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Oct. 7th, 2003 04:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
changelingApparently I'm the Tim to Liam's Tam. I am very amused by this. (For non-Australians: this is referencing a popular biscuit [what Americans call cookies] here called a TimTam.)
Ergle. Saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen tonight. I managed to (mostly) sever myself from the graphic novel, and quite enjoyed it. I'm really glad they didn't try to use a plot from the book, because that would have sucked, and made it harder to separate the two.
I quite enjoyed the few literary references I caught in the beginning of the movie: the reference to Around the World in 80 Days, and then the only non-Indian crewman on the Nautilus going "Call me Ishmael." That cracked me up. Did anyone else see the poster for something about "Extraordinary" and mentioning Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill on the side of a building, just before we got to Dorian's place (I think)? That amused me terribly. Go them.
This was the best quote in the movie. THE BEST.
Allan Quatermain: Automatic rifles! Who in God's name has automatic rifles?
Club Patron: Very unsporting! Probably Belgians!
Aaaand, I've just got this joke. Go me.
M: He apparently calls himself "The Fantom".
Allan Quatermain: Mmm...a bit operatic, if you ask me.
I assumed he meant his melodramatic style. But, of course... it's literal. Duuuuh.
Mina was surprisingly good, despite the whole "OOh, look! I'm a big scary vampire!" HOWEVER. That whole "Look at my scar!!1one!" bit was really, really out-of-character. She totally sold me with her mimicking of Allan, though, which was superb.
Two things supremely pissed me off: Allan's suggested resurrection (though it would have pissed me off far more if it had been shown), and THEIR BLODDY STUPID FUCK-UP WITH DORIAN'S DEATH.
Hello? Have any of you read the bloody thing? Dorian dies because he stabs his portrait. HE STABS IT. It's not because he *gasp!* looks at it. The reason he hides it is because it's ugly, and reminds him of what his soul has become. It really would have made no difference to the plot, or the schpanky graphics, to have done that correctly. Fucktards. Made me want to stab them repeatedly with a pen knife.
Sean Connery was Sean Connery, as always. Stuart Townsend was like a more attractive, handsomer, extra personality Orlando-Bloom-in-Pirates. Skinner was okay, though I didn't remember him being a Gentleman Thief in the comics. I thought it was someone else who had died, not the scientist, and everyone had misunderstood. (ETA: "Rodney Skinner replacing Hawley Griffin from H.G. Wells "The Invisible Man" (1897) (due to rights issues)" Thanks, IMDB.) Richard Roxburgh was excellent, of course; but then he always is.
When it comes to Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) OMG I HAVE NO WORDS. My biggest fear in this was that Nemo was going to be crap. I already knew that Mina was doomed (tho' she was far better than I expected), but Nemo was excellent. May we all be grateful for that. I want to marry Nemo, and have, like 10,000 of his babies. 'cept not.
I. Did. Not. Like. Tom. Sawyer. It didn't help that he was the obligatory American, but he added nothing. Nothing! Except angst value for Quatermain, and I mean really. Jekyll's angst over Mina was far more interesting than Sawyer's, and merited more screen time. And I really cringed over the whole "The next century belongs to you" bit. It just seemed really Added By American Writers. Also, it's not really all that true. I don't think America was really the #1 Superpower until the latter half of this century, whatever they think. People with actual facts can easily contradict me here, I'm sure. Still, unnecessary character. Cardboard, and easily done without. Blah.
ETA: "Continuity: The film is set in 1899, but Tom Sawyer appears as a young man when he really should be closer to sixty years old. Everyone else, including Ishmael, have the ages they would be expected to have in 1899." AHAHA. YOU SUCK, MOVIE PEOPLE. You should have stuck with the League of the comics.
Is it strange of me to be all squee-y over the fact that (apart from Ishmael, who existed solely for one in-joke) Nemo's crew were actually all Indian? That was really nice. No random Americans, or other whiteys for no good reason, as often seems to happen in movies.
That's about all I can think of, for now. I'm really tired. Overall, I think it was good to have such low expectations. It was so easy to exceed them. I want to see it again. I need a League LJ layout. With Nemo. Yep.
*blinks* I could have sword IMDB said "Evil Cast and Crew for League..."
ETA: OMG! Dr Jekyll was the coachman from From Hell! No wonder he looked familiar!
Final edit probably: When Quartermain and Sawyer are hunting Hyde in Paris, they describe him as a "big monkey" who had been terrorizing the Rue Morgue for months. This is a direct allusion to Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders at the Rue Morgue", in which the murderer was revealed to be a trained orangutan in the employ of a mad scientist. Hey! That was referenced in Sandman. Cool. *suddenly feels knowledgable*
Ergle. Saw League of Extraordinary Gentlemen tonight. I managed to (mostly) sever myself from the graphic novel, and quite enjoyed it. I'm really glad they didn't try to use a plot from the book, because that would have sucked, and made it harder to separate the two.
I quite enjoyed the few literary references I caught in the beginning of the movie: the reference to Around the World in 80 Days, and then the only non-Indian crewman on the Nautilus going "Call me Ishmael." That cracked me up. Did anyone else see the poster for something about "Extraordinary" and mentioning Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill on the side of a building, just before we got to Dorian's place (I think)? That amused me terribly. Go them.
This was the best quote in the movie. THE BEST.
Allan Quatermain: Automatic rifles! Who in God's name has automatic rifles?
Club Patron: Very unsporting! Probably Belgians!
Aaaand, I've just got this joke. Go me.
M: He apparently calls himself "The Fantom".
Allan Quatermain: Mmm...a bit operatic, if you ask me.
I assumed he meant his melodramatic style. But, of course... it's literal. Duuuuh.
Mina was surprisingly good, despite the whole "OOh, look! I'm a big scary vampire!" HOWEVER. That whole "Look at my scar!!1one!" bit was really, really out-of-character. She totally sold me with her mimicking of Allan, though, which was superb.
Two things supremely pissed me off: Allan's suggested resurrection (though it would have pissed me off far more if it had been shown), and THEIR BLODDY STUPID FUCK-UP WITH DORIAN'S DEATH.
Hello? Have any of you read the bloody thing? Dorian dies because he stabs his portrait. HE STABS IT. It's not because he *gasp!* looks at it. The reason he hides it is because it's ugly, and reminds him of what his soul has become. It really would have made no difference to the plot, or the schpanky graphics, to have done that correctly. Fucktards. Made me want to stab them repeatedly with a pen knife.
Sean Connery was Sean Connery, as always. Stuart Townsend was like a more attractive, handsomer, extra personality Orlando-Bloom-in-Pirates. Skinner was okay, though I didn't remember him being a Gentleman Thief in the comics. I thought it was someone else who had died, not the scientist, and everyone had misunderstood. (ETA: "Rodney Skinner replacing Hawley Griffin from H.G. Wells "The Invisible Man" (1897) (due to rights issues)" Thanks, IMDB.) Richard Roxburgh was excellent, of course; but then he always is.
When it comes to Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) OMG I HAVE NO WORDS. My biggest fear in this was that Nemo was going to be crap. I already knew that Mina was doomed (tho' she was far better than I expected), but Nemo was excellent. May we all be grateful for that. I want to marry Nemo, and have, like 10,000 of his babies. 'cept not.
I. Did. Not. Like. Tom. Sawyer. It didn't help that he was the obligatory American, but he added nothing. Nothing! Except angst value for Quatermain, and I mean really. Jekyll's angst over Mina was far more interesting than Sawyer's, and merited more screen time. And I really cringed over the whole "The next century belongs to you" bit. It just seemed really Added By American Writers. Also, it's not really all that true. I don't think America was really the #1 Superpower until the latter half of this century, whatever they think. People with actual facts can easily contradict me here, I'm sure. Still, unnecessary character. Cardboard, and easily done without. Blah.
ETA: "Continuity: The film is set in 1899, but Tom Sawyer appears as a young man when he really should be closer to sixty years old. Everyone else, including Ishmael, have the ages they would be expected to have in 1899." AHAHA. YOU SUCK, MOVIE PEOPLE. You should have stuck with the League of the comics.
Is it strange of me to be all squee-y over the fact that (apart from Ishmael, who existed solely for one in-joke) Nemo's crew were actually all Indian? That was really nice. No random Americans, or other whiteys for no good reason, as often seems to happen in movies.
That's about all I can think of, for now. I'm really tired. Overall, I think it was good to have such low expectations. It was so easy to exceed them. I want to see it again. I need a League LJ layout. With Nemo. Yep.
*blinks* I could have sword IMDB said "Evil Cast and Crew for League..."
ETA: OMG! Dr Jekyll was the coachman from From Hell! No wonder he looked familiar!
Final edit probably: When Quartermain and Sawyer are hunting Hyde in Paris, they describe him as a "big monkey" who had been terrorizing the Rue Morgue for months. This is a direct allusion to Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders at the Rue Morgue", in which the murderer was revealed to be a trained orangutan in the employ of a mad scientist. Hey! That was referenced in Sandman. Cool. *suddenly feels knowledgable*
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-06 11:39 am (UTC)As for the Invisible Man, they did change him. Skinner was the Gentleman Thief. Hawley Griffen was the Unseen Psycho in the comics.
I liked Dorian a LOT. My favorite line in the movie came from his fight with Mina.
Dorian: We're going to be at this ALL day...
I love that. :)
As for Sawyer, yes, I agree that he was a token American, but I felt he was done decently, at least. I thought his interest in Mina was a bit overdone, but I can see Tom Sawyer acting like that as an adult. I didn't hate it.
But the Nautilus! I want that ship! I would so want to be a part of that Nemo's crew. He was just too cool!
One other thing that I liked a great deal was the personality they gave Hyde. Wonderful. I love the fact that Hyde isn't so much evil, as he is just ... unrestrained by common morality. He is capable of doing the right thing. He just usually doesn't WANT to. Did you, by chance, catch the reference to Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue? If Sawyer was out of place time wise, this one was right out...
no subject
Date: 2003-10-06 11:45 am (UTC)Dorian rocked my boat. I loved his fight with Mina, 'specially as it reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean.
He was done comparatively decently, but he still had nothing to offer the League. He was pointless. And his character irritated me. Guess I'm like Mina here. *grins*
The Nautilus was cool. But it was equally cool in the comics. *nods* I loved the statuary on it.
Hyde's like that in the comics to a certain extent, too. Mina's the only one able to convince him to work with them ITC.
I didn't spot them, but IMDB did (see edit above). I haven't read Murders in the Rue Morgue. However! Hyde is terrorising Paris ITC, too. I just can't give you any details as I don't own copies of them. Anachronistic references are one thing, but characters? - esp. in a story such as this - unforgivable.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-06 05:10 pm (UTC)And did you notice the way that they never once used Sawyer's first name? So much for recognition value.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-06 06:38 pm (UTC)Doesn't he introduce himself as Tom Sawyer?
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Date: 2003-10-06 09:57 pm (UTC)"Agent Sawyer of the United States Secret Service" IIRC
no subject
Date: 2003-10-07 08:07 am (UTC)*shrugs* Only seen it once. I'm not word perfect.
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Date: 2003-10-09 10:18 pm (UTC)Oh and hi, I don't think I've ever commented in your LJ before - I'm really just getting the hang of it all.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-12 05:35 am (UTC)I don't think you have--I would have remembered. :) Nice to hear from you!