Rating: 5.5/10
Review date: August 18, 2003
In an alternate early 20th century, a mysterious figure called “Phantom” is trying to start WWI by provoking European nations to fight against each other. Britain responded to this threat by assembling a group of legendary heroes led by Alan Quatermain. The remaining six members of the group are Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.
The first question that you might ask upon seeing my rating for this movie will be “What went wrong?” Before I tackle that question, I should explain a bit more of the group members’ background for those who are not familiar with them out there.
Allan Quatermain is taken from H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines" (1885) and Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) from Bram Stoker's classic vampire story "Dracula" (1897).
Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886) while Rodney Skinner is supposed to replace Hawley Griffin from H.G. Wells "The Invisible Man" (1897) due to some copyright issues.
Captain Nemo came from Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1870) and Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend) is from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891) while Tom Sawyer is from Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876).
This movie is ambitious and original at the same time which prompt me to feel very excited especially after a friend lent me the original graphic novel (written by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill) upon which the movie is based.
I love the idea of seven literary characters being put together to combat a villain and their uniqueness only serve to heighten my expectations in the movie. However, the characters lack chemistry between each other with the exception of Allan Quatermain (played with perfection by Sean Connery) and Tom Sawyer (Shane West) although it feels rather hollow somehow.
The dialogues are not memorable with a few exceptions from Allan Quatermain and Rodney Skinner a.k.a. the Invisible Man (Tony Curran) who garners a few laughs regarding his nakedness to remain unseen.
I certainly appreciate the “cartoony” feel in the movie although there are a few scenes that are really stretching the imagination which involves Captain Nemo’s (Naseeruddin Shah) gigantic submarine “Nautilus” and the canals of Venice.
That reminds to mention the scenery and background which is overall quite nicely done (love the opening credits with the 20th Century Fox logo) although I constantly have to be reminded of the special effect because the CGI were just plain obvious in some scenes. The transformation of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng) reminds of the Hulk this time it’s done in a more “shaky” kind of way compared to the “gradual” method in the latter one.
The storyline is weak, featuring the usual unmemorable villain trying to take over the world *yawn* and a traitor amidst the group that I believe everybody could have sniff from miles away.
The action scenes were few and they were not that great as well with a lot of boring scenes in the middle of the movie. A faster pace would have been needed to keep the audience engaged and oh, a little bit of actual tension would have save the day. The movie takes awhile to get going and I really have to say that the ending sucks as well because it’s too predictable and it also alludes to a possible sequel (somehow reminds me of The Hulk ending).
Let that be a lesson to Hollywood. Great concepts and ambitious ideas don’t automatically make a great movie. You need a good plot and more interaction between characters to do that while a faster pacing wouldn’t hurt at all. Should they ever have the confidence to produce a sequel, just hope that it will be better because it is a real shame to see a good movie potential being wasted just like that.
*Trivia*
The original graphic novel only features five characters which don’t include Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer.
Tom Sawyer was added because the filmmakers thought that the movie wouldn’t appeal to Americans without the presence of at least one American character.
Memorable quote: “Very American. Fire enough bullets and hope they hit the target!”
-Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain-
(c) Martin Taidy 2003