The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, also marketed as LXG, is a 2003 steampunk superhero movie. It was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by James Dale Robinson. The film is very loosely based on the first volume of the comic book series created by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. It was released on July 11, 2003.

The film starts Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain, Shane West as Tom Sawyer, Peta Wilson as Mina Harker, Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo, Tony Curran as Rodney Skinner, Jason Flemyng as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray, and Richard Roxburgh as Professor Mortiarty.

It is notable for being the last movie of actor Sean Connery. His retirement was caused by constant on set tension between himself and the director.

With the intention of starting a franchise, a sequel based on the second volume involving the martians was set to happen but the poor reception to this film killed any chances of it happening.

Plot
"1899. The great nations of Europe share an uneasy peace. For hundreds of years, wars have been fought with the same weapons - single-shot rifles, cavalry, and horse-drawn cannon. But this old century is soon to end. A new age dawns..."

A giant tank bursts through the walls of the Bank of England. The tank blows down the bank vault doors and a mysterious man in a mask speaking German steps out. His henchmen steal plans from the vault. The man then heads to Berlin where he blows up a warehouse containing zeppelins. Newspapers show that England and Germany blame each other for these crimes.

Now in Africa, Sanderson Reed is searching for Allan Quatermain. He is greeted by a man who claims to be Quatermain but suspects it may not be him. Reed tells him that the British Empire is in need of his help. The real Quatermain then reveals himself. Reed then further explains he's been chosen to lead a team of unique individuals to stop a world war from brewing.

A few of the mysterious man's henchmen break in an shoot out between them and Quatermain begins. Quatermain proves himself still to be the man he once was by defeating the henchmen. As one man tries to get away, Quatermain snipes him from a long distance. He only wounds the man and then questions him. The man takes a suicide pill before he can speak. The fight brining itself to Africa prompts Quatermain to accept Reed's offer.

Arriving in England, Quatermain is taken to a secret library beneath the British Museum. He is greet by a man named M, the head of MI6. M explains that Quatermain is being recruited to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a secret organization that the British government has employed before. In the library, Quatermain is greeted by a teammate, Captain Nemo. They explain to Quatermain that the mysterious man committing these attacks goes by The Phantom. M then brings out more members of the League, an invisible thief named Rodney Skinner and a woman named Mina Harker. M says they have to recruit two more members. Outside the museum they are greeted by Nemo's mate Ishmael and they drive away in an automobile.

At the East London Docks, the League enter the home of Dorian Gray. At first Gray wants nothing to do with them but changes his mind when he sees Harker. Gray remarks how he's heard that Quatermain is indestructible to which Quatermain explains that he was blessed by a witch doctor who will not allow him to die if he is buried in Africa.

The Phantom and his henchmen arrive at Gray's house. He offers the League a chance to join him In world domination to which they refuse. One of the Phantom's henchmen turns signals Quatermain and a hugh fight breaks out. The League manage to over power the Phantom's henchmen and a few surprises are revealed. The one that signaled Quatermain is actually Tom Swayer, American Secret Service agent. Harker is a vamipre, and Gray is an immortal with healing powers. The Phantom escapes while Gray and Sawyer join the League.

Now in Paris, Quatermain and Swayer are pursuing a giant monster that has been terrorizing the Rue Morgue. They shoot at the monster causing him to fall off the roof of a building and into a giant net. The nets is dragged onto the Nautilus.

Aboard the Nautilus, the hulking monster is revealed to be Mr. Hyde. Quatermain and Nemo's crew mates have Hyde chained up and explain to him the terms of conditions. If Hyde helps the League, he will be granted amnesty. Hyde turns back into Dr. Jekyll and accepts the offer. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is now set and ready.

As the League heads to Venice, Nemo and Ishmael begin to get suspicious. They find black powder under a steering wheel. On the deck on the Nautilus, Quatermain and Sawyer shoot at targets. Quatermain explains he retired after a mission which resulted in the death of his son. He then teaches Sawyer how to shoot properly. Harker uses her chemistry set to figure out what the black powder was. She finds that it's magnesium phosphate, which is used to make a flash. Gray enters her room and they discuss why each other joined the League. The two begin to have sex while it turns out Jekyll had been observing them. Hyde then appears to Jekyll in his reflection and tries to get him to drink his potion. Nemo warns him to stay in control. Jekyll heads to his room and notices a vile of his potion is missing from his room. Quatermain, Nemo, and Swayer start to deduce that the Phantom is getting ready to bomb Venice. Jekyll enters and warns them that his Hyde formula has been stolen. He assumes that it must be Skinner due to his invisibility.

Now in Venice, the League tries to locate the bombs the Phantom has planted. Nemo assumes they must be planted under the city and send scuba divers to find them. Some of the bombs start going off and the buildings start falling around them. Sawyer, driving Nemo's automobile, heads their way into the destruction to help stop it. Quatermain, Harker, and Gray pick off the Phantom's henchmen while Jekyll stays behind. He claims that he doesn't want to be used by Hyde anymore. Skinner is no where to be found. Sawyer shoots a flare gun and Nemo launches a rocket, destroying to help stop the destruction.

Quatermain then pursue the Phantom himself. He chases him throw a garden and eventually knocks off his mask. The Phantom is then revealed to be the League's recruiter M. Quatermain tells the rest of the League the news while a dying Ishamel reveals that Gray is the spy and not Skinner. Gray then gets away in one of Nemo's escape pods.

Gray leaves the League a phonograph containing a message. M reveals that Gray was his partner all along, and that the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen never actually existed. He created it in order to get close to the members and steal their powers for his world war. M has taken Nemo science, Harker's vampiric abilities, Jekyll's potion, and a skin sample from Skinner to recreate the invisibility formula. As the message ends bombs that M set up on the Nautilus explode. Hyde convinces Jekyll to let him out to save the ship. He does so and gains trust with his fellow teammates. Skinner sends the League a message in morse code and reveals he had been following Gray and is at their lair. He sends the coordinates of where they're staying. Using the Nautilus, Nemo tracks him down to frozen lakes of Mongolia.

The League finds M's lair and decide to stake out in a nearby cave. Skinner then finds their cave and explains all the information he knows. He gives the layout of the lair and reveals that scientists and children are being forced to build all the weapons. Gray thanks M for recovering his painting and explains that he has no interest in world domination as he's lived long enough to see empires rise and fall. The League begins their attack on the lair.

Quatermain and Sawyer pursue M, Skinner plants bombs around the lair, and Harker, Nemo (with his crew), and Hyde free the scientists and child slaves. Mortiarty gets word of what they're doing and sends his men to attack them. The League fights back. Nemo singlehandedly takes out many henchmen and gets some more scientists to safety. Quatermain and Sawyer find M and then reveal him to be Professor James Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime. Moriarty explains that after Reichenbach, he recreated himself as the Phantom. Harker finds Gray and the two fight. It becomes too evenly matched as they both have healing powers. Realizing this, Harker then grabs Gray's painting and forces him to look at it. The painting is a portrait of gray which de ages while Gray rapidly ages and dies.

Sawyer gets attacked by an invisible assailant. It is one of Moriarty's henchmen who has rendered himself invisible. He is then attack by a man in an metal suit with a flamethrower. Skinner comes to Sawyer's rescue but is badly burnt in the process. Hyde goes after one of Moriarty's henchmen, Dante, who then drinks a very large amount of Jekyll's potion. This transforms Dante into a heavily deformed monster that is bigger and stronger than Hyde. Hyde fights the monster and Nemo comes to his aide. Hyde then burns through his formula and transforms back into Jekyll. Just as Jekyll and Nemo are about to be caught by the Dante Beast, Skinner's bombs go off. The building starts to crumble and crush Dante to death. Quatermain finds Moriarty and a fight ensues between them. The bombs throw Quatermain off which gives Moriarty a chance to stab Quatermain in the back. Sawyer finds a dying Quatermain and Moriarty fleeing with the League's powers. He takes his rifle and snipes Moriarty from a long distance. The case containing the League's power sinks into the lake. Quatermain dies, proud of Sawyer.

The League take Quatermain's body and has him buried in Africa. After the funeral Nemo tells his teammates that he intends to stay in the world and they are welcome to join them. They accept his offer. After Sawyer leaves the rifle on Quatermain's grave, a witch doctor peforms a ritual. Lightning strikes the grave hinting that Africa will not let Quatermain die.

Cast

 * Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain
 * Shane West as Tom Sawyer
 * Peta Wilson as Mina Harker
 * Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo
 * Tony Curran as Rodney Skinner/An Invisible Man
 * Jason Flemyng as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
 * Stuart Townsend as Dorian Gray
 * Richard Roxburgh as Professor James Mortiarty/M/The Phantom
 * Terry O'Neill as Ishmael

Reception
Despite being a moderate success commercially, the film was critically panned bu audience and fans of the comic alike. Original creators of the comic, Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, were also very critical of the film as well. They believe the reason the movie was such a failure was because it didn't follow the source material.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently has a critic score of 17% and an audience score of 44%.

Differences from Comic

 * The movie takes place in 1899 while the comic takes place in 1898.
 * Moriarty's plan involves dressing up as a Phantom (possibly a nod to The Phantom of the Opera) to try and start a world war between England and Germany while also posing as M and stealing the League's powers. In the comic, Moriarty really is M and assembled the League to steal an anti-gravitational decive to power aerial warships to destroy the east end of London and take it for his own.
 * The team in the movie is called The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and consists of Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Tom Sawyer, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Rodney Sinner, and Dorian Gray. This differs greatly from the comic which is called the Murray Group and has Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Hawley Griffin.
 * Allan Quatermain is the leader of the team in the movie while Mina Murray is the leader of the team in the comic.
 * Dorain Gray is never apart of the team in the comic and only appears on the cover of volume one.
 * Tom Sawyer was added to give the movie an American appeal.
 * In the movie Moriarty invented the League. In the comic it was created by Queen Gloriana In the 1600s. Also, it's never called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Each team is usually named after whoever the leader is such as the Murray Group or Prospero's Men.
 * Rodney Skinner was created for the movie as the filmmakers couldn't get the films rights to use Griffin.
 * Mortiarty has a man named Sanderson Reed recruit members of the League for the movie while in the comics he uses Campion Bond, grandfather of James Bond.
 * At the end of the first volume Mycroft Holmes takes on the mantle of M. In the movie it's never mentioned who becomes M after Moriarty.
 * Dr. Jekyll requires his formula to become Mr. Hyde in the movie while in the comics, he only needs to feel stress or anger like the Incredible Hulk.
 * Mina Harker in the movie keeps her married name and has vampiric abilties while in the comic Mina Murray is dicoved from her husband Johnathan Harker and has no powers.
 * Ishmael is not murdered in the comics.
 * While both the movie and the comic do have scene of recruiting Mr. Hyde in Paris, it is done so with the help of C. Auguste Dupin in the comic.
 * The movie finds Allan Quatermain spending his remaining days in Africa, Mina Murray finds him in a drug den in Cairo in the comics.
 * There's no mention of Allan Quatermain's drug addiction.
 * In the movie Moriarty meets the League face to face when assembling them, while in the comics they never meet him until the final confrontation.
 * When threatened with a gun, Captain Nemo mentions he only fights with a sword. In the comics, there are multiple moments when Nemo shoots someone with a mechanized harpoon gun of his own design.