History Film / TheLeagueofExtraordinaryGentlemen

** Allan Quatermain is a badass who's every bit the GreatWhiteHunter that he was when he was younger. This is a major adptation to the comics where he was introduced as a burned-out opium addict. In the source books, Allan was a the mighty hunter but did become more human and less confident after multiple life tragedies but this film version is more in line with that than the comics.

** Mr. Hyde here is somewhat of a SuperpoweredAlterEgo that is Hulk size and is brought out by Jekyll's drinking of his formula. This was kept from the comic book. However there Hyde eventually took over for Jekyll for good. Compared to the source novel both of these are a major increase to Hyde. Hyde was originally smaller than Jekyll but one line can be read to imply he grew in size or health the more he was let out. There Jekyll started to change back to Hyde involuntary and it required more serum to reverse and stopped working. Jekyll was under the belief one of his chemicals he used may have been contaminated with something that made it work in the first place. Then Jekyll or Hyde commit suicide. It would stand to reason though that if he had of had more time he could have found more stable control over it.
** [[spoiler:Moriarty]] in the source novel is a small-time StarterVillain whose power and influence are limited to London. In fact, he's not even the strongest crimelord of London and his entire motivation revolves around taking out his rival. In the movie, [[spoiler:Moriarty]] is an international warlord with goal of starting World War I. He also has a small army at his disposal and is working on reverse-engineering the League's powers for his own soldiers.

** Cleverly subverted with Griffin the Invisible Man. In the [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan source material]] he was a sociopathic murderer who never cared about anything but himself and his whims. As normal per Moore, the comics upped him to rapist as well. In the movie it is made that Griffin did die like in his source novel but now the Invisible Man in the film is revealed to actually be Skinner, a thief who stole some of Griffin's invisibility serum and was turned transparent like him. Skinner is a straight up cheeky hero with none of Griffin's baggage.
** While the film makes mention of Hyde's terrible acts, on screen he's nowhere near as bad. Jekyll also has more screen presence and can debate his evil side when looking in a mirror. This film presents Jekyll as seeing Hyde as a monster who he can't bother to let free again. Ironically Hyde proves he can have his heroic tendencies when Jekyll willingly lets him out. [[note]]This is ironic given Stevenson regarded Jekyll's inability to recognize Hyde's crimes are also his crimes was his fatal flaw. In this film when Jekyll accepts his bad side is a part of him and could help, he becomes more heroic, overcoming that very flaw.[[/note]] This is different from the comics where Hyde eventually took over completely from Jekyll and was a TokenEvilTeammate with questionable attitudes. In the source novel Hyde was believed to be pure evil reflection of Jekyll but still a part of him. Making it less certain if when presented with something bigger than just hedonistic life in London if he'd step up like the comic or movie.
** Captain Nemo is a bit more straight of a hero here. In the comics he had a bit more issue as things went along even though he was still a team player. In the source novel, Nemo is at best an AntiVillain who rebels against the Empire. He does get a bit better after his VillainousBreakdown but this version is still far more openly heroic in helping the British Empire. Nemo does however have a tense conversation with Dr Jekyll about how their own pasts are rather questionable at best.

* AdaptationalWimp: Mina, in a way. Though she gains superpower in the movie, she's no longer the cunning mastermind of the team and her status as the protagonist of the story is instead given to Quatermain and Sawyer.

** [[spoiler:According to Professor Moriarty, there never was any [[PrecursorHeroes previous Leagues]] like in the comics, he made it all up. While the characters who were members in the comics may have still existed here, it would seem none of them had formed any team.]]

** During the first meeting scene there are three custom made paintings hanging in the background that can be partially or fully seen throughout the scene. While some are pretty easy to guess if you know your books, some were only officially identified by details in the script.

A 2003 {{Film Adaptation|LiveAction}} of Creator/AlanMoore's popular graphic novel [[Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen of the same name]], directed by Stephen Norrington and featuring a cast headed by Creator/SeanConnery, in his last live-action role before his retirement from acting and subsequent death.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Downplayed. While Jekyll himself is no saint given to his notorious crimes for mass murder and assault as Hyde, he knows damn well that he only drinks his serum in small vials only to keep his dirty urges at bay if necessary, and that he disapproves of Moriarty synthesizing more batches of the serum for his plot.

--> '''Hyde''': (shocked to see Dante drink the large dose of the Hyde formula) NOOOO!!!!! Not the whole thing!

* OhCrap: Hyde, [[spoiler:when Dante drinks a large amount of Jekyll's potion.]]
-->'''Hyde:''' ''(sounding almost sad)'' [[BigNo NO!]] Not the whole thing...

* OneWingedAngel: Jekyll and Dante [[spoiler:who turns into a huge, towering behemoth]][[note]][[spoiler:with one big arm, one little arm and a comparatively tiny head]][[/note]] [[spoiler:after drinking too much potion.]]

* ThatManIsDead: When the BigBad is revealed to be [[spoiler:Professor James Moriarty]], he scoffs at the identification, saying, [[spoiler:"Moriarty? The so-called "Napoleon of Crime"? That man died at Reichenbach Falls.]] He died, and I was reborn!"
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Mr. Hyde gets this reaction upon witnessing Dante drink a large dose of the Hyde serum, knowing damn well that it will turn him into a more dangerous monster that Hyde himself would ever have been.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Downplayed. While Jekyll himself is no saint given to his notorious crimes for mass murder and assault as Hyde, he knows damn well that he drinks his serum, but only in small vials, to keep his dirty urges at bay if necessary, and that he disapproves of Moriarty synthesizing more batches of the serum for his plot.
--> '''Jekyll''': (angered by Moriarty's true plot) I will not let my evil infect the world.

* EvilCounterpart: Granted that the League were already morally grey at best, but during the final confrontation in the fortress, [[spoiler:Sawyer, Skinner, and Quatermain have to face an invisible man working for Moriarty, and his chief henchman Dante takes a huge overdose of the Hyde serum that turns him into a more twisted version of Hyde]].

** [[spoiler: Moriarty]] in the source novel is a small-time StarterVillain whose power and influence are limited to London. In fact, he's not even the strongest crimelord of London and his entire motivation revolves around taking out his rival. In the movie, [[spoiler:Moriarty]] is an international warlord with goal of starting World War I. He also has a small army at his disposal and is working on reverse-engineering the League's powers for his own soldiers.

** [[spoiler: According to Professor Moriarty, there never was any [[PrecursorHeroes previous Leagues]] like in the comics, he made it all up. While the characters who were members in the comics may have still existed here, it would seem none of them had formed any team.]]

* {{Blackmail}}: The reason [[spoiler: Dorian]] agrees to be TheMole is because the BigBad has stolen [[spoiler:his portrait]] and will give it back if he cooperates. Interestingly for a villain, he actually keeps this promise. Even TheMole seems a little surprised by that.

* BodyDouble: Of a sort. In Kenya, Quatermain's friend Nigel tells visitors that ''he'' is Quatermain; it allows him to have some fun while enabling the real Quatermain to avoid autograph hounds and those who just want to badger him about his adventures.[[spoiler: This ends up backfiring on him horrifically, as he's murdered by assassins after proclaiming himself to be Quatermain.]]

** Anyone who watched the movie carefully enough saw all of the actions of TheMole which were later revealed to be his tricks to obtain [[spoiler: the League's super powers and Nemo's technology]]. But in case you missed them, there's a brief montage of them during TheReveal. Also counts as a RewatchBonus, since they're easier to spot on a second viewing.

* ClickHello: When the BigBad is making ready to leave his lair, Quatermain and Sawyer get the drop on him, with the former pointing the barrel of a Winchester rifle at the back of his head. [[spoiler: He then goes on to deduce that their adversary is in fact the notorious Professor James Moriarty.]]

* CompositeCharacter: The Fantom. With his name spelled with a "F" and his penchant for global terrorism, he appears as the pulp villain Fantômas. Yet he wears a mask resembling the Phantom of the Opera, which Quatermain lampshades. Likely this is because the Phantom is much more widely known by today's audiences than Fantômas. This of course taken to even more complicated extremes when [[spoiler: he is revealed to be M from James Bond who in this universe is also the notorious Professor James Moriarty.]] So the final film version is one book character masquerading as two other characters in which one is a composite of two other characters.

* DeathlessAndDebauched: Dorian Gray is both ageless and indestructible thanks to his portrait, and devotes himself to an exclusively sybaritic lifestyle: he wears nothing but tailored suits, lives in a decadent mansion, shares a nightcap of highly-expensive Amontillado sherry with Mina, and according to the novelization, most of the books in his library are ''obscenely'' pornographic. In fact, the only reason why he joins the League at all is because the thrill of violence offered a welcome change to his usual routine. [[spoiler: It's actually because M is holding his portrait hostage]]. As soon as his work's done, he intends to head right back to London, claiming to be "in the mood for vice."

** [[spoiler: Both The Fantom's ring and the door to M's office are emblazoned with the emblem of the Masons, a subtle hint made long before the reveal that there is at least some connection between the two]].
** As the Fantom makes his escape from the first battle, one of his henchmen shouts at him "Run, [[spoiler: James]]!"

** After Jekyll accuses the mysteriously absent Skinner of stealing one of his vials, Dorian is the one who keeps reinforcing that Skinner's a traitor, reminding people to be mindful of him and shouting that he must've alerted the men shooting at them to the League's location. [[spoiler: He's actually trying to draw suspicion from himself, since it's revealed later that ''he's'' the actual [[TheMole mole]].]]

-->[[spoiler: '''Dorian''':]] If that had been permanent, I'd have been ''very'' upset.
* GrowingMusclesSequence: Jekyll changing to Hyde, [[spoiler: then Dante when he takes an overdose of Jekyll's serum]]. Though mid-transformation, Jekyll more closely resembles the [[BodyHorror Elephant Man]]. "It's me on a bad day," ''indeed''.

* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Nemo while fighting the [[spoiler: mutated Dante. Despite the sheer speed of his slices, he's unable to damage the thug.]]

* ItsPersonal: Sawyer's reason for joining the League. The detailed explanation was cut from the film but is shown in deleted scenes on the DVD. [[spoiler: The Fantom killed Sawyer's partner, a childhood friend. This agent is unnamed in the film, but he's obviously [[Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn Huck Finn.]] The novelization states this outright.]]

* NotHisSled: [[spoiler: The Invisible Man is heavily hinted to be a traitor (as he was for the Martians in the comic books), but this turns out to be a RedHerring; the real traitor is Dorian Gray.]]

* OneWingedAngel: Jekyll and Dante [[spoiler: who turns into a huge, towering behemoth]][[note]][[spoiler: with one big arm, one little arm and a comparatively tiny head]][[/note]] [[spoiler:after drinking too much potion.]]

* PassingTheTorch: [[spoiler: Quatermain's]] last words to Sawyer. "May this new century be yours, son, as the old one was mine." In a possible double meaning, this also foreshadows [[spoiler: America taking over from Britain as the dominant world power in the Twentieth Century]].

* PinnedToTheWall: Dorian Gray is [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice run through with a sword]] so firmly he ends up pinned to the wall and unable to pull the sword out. Due to his near CompleteImmortality, this doesn't do anything more than annoy him. [[spoiler: Until Mina shows him his painting, that is.]]

* RedFlagRecreationMaterial: In the novelization, Captain Nemo is initially saddened at the damage inflicted on Dorian Gray's library during the initial fight with the Fantom... up until he takes a closer look and realizes that the books are works by the Creator/MarquisDeSade, annotated with illustrations and even photographs, a good indication that Dorian is a) DeathlessAndDebauched, and b) almost as anti-heroic as the rest of the League. [[spoiler: He's actually the Fantom's mole on the team.]]

* ARottenTimeToRevert: In the finale, Mr Hyde is pitted against Dante, who has massively overdosed on Jekyll's formula and is now bigger and stronger even than Hyde. While Dante is burning through his dose of the formula faster, Hyde's dose runs out first and he soon reverts to Dr Jekyll, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat with Captain Nemo... [[spoiler: but he still winds up better off than Dante, who ends up getting buried under a ton of rubble and is presumably crushed to death when he reverts.]]

* SappingTheShapeshifter: Late in the film, the Fantom's [[TheDragon chief henchman Dante]] takes an overdose of Dr Jekyll's formula and transforms into a gigantic muscle-bound behemoth that easily tanks everything Captain Nemo and Mr Hyde can dish out. However, Hyde soon reveals that Dante is burning through his formula at an accelerated rate and will soon change back, so all they have to do is delay him until he returns to normal. [[spoiler: Ultimately, Dante ends up getting pinned down by a mountain of rubble when the bombs planted around the facility go off, leaving him trapped until - as the novelization illustrates - [[ARottenTimeToRevert he's crushed to death when he finally reverts]].]]

* TheStinger: After all of the characters leave [[spoiler: Quatermain's grave]], an African shaman begins chanting over it...[[spoiler: and the dirt above the grave begins to tremble as the skies darken and lightning flashes]].

* SwordCane: Dorian's largely decorative cane conceals a blade that he uses in combat with the Fantom's minions, when they attack his apartments, and then later on [[spoiler: Mina, when he's been revealed as the traitor]].

* ThatManIsDead: When the BigBad is revealed to be [[spoiler: Professor James Moriarty]], he scoffs at the identification, saying, [[spoiler:"Moriarty? The so-called "Napoleon of Crime"? That man died at Reichenbach Falls.]] He died, and I was reborn!"
* TinyHeadedBehemoth: Mr. Hyde, a human-sized head on a massive, hulking body. [[spoiler: Also the much larger "Super-Hyde" in the film's climax.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: Mina, in a way. Though she gains superpower in the movie, she's no longer the cunning mastermind of the team and her status as the protagonist of the story is instead given to Quartermain and Sawyer.

** The film features romantic subplots mostly around Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer and Henry Jekyll having interests in Mina Harker. There is merely a makeout scene between Mina and Dorian in the book, while the comics would have a more explicit sex scene between Mina and Allan Quartermain as they engaged in a MayDecemberRomance. That element is nowhere to be found in the movie.

* GiveMeASword: As a single surviving {{Mook}} flees from an attempt to assassinate [[GreatWhiteHunter Alan Quatermain]] at his club, he calls out for Bruce the bartender to toss him a rifle he keeps behind the bar to shoot the man with.

* ImmortalityField: Discussed when Alan Quatermain mentioned that "UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} wouldn't let him die." It was unclear whether it was literal or figurative and it didn't help that he died in UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}}. However, the film [[AmbiguousEnding ends ambiguously]] with a WitchDoctor summoning a storm with a ritual and lightning striking his grave.

* NearMissGroinAttack: In the climactic fight, Sawyer alerts Quartermain someone is close, only to relax when he realises the person is invisible. He calls out, "It's okay, it's Skinner!" only for the person to knock him down and say, [[BaitAndSwitch "What makes you think I'm Skinner?"]] The attacker comes after Sawyer with a knife, striking the floor between his legs as Sawyer scoots backward.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Sanderson Reed, the envoy sent to recruit Quartermain into the League, initially appears as a harmless bureaucrat. But upon taking the invisibility serum in the climax, he proves himself to be an extremely dangerous opponent against Sawyer.]]

** The MeaningfulFuneral ends with [[spoiler:a native witch doctor doing... something, which makes the ground shake, lightning crash across the sky, and the clouds to turn dark. This was probably meant to be Quatermain coming back from the dead, since "Africa will never allow him to die."]] However, according to Jason Flemyng, the sequel will probably never happen because Connery doesn't want to do it, and has since retired from acting; his death in 2020 confirms this. The film's box office performance didn't help. To some people, though, this should be better explained. Talking just pure budget money, the film very much succeeded in recouping that cost. However, all reports clearly show that the studio wanted more. This in metaphor is like wanting an "A" in school and getting a "C". Sure, you passed, but you are still highly disappointed. And that kind of reaction surely doesn't help anyone wanting to fund another big budget action sequel.

** The final scene appears to be a reference to a throwaway line told by Quatermain that he was blessed by a witch doctor after saving his village. [[spoiler:Quatermain died in Mongolia but was brought back to Africa to be buried, possibly allowing the blessing to work. Also, the DVD reveals that the witch doctor is chanting "Arise."]]

** [[spoiler: Moriarty]] is a small-time StarterVillain whose influence is limited to London. In fact, he's not even the strongest crimelord of London and his entire motivation is to make the League take out his rival for him. In the movie, [[spoiler:Moriarty]] is an international criminal mastermind with goal of starting a world war. He also has a small army at his disposal as well as reversed-engineered versions of the League's powers.

** [[spoiler: Moriarty poses a far greater threat to the League than his comic counterpart, who doesn't even last a single encounter with them.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: Mina, in a way. Her role as the founding member and leader of the League is given to Quartermain instead. Instead of being the League's liaison with the British government, she's reduced to being their chemist and muscle.

*** One is similar to an actual previous League in the comic book. You see Lemuel Gulliver from ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', Natty Bumppo from ''Literature/TheLeatherstockingTales'', Percy Blakeney aka ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' and ''Literature/DoctorSyn'' in his scarecrow outfit.

* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: It just happens to be Carnival in Venice when the League arrives -- even though a) the film is clearly stated to take place in July, while Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday, which occurs in February or March; and b) Napoleon ''banned'' Carnival when he invaded the city, more than a century before the film starts.

%% * SidewaysSmile: Partially in England when M watches Quatermain, who is confused after hearing Skinner's disembodied voice, not knowing he's totally invisible.

* OneWingedAngel: Jekyll and Dante [[spoiler: who turns into a huge, towering behemoth[[note]] with one big arm, one little arm and a comparatively tiny head[[/note]] after drinking too much potion.]]

* EpicLaunchSequence: A small one that's easy to miss, but near the end of the film, when Nemo orders the ''Nautilus'' to go ahead full, the [[MileLongShip massive]] "Sword of the Sea" goes from a dead-stop to a speed fast enough for hydroplaning to push the bow out of the water within about two seconds.

* BigNo: Hyde yells "No!" when [[spoiler:Dante drinks Jekyll's potion]].

* BrokenPedestal: Sanderson Reed expressed disappointed when Quatermain has no interest in helping Britain again and seems apathetic to the notion of a world war, due to his past exploits having left him rather cynical. With disdain in his voice, Reed tells him to at least do it for Africa, since the war will spread to every British colony.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jekyll's sweaty and sick appearance and him looking at the potion box almost affectionately, Hyde encouraging him to take it before seeing one of the bottles is missing, reminds one of a junkie trying to fight against a fix and makes the elixir seem ''addictive'' despite how much pain it puts its taker in.

* ARottenTimeToRevert: In the finale, Mr Hyde is pitted against Dante, who has massively overdosed on Jekyll's formula and is now bigger and stronger even than Hyde. While Dante is burning through his dose of the formula faster, Hyde's dose runs out first and he soon reverts to Dr Jekyll, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat with Captain Nemo... but he still winds up better off than Dante, who ends up getting buried under a ton of rubble and is presumably crushed to death when he reverts.

* {{Bishonen}}: Tom Sawyer by comparison to his team mates is intended as the younger good-looking male of the team.

** The film in comparison to the comic is far tamer in some regards. The comic tends to draw on more overt violence and sex as a part of its DeconstructionParody. The film went for a more action adventure tone and goes ligther. Even in terms of how seedy the setting is the film has a more benign portrayal of British Intelligence, with TheReveal of [[spoiler:Moriarty as M]] being a kind of surprise; in the comics, the latter was always a British agent whose criminal activities were knowingly enabled by the government.

** Even Hyde himself count on a strange example as he is horrified to witness Dante drinking himself a large quantity of the Hyde serum from a big flask to become a more dangerous monster than Hyde would ever be.

* EvilCounterpart: Granted that the League were already morally grey at best, but during the final confrontation in the fortress, [[spoiler:Sawyer, Skinner, and Quatermain have to face an invisible man working for Moriarty and his chief henchman, Dante, takes an overdose of the Hyde serum that turns him into a more twisted version of Hyde]].

** Creator/SeanConnery stars as Allan Quatermain, the [[UrExample figurative father]] of {{Adventure Archaeologist}}s like Franchise/IndianaJones. Connery had previously played Indiana Jones's father in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' [[Film/JamesBond He also works for a man named "M" and makes quips after killing people]]. At one point, while training Sawyer, he says Tom has [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService "all the time in the world"]] to take his shot.

** While hardly an [[AscendedExtra extra]] in the comic (see BadassNormal in the general series section) and actually demoted in role, Mina is upgraded into an incredibly powerful elder vampire who is the most dangerous member of the team, and who gets the movie's primary {{Wolverine}}-style fight with [[spoiler:fellow immortal Dorian Gray.]]