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fandomhigh_ooc2009-01-25 06:02 pm
funnyways.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2009-01-25 06:02 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the movie)
So, as much as I'd love to chatter on about Alan Moore's amazing comic series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that's not quite the fandom Mina represents. No, instead today I'm here to tell you about one of those wonderful comic adaptations that Hollywood slaughtered, creating a beast of a different color. This, my friends, is the movie that made Alan Moore hate Hollywood and made Sean Connery retire from acting.
So, the basic concept behind the comic and film is sort of like crossover fanfic gone wild, or 'Wouldn't it be cool if all these classic fictional characters teamed up to take out that one bad guy from that one book?'
And with that, we look at the members of the movie's League:
Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery)
From H. Rider Haggard's writings, Allan Quatermain is a hunter and adventurer, much like a British Indiana Jones (with more of a hunter's bent). In the comic, he's a thin old man, a withered up opium addict. In the movie, he's... Sean Connery. The part was rewritten so that Sean got to play a more prominent role and his character was more of a Mary Sue. Sadly.
Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah)
From the works of Jules Verne, Captain Nemo is the captain of the Nautilus, a great submersible vessel. He is a man in possession of great technology beyond the times, and a keen intellect. In the movie, he also knows Kung Fu. This is about all he gets to do.
Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran)
Mr. Skinner is a totally new character, based off of HG Wells' The Invisible Man. In the original book and comic,the character is Griffin, a somewhat sociopathic man who happens to be invisible. For the movie, the rights to Wells' work couldn't be secured. So instead we have Rodney Skinner, a Robin Hood like pickpocket who stole Griffin's formula and became stuck invisible. He fulfills the group's lovable scamp quota.
Wilhelmina Harker (Peta Wilson)
Ahhh, good ole Mina. She hails from Bram Stoker's Dracula. In the comics, she's a strict, ballbreaker of a woman (also, she goes by Mina Murray as she has divorced her husband). She stares down men with a glare and is unrelenting in her attitude. She seemingly has no powers whatsoever. She leads the League and steers its members by sheer force of will.
...In the movie, she's a Sue-tastic vampire. She is relagated to the scientist role and even comments on the misogynistic way Quatermain treats her. She still manages to kick some ass and steal most of her scenes, though.
Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend)
Dorian Gray is not in the comics at all, amusingly. He is from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, wherein the titular character has a painting which ages instead of him. In this movie, the painting actually makes Dorian immortal. Immune to bullets and stabbings, he's one crafty sexy bastard. He fulfill's the team's need for a pretty man with a snarky mouth.
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde (Jason Flemyng)
From Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in both the comic and movie we take the split-personality idea to the extreme. Now, mild mannered Dr. Jekyll turns into an almost Incredible Hulk-like Mr. Hyde. He is one nasty character when he is Hyde... but he seems to be somewhat tempered by Jekyll's morality. At least, in the film.
And finally,
Agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West)
From the work of Mark Twain. Sawyer does not appear in the comics, and is added to the film solely so there is an American in the League. Thank you, Hollywood. He is mostly boring.
Anyways, the main thread of the film is all these folks uniting to face off with a masked Fantom [sic], who is seemingly a supervillain-tastic version of the Phantom of the Opera. And that's... really about as in depth as the plot gets. There are a couple twists, but they aren't too outrageous.
So why, you ask, should you devote 110 minutes to watching this movie?
Well, let's face it. Even though it's a Hollywood bastardization, it can be a very exciting Hollywood bastardization. Action sequences, decent special effects, and pretty people being awesome.
Do I need to say more? I hope not. I don't know what else to say.
Any questions? Comments?
So, the basic concept behind the comic and film is sort of like crossover fanfic gone wild, or 'Wouldn't it be cool if all these classic fictional characters teamed up to take out that one bad guy from that one book?'
And with that, we look at the members of the movie's League:
Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery)
From H. Rider Haggard's writings, Allan Quatermain is a hunter and adventurer, much like a British Indiana Jones (with more of a hunter's bent). In the comic, he's a thin old man, a withered up opium addict. In the movie, he's... Sean Connery. The part was rewritten so that Sean got to play a more prominent role and his character was more of a Mary Sue. Sadly.
Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah)
From the works of Jules Verne, Captain Nemo is the captain of the Nautilus, a great submersible vessel. He is a man in possession of great technology beyond the times, and a keen intellect. In the movie, he also knows Kung Fu. This is about all he gets to do.
Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran)
Mr. Skinner is a totally new character, based off of HG Wells' The Invisible Man. In the original book and comic,the character is Griffin, a somewhat sociopathic man who happens to be invisible. For the movie, the rights to Wells' work couldn't be secured. So instead we have Rodney Skinner, a Robin Hood like pickpocket who stole Griffin's formula and became stuck invisible. He fulfills the group's lovable scamp quota.
Wilhelmina Harker (Peta Wilson)
Ahhh, good ole Mina. She hails from Bram Stoker's Dracula. In the comics, she's a strict, ballbreaker of a woman (also, she goes by Mina Murray as she has divorced her husband). She stares down men with a glare and is unrelenting in her attitude. She seemingly has no powers whatsoever. She leads the League and steers its members by sheer force of will.
...In the movie, she's a Sue-tastic vampire. She is relagated to the scientist role and even comments on the misogynistic way Quatermain treats her. She still manages to kick some ass and steal most of her scenes, though.
Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend)
Dorian Gray is not in the comics at all, amusingly. He is from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, wherein the titular character has a painting which ages instead of him. In this movie, the painting actually makes Dorian immortal. Immune to bullets and stabbings, he's one crafty sexy bastard. He fulfill's the team's need for a pretty man with a snarky mouth.
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde (Jason Flemyng)
From Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in both the comic and movie we take the split-personality idea to the extreme. Now, mild mannered Dr. Jekyll turns into an almost Incredible Hulk-like Mr. Hyde. He is one nasty character when he is Hyde... but he seems to be somewhat tempered by Jekyll's morality. At least, in the film.
And finally,
Agent Tom Sawyer (Shane West)
From the work of Mark Twain. Sawyer does not appear in the comics, and is added to the film solely so there is an American in the League. Thank you, Hollywood. He is mostly boring.
Anyways, the main thread of the film is all these folks uniting to face off with a masked Fantom [sic], who is seemingly a supervillain-tastic version of the Phantom of the Opera. And that's... really about as in depth as the plot gets. There are a couple twists, but they aren't too outrageous.
So why, you ask, should you devote 110 minutes to watching this movie?
Well, let's face it. Even though it's a Hollywood bastardization, it can be a very exciting Hollywood bastardization. Action sequences, decent special effects, and pretty people being awesome.
Do I need to say more? I hope not. I don't know what else to say.
Any questions? Comments?
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Because I love his original canon AND LOEG.
And try not to think of what happened to comics!Griffin.
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...oh wait.
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I so want everyone to take a look at that and tell me what's wrong with that sentence. And therein they have why I kind of wrongly love this movie. *g*
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That said, how the hell Tom figured out how to drive the car is beyond me, and this movie steered me towards the comics and made me a fan of them.