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It's 1899 and the world is a dark and ominous place. Tensions
between Germany and England are growing and a mysterious megalomaniac
called "The Fantom" is provoking war, believing he can cash
in on the conflict by selling weapons of mass destruction.
Desperate to maintain peace, an agent of the British government
has the task of rounding up a team of extraordinary figures
with legendary powers. And so begins the adventures of The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...
I
missed this movie on its theatrically release and after watching
the DVD I am seriously wishing I had gone to the cinema -
for this is a movie that really should be seen for the first
time on the big screen.
Despite
criticism from the press at the time, this was certainly the
best Hollywood blockbuster released last year - easily outshining
Hulk. I'd even go as far as saying it is one of the
better comic conversions of late. I enjoyed it more than Spider-Man,
and put it on equal footing with The X-Men. Some of
the media coverage at the time was crazy - slating the movie
for unrealistic elements... Hello! This is a movie based on
historical figures! Did they throw the same level of criticism
at The X-Men? No! Is that believable? Er... No! But
that is the point! Loose yourself in fantasy for the duration
and stop your complaining. Or maybe the press were still smarting
from the travesty which was Hulk.
Sure,
Alan Moore fans may complain that it doesn't stay true to
the comic. But if it had, then the film would not have been
half as good as it was. Some stylistic changes were made,
which aren't too drastic. And while Tom Sawyer was included
to give the American's a historical figure of their own to
latch onto (the rest of The League are based on Victorian
England creations) this doesn't really detract from the main
thrust of the comics.
Take
it as it is... a fun action packed movie with some great twists.
On top of that, it also illustrates why miniature effects
work is more impressive than CGI. Some of the model work is
amazing.
The
only real question I had was why is the villain of the piece
so horribly disfigured? He is wearing a metal mask to hide
his true identity, so why then go to the trouble of wearing
make-up to appear as though he is mutilated?
Extras
include: Disc One: Audio commentary by producers Don Murphy
and Trevor Albert, and actors Jason Flemyng, Tony Curran and
Shane West. Audio commentary by Jacqueline West, John Sullivan
and Matthew Gratzner. Disc Two: Pre production featurettes:
Matters of Pre-Visualisation; Stills Gallery; Production
documentaries: Assembling The League. 17 deleted and
extended scenes. Post-production featurettes: Behind The
Fantasy. European premieres. 3 trailers. 12 TV Spots.
Posters.
The
extras are worth watching (even the Andy Peters documentary)
but unless you are a real fan of the movie then I'd seriously
recommend only buying the single disc collection. An
added bonus is the inclusion of a DTS soundtrack.
While
this movie is far from perfect, it is a hell of a lot of fun
and if you suspend disbelief for the duration you'll come
away with a smile on your face.
Darren
Rea
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Single
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£10.99 (Amazon.co.uk) |
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Single
disc edition
£12.99
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Single
disc edition
£13.99 (Streetsonline.co.uk) |
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Double
disc edition
£15.99 (Amazon.co.uk) |
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Double
disc edition
£13.99
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Double
disc edition
£19.99 (Streetsonline.co.uk) |
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