting a war, creating an arms race he can profit greatly from. They uncover betrayal within their own ranks leading to a final confrontation in the frozen wastes of Mongolia, where the League battles to stop the mass production of super-soldiers.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was released in the US on July 11, 2003, directed by Stephen Norrington and loosely adapted from Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s acclaimed comic series. While the comic is a dark, satirical take on Victorian literature and imperialism, the movie shifted the tone to a more conventional action-adventure with added characters like Tom Sawyer, who did not appear in the comic, to appeal to American audiences. The film’s production was notoriously troubled, with on-set conflicts between Connery and Norrington. Despite a sizable budget of around $78 million, the film grossed about $179 million worldwide, which fell short of expectations for a would-be franchise starter. Critics were mostly negative: The New York Times said it was “visually elaborate but narratively inert,” while Empire noted it “has a few fun set pieces.” Some praise came for its style: Roger Ebert called it “a movie of great imagination and fun, if only it knew how to use it.”

Comic-Watch has reviewed this film before but thought it worth revisiting and kicking off a series of reviews focusing on movies that failed to connect with audiences when they should have been huge hits.  I personally like this movie, but agree with the majority of critics and I think the late Roger Ebert summed it up well, it is a fun and imaginative movie with some great settings but uneven CGI and a plot it didn’t really know what to do with.

The film’s failure is often attributed to several factors: a muddled script that diluted Alan Moore’s smart, subversive source material into a generic blockbuster; poor direction and editing that made the story confusing and character development shallow; and behind-the-scenes chaos that bled onto the screen. Sean Connery’s star power drew audiences, but the lack of chemistry among the ensemble and unconvincing CGI undercut the spectacle. Additionally, it came out at a time when audiences were increasingly demanding smarter comic adaptations, just a year after Spider-Man (2002) and X2 (2003) raised the bar. The end result felt like a missed opportunity: ambitious in concept but executed with clashing creative visions and little narrative depth. The film’s reception was so disappointing that it remains infamous as Connery’s final live-action role and the reason for his retirement, a cautionary tale for studios misreading what makes a beloved comic tick.  Connery told The Times, “It was a nightmare. The experience had a big impact on me!  It made me rethink show business. I get tired of dealing with idiots.” Beyond the chaotic behind the scenes production drama, the studio also faced a lawsuit accusing it of plagiarizing Cast of Characters, a script by Larry Cohen and Martin Poll that had been pitched to them years earlier. The dispute centered on the use of public-domain literary characters that were not part of Alan Moore’s original comic. A female-led reboot was in development in 2015, but the 2019 Disney-Fox merger put an end to that version. However, in 2022, a new reboot was announced, with plans for a release on Hulu.