The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is 'a bit naff'

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Director: Stephen Norrington

Cast: Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Stuart Townsend, Naseeruddin Shah, Tony Curran, Jason Flemyng, Shane West

Cert: 12.

Heroes from literature's past do not a film make; gentlemen though they may be.

Here, based on the clever comic-book characters from Alan Moore, we have such good men as Allan Quartermain, Dr. Jekyll, Dorian Gray and Captain Nemo - and throw in a lady, Count Dracula's Mina Harker - drawn together to save the world from a masked baddie.

And though the film often looks good - it could, though, have looked even better for some of the electronic special effects are a bit naff - and though there are enough fights to satisfy, the League has the feel of a work which doesn't quite deliver.

The plot is weak and quite ordinary - good guys, however flawed they appear to be, tackle sneering bad guys - and some of the playing reflects the reported backstage differences of opinion between the director and members of the cast: indifferent.

Connery (Quartermain) does his usual thing - he could do no other - but somehow it looks as if he, and several of his colleagues, lost interest half-way through.

Star Rating: 3/5