- Directors: Stephen Norrington
- Producers: Trevor Albert, Rick Benattar, Sean Connery, Mark Gordon, Don Murphy, Michael Nelson
- Writers: Comic Book, Alan Moore, Kevin O Neill, Screenplay, James Dale Robinson
- Genres: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
- Actors: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Tony Curran, Stuart Townsend, Shane West, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh, Max Ryan
In 1899, an attack on the Bank of England by a group of men who appear to be German soldiers using advanced weapons followed by an attack on a German Zeppelin factory by the same men this time dressed as British soldiers, leads Europe to the brink of war. An emissary of the British government, Sanderson Reed, arrives in a gentlemen’s club in British East Africa, hoping to recruit the legendary, but now aged, hunter and adventurer Allan Quatermain to investigate the situation. Though Quatermain’s sense of patriotism has waned, he wishes to protect Africa from war and agrees, especially after his lodge is attacked and destroyed by a band of assassins.
In London, Quatermain meets with the mysterious “M”, who explains his plan to assemble a modern version of a group of talented individuals known as the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, which aids the world in times of need, in this case to combat the threat of the “Fantom”, who is the true mastermind of the current crisis, and ensure world peace, by stopping him from destroying Venice. Quatermain is introduced to Captain Nemo, Commander of the world’s only submersible vessel, invisible gentleman thief Rodney Skinner, who works for the government in hopes of an antidote for the invisibility serum he stole, and Mina Harker, a vampire and well-regarded chemical scientist. The group also recruits the mysterious immortal Dorian Gray, Dr. Henry Jekyll (who can transform into the superhumanly strong Edward Hyde under the effects of a special elixir), and a American Secret Service Agent Tom Sawyer; in Hyde’s case, he has to be hunted down by Quatermain and Sawyer before Jekyll offers his services for reprieve in London for his crimes as Hyde. With the team complete, the group takes off on Nemo’s submarine, the Nautilus, and set off for Venice. The group worry there is a traitor in their midst when flash powder is found in the wheel room of the Nautilus, and a vial of Jekyll’s transformation serum is determined to be missing. Naturally, all think that the invisible thief, Skinner, is the culprit, but nothing can be done about it since Skinner is nowhere to be found. Though the group reaches Venice in time, a series of bombs that has been planted under the city start to detonate shortly after, toppling buildings in a domino effect. The team decides that knocking one of the buildings out of the sequence is the only way to stop the chain of explosions. Nemo has a missile that can be fired from the Nautilus at the building in question, but only if a beacon can be set in place. Since Nemo can track his “automobile,” allowing it to serve as the beacon, Sawyer drives the car past the chain of explosions, as Gray and Mina disembark to fight the Fantom’s henchmen. Quatermain, meanwhile, notices and gives chase to the Fantom on foot. During the chase, The Fantom is unmasked and revealed to be M, who then escapes. At the same time, Sawyer crashes the car into the target building, while firing a flare, which signals Nemo to launch his missile. The building is destroyed, the chain of explosions stops, and Venice is saved. The League regroups at the Nautilus, where Quatermain reveals that M is behind everything. Nemo’s first mate also reveals that Gray, not Skinner, is the traitor, as he had been mortally shot by Gray, who escapes in an exploration pod. Nemo sets the Nautilus in pursuit, but a record is found from M and Gray, revealing that the League was a ruse so that M could steal physical elements from each of the League members, so as to construct an army of super-powered soldiers; Captain Nemo’s science and technology, Jekyll’s formula, Mina’s blood, and a sample of Skinner’s invisible skin; Quatermain was merely used to capture Hyde. M seeks to profit by starting a world war and selling armaments and weaponry based on the powers of the League to the combatant countries. As the record is played, it also releases a second, high-frequency signal which sets off three bombs in the ship, but Hyde is able to stop the ship from sinking.
…
The League assembles in Africa to bury Quatermain. As the group departs, a tribal witch doctor takes handfuls of dirt from Quatermain’s grave and begins a ritual chant. We are reminded of a witch doctor’s pronouncement, recounted by Quatermain at the beginning of the movie, that Africa would not let Quatermain die. The earth shakes violently, making the rifle that Sawyer had left on the grave shake. Lightning strikes Quatermain’s grave right before the screen cuts to black.