Films that Shaped Me: "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
The year is 2003, I’m 10 years old. There was no way I could have known what this film was going to be about, because I wouldn’t have known about the graphic novels this movie is loosely based on, I don’t even remember who I saw it with. Likely, my Dad. Naturally, I loved it as a 10 year old. There are many moments in this film that take up space in my brain, and I didn’t even realize how well I remembered this film until I rewatched it.
This one here is one of my favorites from the film:
Does it stand the test of time? Well, no… unfortunately there was a lot that made this harder to watch. That doesn’t mean we can’t extract value or appreciate the time capsules that films tend to be. They are timestamps, representative of cultural norms and expectations of the time it was made.
The vaguest premise of this film is one of potential. An elite team of figures from literature that team up against a past terror. At its core, this is a Historical Fantasy film, and those are increasingly popular.
This film falls under the critically smashed but commercially successful umbrella. Now, one thing that remains consistent is that film critics are often highly cynical about the fantasy genre as a whole, and also while they may be very intelligent people with an artistic brain- it’s still only their opinion. You are allowed to disagree with them.
What I remember liking most about the film was completely defying my expectations about what a story could be. This might have been the first Historical Fantasy film that was able to grasp in real time. Seeing literary characters like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, Mina Harker, and yes- even Tom Sawyer team up to stop an evil that would have been terrifying within the context of the story really pushed the boundaries of my imagination outward. Why would people in the past have special abilities? For whatever reason, that was a concept that blew my mind. This was a true genre bender at the time, and that was valuable for me to absorb at 10 years old.
Characters from left to right: Tom Sawyer (lol), The Invisible Man, Dorian Grey, Allan Quatermain, Mena Harker, Captain Nemo, Mr. Hyde/Dr.Jekyll
Action sequences, gun fights, and monster battles are the highlight of this film. Everything else… eh. Misogyny aside, the dialogue and script do very little in character motivation and story development. It is based on a graphic novel series by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Niell. This was Sean Connery’s final film before retiring.
While they did attempt to do a few sequels, they all seemed to never get off the ground. It does seem that in 2022, it was announced that it was being developed into a television series. I am excited, and am excited to see what a modern mind can do with this series.
Were you a fan of this movie? What moment do you remember most? What literary characters would you be most excited to see in the television adaptation?
