Taglines: Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state must be avenged.
The Avengers movie storyline. British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from “Mother”, investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but simultaneously falls for her and joins forces with her to combat Sir August.
The Avengers is a 1998 American action spy film adaptation of the British television series of the same name directed by Jeremiah Chechik. It stars Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as secret agents John Steed and Emma Peel, and Sean Connery as Sir August de Wynter, a mad scientist bent on controlling the world’s weather. Patrick Macnee, who played John Steed on the original series, makes a vocal cameo as the voice of Invisible Jones. The film was a box office bomb, only grossing $48 million of its $60 million budget, and received generally negative reviews from critics, considering it as one of the worst films ever made.
About the Story
The film opens with John Steed (Ralph Fiennes), agent of The Ministry, in a training course which he finishes successfully. Next, we see Dr. Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) at home where she receives a phone call telling her to go to a gentlemen’s club – no women allowed – where she meets Steed for the first time.
The two head off to the Ministry to meet Mother (Jim Broadbent), who informs them the Prospero project – an attempt to influence the weather – was sabotaged apparently by Emma Peel. Dr. Peel claims she is innocent, but she is sent to work alongside Steed to find the real culprit. Mother’s off-sider, Father (Fiona Shaw), claims Peel suffers from a mental disease. They go off to visit Sir August De Wynter (Sean Connery), an old ally of The Ministry. He takes an instant liking to Peel, as they both share a love of weather.
Steed and Emma follow a lead to Wonderland Weather – a business that artificially creates heat or rain with a special machine – where they discover two dead men in teddy bear suits. The members of a secret organisation — led by De Wynter — all wear teddy bear suits to disguise their identities. One of them, however, looks exactly like Emma Peel. Steed arrives in time to save Peel, as the double jumps off a roof and disappears.
Steed and Emma go off to visit De Wynter at his mansion but are attacked by mechanical bees. Alice (Eileen Atkins), a Ministry agent, helps them to flee; nevertheless, De Wynter captures Emma who then tries to escape but finds herself trapped due to the mansion’s ever-changing floor plan. She smashes her way through a window, and Steed rescues her. Back at Steed’s apartment, however, Peel is arrested by Father, as Steed visits Invisible Jones (Patrick MacNee), a man inside The Ministry, to investigate the meaning of a map Steed found at Wonderland Weather.
After viewing some photos of failed genetic experiments including cloning (revealing that the other Emma Peel is a clone), Steed determines Father is working with De Wynter. Father and Peel’s clone capture Peel but are confronted by Mother, who is then incapacitated. De Wynter, controlling Prospero and the weather, confronts the world’s leaders. He boasts that he controls the weather, and they will have to buy the weather from him, will pay a lot for it, and will have until midnight to pay.
Father and Peel’s clone take Emma to a hot air balloon, where Emma escapes during a snowstorm. Father and the clone perish when the balloon crashes and explodes. Invisible Jones determines De Wynter is using the Prospero instruments on a secret island, and Peel and Steed arrive at the island to stop him. Emma defuses the Prospero device just as a hurricane forms over London. Steed duels De Wynter and eventually gains the upper hand by impaling him with his own cane, causing De Wynter to be struck by a bolt of lightning. Emma and Steed escape just as the base self-destructs, and share champagne on the roof of a building with Mother.
Warner Bros., the film’s distributor, refused to allow any early press-screenings for movie reviewers that most releases attempt to generate interest in; such a decision is often made when a studio and/or distributor knows a film will not be received well and pre-release reviews would only be negative.
The film was originally scheduled to open earlier in June 1998 but was pushed back until August, often referred to as the late-summer “dumping ground” for films that are not felt to be strong or worthy enough to open on the more lucrative holiday weekends in early summer. The film was a notable failure at the box office, grossing only $48 million worldwide, compared to its budget of $60 million. Mick LaSalle, of the San Francisco Chronicle, warned against poor editing and direction, explaining,
The Avengers (1998)
Directed by: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, Patrick Macnee, Jim Broadbent, Fiona Shaw, Eddie Izzard, Eileen Atkins, Carmen Ejogo, John Wood, Keeley Hawes
Screenplay by: Don Macpherson
Production Design by: Stuart Craig
Cinematography by: Roger Pratt
Film Editing by: Mick Audsley
Costume Design by: Anthony Powell
Set Decoration by: Stephenie McMillan
Art Direction by: Andrew Ackland-Snow, Mark Harris, Michael Lamont, Neil Lamont
Music by: Joel McNeely
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief strong language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: August 14, 1998
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