ARCHIVE IN THE MORNING! ARCHIVING IN THE EVENING! Doing four different versions of a film that should have been finished isn't my idea of a good time. So I hop my way to Robinsons to watch LEAGUE.I didn;t have any high expectations because I have been forewarned by critical reviews on line.Not to mention the terrible trailer and horrible lobby pictures.
I don't know if it was because I watched at 10 in the morning and my brain wasn't functioning on full trottle but...DAMN I LIKE IT!
In fact I liked it more than XMEN2.Well that's not much of a stretch because I didn't like xmen 2!The only thing that was notable in that movie was the time when MAGNETO and MYSTIQUE were huddled together like two queens comparing makeup secrets and nail polishing tricks.
But I'm a fan of ALAN MOORE'S LEAGUE.But this film wasn't really the comic book plot.And I knew that coming in.So how come I liked it? Strangely enough words fail me.I just got a kick out of the NAUTILUS rising out from below the london docks. And imagine my surprise when I discovered that the poster did not do justice to the actual model. It doesnt look like a world war2 submarine as I thought it would be. It looked like a SCHIMITAR, which fits the vessel that NEMO calls THE SWORDOF THE OCEAN.( I still think that KEVIN's original design of the NAUTILUS in the comic book is cooler.)The fight scenes weren't as bad as what I saw in the trailer.
However I have two main complaints. Let's start with the american addition, TOM SAWYER. He should have been shot in the first place. I know they needed a younger member so that CONNERY'S QUARTERMAIN would have a surrogate son but the actor who played SAWYER was utterly horrible!He looks terribly out of place.
My next concern is the fight scene with QUARTERMAIN and PROFESSOR MORIARTY.( Anyone who's going to bitch about me spoiling the real identity of M should have his entire bloodline lobotimized!Who else would M be in a VICTORIAN era whos- who brawl?)
For someone who is called the ultimate nemesis of SHERLOCK HOLMES, MORIARTY just acted like a common thug fending off the attacks of CONNERY than the super genuis that he really is. That was very disappionting. but what do you expect when an AMERICAN MTV director handles BRITAIN'S Literary crown jewels?
