This film really doesn't know what it wants to be. It wants to create a new work inspired by Jules Verne's novel by integrating a tyrannical futuristic empire and a story of rebellion, but at the same time it wants to be a faithful adaptation of the book and therefore reproduces a lot of scenes that don't tie in at all (or very badly) with the plot the film is trying to develop. As a result, in trying to do everything at once, the film ends up doing nothing at all, and is just a poorly-paced, messy plot. There are still a few good ideas, suchas a new origin story for Captain Nemo, which is interesting and in line with the film's direction. The problem is that even these ideas are poorly executed, ruined by poor writing that lacks subtlety and a messy pace that leaves no time for these ideas to develop properly.

As a result, we end up with an incomprehensible, poorly-written film that doesn't know what it wants to be. It's a real shame, because with the original material, it could have been much better.