I never intended to see "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" on the big screen, but I was bored one day, had seen everything else and decided to give it a roll of the dice. Having heard so much bad bla-bla about it, my expectations were lower than Tom Arnold’s brain cells count. But as I was watching the flick, something odd happened...yes, a smile got imprinted on my face and it just wouldn’t go away. I suddenly caught myself thinking: "Holy shite, can it be? I’m actually HAVING A BLAST! "

Based on Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill’s graphic novel of the same name (these lads also did the "From Hell" graphic novel), "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" entertained in a period piece, "X-Men" type of way with an endearing pulp comic book feel oozing throughout. The flick’s most potent weapon was definitely its varied 19th century iconic lead characters, some of which were horror-inclined. I totally grooved on adventurer Alan Quatermain and I have to hand it to the always charismatic Sean Connery; for an old geyser, he still knows how to throw a mean punch. My other two favorite characters were: the somber, yet lovely, bloodsucker Mina Harker (Wilson) and the all-Yankee Tom Sawyer (West).

The exciting action was the second spice on this dish! I loved the many shoot-outs, the tight brawls and the characters’ use of their special skills. I’ve heard many say that the special effects in the film were far from special and I beg to differ. I though the Hyde CGI effect was the shite, adored the many slick vehicles in the film (that sub was kool) and went koo-koo for Mina’s “bat heavy” flight. Come on, when Venice started crumbling as Sawyer was driving through it at top speed...didn’t you feel that shite? I sure did! NICE! Sure, the matte paintings and green screens were obvious but behold, for me it gave the setting a more otherworldly and surreal feel and never took me out of the picture. Au contraire, I was more engulfed by it all. I WAS in another reality.

On the downside, the script (or was it the editing) was quite flawed, giving the storyline a choppy flow. The middle section, although still interesting, was all over the place and no place at the same time, know what I mean? I also found that some of the characters were abandoned for too long of time and that the villain was far too typical to be memorable. Haven’t I seen this bad guy in every other film of this type? Come on! Let’s get creative here! Lastly, the plot holes were abundant and way too obvious. I heard there was a lot of conflict on set between director Stephen Norrington (who is rumored to have quit Hollywood after this shoot) and control freak star Sean Connery (who also executive produced the film). That might have something to do with how things turned out. Or it might not...or I might deserve a beating. You decide.

David Hemmings (Nigel) of "Deep Red" fame (for me, anyways) has a cameo here.