Superhero Media: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2004)

I was considering covering the various comics that make up The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen before talking about the infamous film, but I actually think the film is a better starting point for this whole thing. Much as I like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the comics really are something of an acquired taste, being more about literary references than super heroics and featuring no small amount of graphically sexual and violent content. Most people that game the League tend to focus more on the idea of their being a more traditional superhero team, which makes sense for a tabletop game, as there is only so much space for something like a commentary on literary colonialism. In this, I've never found The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film to be particularly objectionable, though it is certainly far from a great film. I really don't understand the argument that the film is a poor adaptation of the comic either, as a straight adaptation would be practically impossible with the content contained within the various comics. 

In terms of being a superhero film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is pretty standard for a pre-MCU effort, being more of an action film with the dressings of Superheroes and Victorian Science Fiction, though the design work, especially of the Nautilus and Nemo's technology is excellent. The cast too, is brilliant, and having a person of South Asian descent playing Nemo is a nice touch, but I guess we have to talk about Sean Connery, right? The popular take is that Connery found LXG so bad that he quit acting, but the actual truth is that he and the director, Stephen Norrignton, had such a toxic working relationship that the great actor finally decided to retire after such an unpleasant filming experience. This is a bit of a sad note, as Connery has been decent to excellent over his long career, and is still missed as a presence in the landscape of cinema. 

As much as I am a fan of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, I really can't hate the film; yes, it's goofy and over the top, but it's all in good fun. Things like Mina Murray being an actual vampire, Dorian Grey and an Adult Tom Sawyer as a Secret Service agent I really like, as they're not too far out of the ethos of the League as seen through the lens of this film, though I am honestly sick of Edward Hyde being an Incredible Hulk stand-in, even if I do that in my own games; it's just lazy. In terms of putting together your own Victorian hero teams, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is far from the worst source material you could find, even if just for the visual elements of Nemo's technology and other super-science, I know I'd love a set of the armoured troopers with automatic rifles. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is not some undiscovered gem, or a maligned cult classic, it's a trashy, fun superhero action film in the vein of many similar efforts from the 1990s and early 2000s. I can't say I'll be going back to it anytime soon, but I do still find LXG to be a fun watch.