The Unseen Movie Review

League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse

When BBC2 first introduced viewers to the world of The League of Gentlemen and their creation of Royston Vasey back in 1999, after several years of its founders trawling the comedy and radio circuits, it was difficult to know quite what to make of it. It was bloody funny, certainly – but was it a sketch show or a sitcom? Was there an ongoing plot, or just a collection of oddities and vignettes?

As the series progressed – there have been 18 episodes to date plus an hour-long Christmas special – the intricacies of the intertwined plotlines began to get ever more convoluted, sinister and bizarre even as the denizens of the odd little northern town in which the show is set became more grotesque. Meanwhile, Little Britain has cropped up to adopt much of the more absurdist character comedy even as the League themselves have pursued darker paths. Always an unsettling style of humour, the lesser incidence of catchphrases and greater emphasis on disturbing plotlines in their more recent outings seems to have lost them a number of the early fans.

In all, this not only seems a rather odd choice for a feature film adaptation, but also an odd time to do it – at least in terms of popular appeal. But in terms of the League’s ability to create involvingly ingenious storylines and highly unpleasant yet engaging characters, they remain at their peak.

Here a number of the familiar denizens of Royston Vasey – braindead Mickey, psychotic Pauline, Edward and Tubbs from the Local Shop and the terrifyingly unsettling Papa Lazarou – are faced with the destruction of their home of choice. Soon three of Royston Vasey’s residents, butcher Hilary Briss, German tour guide Herr Lipp and loser Geoff, venture beyond the borders of their little town and into the real world to track down those responsible for its imminent destruction.

As should be expected by now from the talents of writer/stars Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the unexpected should always be expected. Here, the “real world” is just that, and the writer/actors also appear as themselves, creating what media studies courses would probably term a post-modern metatextual paradox – especially when the film is consciously morphed into another altogether halfway through.

What this actually amounts to, however, is a far more interesting and successful approach to translating a British comedy series to the big screen than pretty much anything since the Monty Python movies. Whether people unfamiliar with the League’s idiosyncratic comedy and characters will be able to acclimatise themselves quickly enough to the humour and horror is another matter, but for anyone who has ever been entertained by any of the previous escapades of these highly inventive comic creations, this film will satisfy and surprise in equal measure.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM