Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
To prevent a world war from breaking out, famous characters from Victorian literature band together to do battle against a cunning villain.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen assembles a wonderfully inventive premise — uniting iconic Victorian literary figures like Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dorian Gray, and Mr. Hyde — but squanders much of its potential in execution. The plot is convoluted and poorly paced, with a generic world-domination villain and messy action set pieces, particularly the chaotic Venice sequence. The acting ranges from serviceable to wooden; Sean Connery's Quatermain feels phoned in, and the ensemble never gels convincingly. Cinematography has some atmospheric moments and the submarine interiors show production ambition, but the visual palette is murky and inconsistent throughout. The concept itself earns points for novelty — the steampunk mashup of literary figures predates much of the genre's mainstream popularity — though the film never fully capitalizes on its rich source material. The ending is rushed and formulaic, resolving the conflict in an unsatisfying manner while ham-fistedly setting up a sequel that never came.