THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

Film Four · Adventure · 17 Aug 2010 · by: Film 4

Sean Connery stars in Stephen Norrington's all-action adventure as Allan Quatermain, called out of retirement in Kenya to help the government avert a world war being fermented by master criminal The Phantom. Quatermain gathers together a top team: Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) and The Invisible Man (Tony Curran) are among those recruited, each with a spectacular skill. From a Venice almost razed by The Phantom to the wastes of Mongolia, the team face perils and death in their desperate race against time.

The film, based on Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's graphic novel, is set in an alternative Victorian world, which, of course, allows free rein for both plot and technology. Quartermain's team is a heady mix of imaginary characters culled from novels of the period, all of them reformed from their wicked ways (although arguably Tom Sawyer, played by Shane West, was merely mischievous rather than evil).

And, of course, the special effects allow the fantasy conceit full rein as well - Nemo's huge submarine, The Nautilus, can sail along Venice's canals without a problem while Sawyer drives a high speed car through the same city's streets! Director Stephen Norrington, who cut his cinematic teeth in the special effects teams for the Alien films, among others, before moving on to direct The Last Minute and Blade , brings his eye for breathtaking effects to this rollicking film and, if some of the plot strands don't all quite hang together, the ride is fun all the way.