Die Liga der außergewöhnlichen Gentlemen (2003)

Die Liga der außergewöhnlichen Gentlemen: Directed by Stephen Norrington. With Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran. In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters team up on a secret mission.

“Iu0026#39;ve been reading the comments page in a somewhat bemused fashion. It seems to be divided between people who donu0026#39;t like the movie because itu0026#39;s not enough like the original graphic novel and people who donu0026#39;t like it because theyu0026#39;ve never heard of half of the characters that are members of the League. The latter seems to me to be an unutterably silly reason for disliking a film. Does nobody read the classics anymore? Nobody reads Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? I find that difficult to believe. As to the former–not enough like the graphic novel, in other words–just how in the heck can a screenwriter accommodate the dark and twisted visions of Alan Moore in a two-hour Hollywood movie, anyway?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e I donu0026#39;t believe that one can compare anything written by Alan Moore to what ends up on the screen being ostensibly u0026quot;based on the graphic novelu0026quot;. (The same applies to FROM HELL, which is another one most people pan, and one which I think is under-appreciated even though the style is breathtaking. I donu0026#39;t even want to think about the reaction that will ensue once THE WATCHMEN comes out!) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e What seems to have been missed by most people is that this movie is about style as opposed to substance. Itu0026#39;s based on a graphic novel. Thatu0026#39;s a fancy way of saying itu0026#39;s based on a comic book. On that level, the film succeeds admirably. The characters are archetypes of their literary forbears. They arenu0026#39;t supposed to be, strictly speaking, human. Of course the plot is grandiose, impractical, and over-the-top. Hello? Arenu0026#39;t most comic books like that? Good heavens, isnu0026#39;t most of STAR WARS?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e I donu0026#39;t claim that this is a masterpiece. I do claim thatu0026#39;s itu0026#39;s fun to watch if one approaches it with a willing suspension of disbelief. For a couple of bucks shelled out at the DVD rental shop, it takes one to a different world for close to two hours. On that level, itu0026#39;s worth a rental. Itu0026#39;s also worth a rental, once one watches the movie, to listen to the commentary from various actors and to realize just how well these so-called u0026quot;unknownsu0026quot; do assorted accents that arenu0026#39;t even close to their own. Plus the golfing anecdotes are amusing. (And I donu0026#39;t even like golfing.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e This ainu0026#39;t CASABLANCA. Nor is it TITANIC, for which I eternally thank the gods. (Now, THERE was an overhyped piece of inaccurate trash that pretended to be history, but I digress.) But itu0026#39;s kind of fun, anyway, as long as one doesnu0026#39;t take it too seriously.”