eXtRaOrDiNaRiLy AvErAgE (The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (VHS))

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (VHS)
Date:	15/10/09 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Occasionaly funny

Disadvantages: Hit and miss comedy

*Review of film only*

I've never watched an entire episode of 'The League of Gentlemen', as I find it a bit to freaky and grotesque for my liking - so it was with some confusion that I viewed the feature length version 'The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse' a couple of days ago.

Directed by Steve Bendelack, the story works on the premise that the inhabitants of Royston Vasey (the fictional village where League of Gentlemen is set) realise they are characters in a TV show, and find a portal to the 'real' world. Upon stepping out onto the streets of London, camp German 'Herr Lipp', freaky butcher 'Hilary Briss' and the unusual 'Geoffrey Tipps', set about trying to locate their creators (Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith) with the intention of getting them to extend their screen-life, thus avoiding the 'apocalypse' from the movie's title.

Predictably, things don't go as planned, and the dysfunctional bunch accidentally summon up a medieval demon from the new series which Mark Gatiss is writing - believe me, you have to watch it to fully understand what's going on. The story in general (minus the part with the demon) is basically the same as the one that Red Dwarf used in their recent 'Back to Earth' episodes, where similarly, the crew had the opportunity of confronting their creator.

As I hadn't watched The League Of Gentlemen before, I wasn't really sure what to expect from the humour, and to be honest, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. The film relies heavily on visual comedy, and there is the occasional gross-out moment to keep those who like that sort of thing happy. I did have a laugh every so often, but for every joke that I found funny, there was one which fell a bit flat.

The special effects used throughout the film are rather low-budget and shoddy in appearance, and the creature creation has a stop-motion feel about it. Seeing as this is a bizarre film anyway, the rather average effects are all part of the charm I suppose - so i'm not going to criticise the movie on that front.

The acting in general is pretty decent, and although I can't compare it to the standard of performances from the series, it all seems highly watchable. The best of the characters is probably Steve Pemberton's 'Herr Lipp', who gets the majority of the best lines which are packed with double entendres. Strangely enough, Peter Kay has a cameo as a character called 'Simon Pig', and Simon Pegg has a cameo as a characer called 'Peter Cow'.

Apart from the hit-and-miss nature of the comedy, the real weakeness of the film comes in the form of its sloppy mid-section, which explores a new medieval screenplay which Mark is working on. Although it features Bernard Hill and Victoria Wood, unfortunately, this overlong portion of the movie is ultimately dull, and lacking in any sort of humour. In fact, it seems to have been added on to the main story as a bit of an afterthought.

Overall, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is an unusual and occasionally funny film, which I just about enjoyed. Unfortunately though, a movie based on a series should show off everything which makes the original programme great, and if this particular movie does that, then the League of Gentlemen wouldn't have had so many fans - certainly a missed opportunity.

Lead Roles
- - - - - - -
Mark Gatiss - Matthew Chinnery / Hilary Briss / Mickey / Mark
Steve Pemberton - Tubbs / Pauline / Herr Lipp / Steve / Lemuel Blizzard
Reece Shearsmith - Edward / Papa Lazarou / Geoff / Bernice / Reece
Michael Sheen - Jeremy
Danielle Tilley - Dahlia
Bruno - Damon

Summary: Big screen adaptation of the popular comedy