V for Vendetta - DJ
I have to say, after seeing Ultraviolet, I couldn’t bring myself to go back to the theater for almost a month…just too many bad memories. Finally though, I decided to go see V for Vendetta, fearing that if it was bad, I may never go to the movies again. Fortunately for me, I will be returning to theaters, perhaps more regularly.
V for Vendetta is based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and another guy whose name I don’t remember. The only reason I remember Alan Moore is that his graphic novel was also the basis for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Yeah, you remember that pile of crap? This of course made me somewhat tepid to base the future of my movie viewing life on the newest movie from him. It didn’t help that he refused to even be involved with this movie after they screwed up that last one so badly. Anyway, the movie is set in Britain in the near future after plague and war have ravaged the world. Britain is still in fairly good shape thanks to a government that took complete control of the country and “saved” the people. Unfortunately this has resulted in a totalitarian government where virtually every freedom has been suspended and people are randomly kidnapped if the government decides they are a threat. The main character, V, is a modern day Guy Fawkes who believes it is time for the people to fight back and reclaim their country.
The first and most obvious theme to note in the film is whether you consider V a freedom fighter or a terrorist. This theme continues through the entire movie as each character is presented the question of whether the government is indeed always right and V is a terrorist or if perhaps it is the government that is the problem. While I personally found this interesting, it does keep the movie fairly slow moving through the middle. Granted, there are fight scenes and explosions in the movie, but they are more prevalent in the beginning and the end leaving the character development to the middle. I had no problem with it, but those going in expecting the entire film to be fast moving and action packed as the commercials seem to suggest may end up bored.
The acting in the film was far better than I had expected it to be. Hugo Weaving did a brilliant job of expressing emotion without showing his face a single time. It takes a fair bit of talent to express emotion as a character behind a rigid mask. Surprisingly, even Natalie Portman did a good job. Personally, I can’t stand her in most things. I wanted to strangle myself every time she talked in the Star Wars movies, though granted that was also very much George Lucas’s fault for the terrible dialogue. Anyway, I’m still not sure I’d say she did a brilliant job (especially next to Hugo Weaving), but she did a good enough job as to not distract me from the movie like she usually does. Also of note was John Hurt playing the Prime Minister. As always he did a good job, though for some reason I was constantly reminded of Ian McKellen as Richard III (without the hump of course). I’m not sure why other than that they looked very similar and Richard III also had a fascist Britain setting.
The fight scenes were fairly good and in general I could actually see what was going on unlike the Bourne Supremacy. It’s good to see some directors still bother to have the actors learn a good fight sequence instead of just zooming in to cover for it. The special effects were also very good and they didn’t drown the scenes like is so common in many movies these days.
Apparently there have been many gripes by hardcore fans that there were deviations and whatnot from the novel, but as far as I’m concerned, if I wanted the same thing, I’d read the novel. As a movie, I thought it was an excellent movie, though some people may think it drags on a bit too long in the middle. As a graphic novel/comic book movie, I give it 4 stars and I also give it 4 stars for enjoyment. I think it brought a lot more depth to what could have ended up another mindless action comic book movie.
Graphic Novel/Comic Book: ****
Enjoyment: ****
V for Vendetta is based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and another guy whose name I don’t remember. The only reason I remember Alan Moore is that his graphic novel was also the basis for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Yeah, you remember that pile of crap? This of course made me somewhat tepid to base the future of my movie viewing life on the newest movie from him. It didn’t help that he refused to even be involved with this movie after they screwed up that last one so badly. Anyway, the movie is set in Britain in the near future after plague and war have ravaged the world. Britain is still in fairly good shape thanks to a government that took complete control of the country and “saved” the people. Unfortunately this has resulted in a totalitarian government where virtually every freedom has been suspended and people are randomly kidnapped if the government decides they are a threat. The main character, V, is a modern day Guy Fawkes who believes it is time for the people to fight back and reclaim their country.
The first and most obvious theme to note in the film is whether you consider V a freedom fighter or a terrorist. This theme continues through the entire movie as each character is presented the question of whether the government is indeed always right and V is a terrorist or if perhaps it is the government that is the problem. While I personally found this interesting, it does keep the movie fairly slow moving through the middle. Granted, there are fight scenes and explosions in the movie, but they are more prevalent in the beginning and the end leaving the character development to the middle. I had no problem with it, but those going in expecting the entire film to be fast moving and action packed as the commercials seem to suggest may end up bored.
The acting in the film was far better than I had expected it to be. Hugo Weaving did a brilliant job of expressing emotion without showing his face a single time. It takes a fair bit of talent to express emotion as a character behind a rigid mask. Surprisingly, even Natalie Portman did a good job. Personally, I can’t stand her in most things. I wanted to strangle myself every time she talked in the Star Wars movies, though granted that was also very much George Lucas’s fault for the terrible dialogue. Anyway, I’m still not sure I’d say she did a brilliant job (especially next to Hugo Weaving), but she did a good enough job as to not distract me from the movie like she usually does. Also of note was John Hurt playing the Prime Minister. As always he did a good job, though for some reason I was constantly reminded of Ian McKellen as Richard III (without the hump of course). I’m not sure why other than that they looked very similar and Richard III also had a fascist Britain setting.
The fight scenes were fairly good and in general I could actually see what was going on unlike the Bourne Supremacy. It’s good to see some directors still bother to have the actors learn a good fight sequence instead of just zooming in to cover for it. The special effects were also very good and they didn’t drown the scenes like is so common in many movies these days.
Apparently there have been many gripes by hardcore fans that there were deviations and whatnot from the novel, but as far as I’m concerned, if I wanted the same thing, I’d read the novel. As a movie, I thought it was an excellent movie, though some people may think it drags on a bit too long in the middle. As a graphic novel/comic book movie, I give it 4 stars and I also give it 4 stars for enjoyment. I think it brought a lot more depth to what could have ended up another mindless action comic book movie.
Graphic Novel/Comic Book: ****
Enjoyment: ****
posted by DJ | 12:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home