V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)

[jguitar]

No problem with his views on religion, Invunche, which I've always found refreshing. I'm referring to his weird dark journey from Trotskyist to Neo-Con. I still like him in many ways, but his writing has increasingly become self-parody, and his drinking habits are legendary--both things somewhat suggested by the character in V (not that they were trying to do that). But, like I said, that was only a momentary thought I had while watching it.

[Galen Young]

[ben d banana]

I'm referring to his weird dark journey from Trotskyist to Neo-Con.

He was traded for Huffington.

[blindside8zao]

I'm not sure at all about calling this movie a good film. But it is interesting to see these themes of revolution, social and political. I think anyone who sees this film and places it outside of its nation and time frame is not viewing it in the manner intended by the writers. Doubtless, the themes are universal, but its very obviously addressing the present specifically, more obvisouly than the revolutionary themes of the Matrix trilogy. If the Wachowski's continue in this direction long enough, making their themes more obvious, I think they are going to garner a lot more attention in different audiences than they already have.

All that aside, it's a decent action/drama, although I have to say the domino scene made my adrenaline pump. If they'd played RageATM at the end of it i'd probably have yelled out loud or something.

[Barmy]

I seriously cannot believe that this movie is getting ANY positive reaction--even The Economist gave it a positive blurb.

What a silly, dumb movie. So many stupid moments--the parents throwing the lesbo daughter's baby picture in the wastebasket being the funniest. (Although perhaps funnier was the scene where it looked like the Lesbian was reaching into the toilet to pull out some toilet paper to write on.)

Normally I don't fret too much about plot holes, but please. During the final encounter with "V" (silly name, no?), if they took the trouble to scan him for guns, WHY DIDN'T THEY REMOVE THE KNIVES WHILST THEY WERE AT IT???

Portman's perf is AWFUL. Totally uninvolving and unconvincing.

And for some reason, I can't quite put my finger on it, "V" sounds EXACTLY like Agent Smith from that Matrix film.

[cdnchris]

And for some reason, I can't quite put my finger on it, "V" sounds EXACTLY like Agent Smith from that Matrix film.

Probably because Hugo Weaving was doing an impersonation of Hugo Weaving.

[Christian]

Terrible, terrible film.

Nineteen Eighty-Four meets Phantom of the Opera meets studio-approved Wachowskian didacticism.

The worst part, however, is one of the scenes where we are suppose to draw parallels from this dystopia (London) to the current hegemonic America and Sept. 11. This happened countless times, but in this partcular scene, it was followed by a product placement for Dell computers.

A side from the subtext, Natalie Portman was painful to watch. But not nearly as bad as Hugo Weaving. His interpretation of this enigmatic "V" character was strictly talking in riddles in a constantly enlightened and evasive tone.

McTeigue seems to follow suit from the Matrix Revolutions. About five or six too many climactic, character-defining moments that were augmented with a crescendo of horns.

It's Hollywood's commentary of "the machine": Don't expect much.

[tavernier]

I'm referring to his weird dark journey from Trotskyist to Neo-Con.

He was traded for Huffington.

I'd say that was a steal for the Trotskyites!

[Galen Young]

[obloquy]

I enjoyed this movie when I ignored the probability that the Matrix guys intended for it to be taken as a serious sociopolitical commentary. It was a fun watch, even if I do feel sorry for the families living in the post-V anarchy. Then again, maybe the complete destruction of existing government without even any clear ideal other than 'freedom' to replace it is the formula for a truly fair and peaceful society.

[Antoine Doinel]

Saw this last night, and it's not unbelievable trash like this thread would have you believe -- it's quite enjoyable and at times, breathtaking. I liked that it presented some very interesting ideas on the nature of democracy/facism and what is required for a populace to truly stage a revolt in a script that was suprisingly literate for a movie of this kind. I liked that the hero, V, was verbose -- not spouting the usual one-liners associated with these kind of movies. I haven't read the graphic novel, so I liked that level of intelligence in the lead character.

That said, the actual structure of the movie could've been better and less heavy-handed. I also thought the "romance" between V and Evey was particularly ridiculous. But the good far outweighed the bad. I really enjoyed this and though the latter half worked especially well.

[che-etienne]

You know what I enjoyed about the movie?!

The Rolling Stones at the end.

[Cinesimilitude]

I loved it. I've seen it six times now, and like some others said, It keeps getting better. The dialogue, Imagery, and music is all beautiful. Like the film suggests, it is just a film, but it's the ideas that keep me coming back. I'm extremely interested to know how much creative control the director had as opposed to the wachowski's, cause he did a damn fine job.

[The Invunche]

OCD?

[obloquy]

I loved it. I've seen it six times now, and like some others said, It keeps getting better. The dialogue, Imagery, and music is all beautiful. Like the film suggests, it is just a film, but it's the ideas that keep me coming back. I'm extremely interested to know how much creative control the director had as opposed to the wachowski's, cause he did a damn fine job.

Like which ideas in particular?

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Cineaste magazine weighs in with an interesting look at the critical reaction to the movie: http://www.cineaste.com/vforvendetta.htm

[lord_clyde]

This movie gets better every time I see it. Thank god I am not alone in feeling this...

Absoutely not alone. Saw it today and put it atop my best of 2006 list. Fucking fantastic!

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I hate this movie with a passion. Having read the original graphic novel that it's based on, the film is a complete and utter failure in its attempt to "adapt" it into a movie.

Sadly, the filmmakers have pretty much gutted the comic book, for example, Matrix-izing the action sequences when a much more straight-forward approach would have been so much more effective. In the comic book, the violence is depicted in a horrifically mundane way. The point was that all the glamour and coolness normally associated with fight scenes in comic books was drained from it and that made it all the more chilling.

The Wachowskis spend little time setting up this world or its oppressive nature. Instead, we get some half-assed Orwellian society that is brightly lit like a mainstream costumed superhero comic book when it should look more like the dark, oppressive atmosphere of their Matrix films. David Lloyd, who illustrated the graphic novel, adopted a rich, black and white look reminiscent of the film noir genre.

Amazingly, the film reduces the V character to a buffoonish parody prone to prattling off lengthy alliterations like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. In the graphic novel, he had a snarky sense of humour that was verbal in nature. Instead, the Wachowskis decide to parade V around in an apron (?!) and have him fencing with an inanimate suit of armour like some kind of classic cinema fanboy. The film even has the audacity to insert a Benny Hill-style comedy routine complete with the goofy music from his wacky chase sequences. This is intended to be satirical in nature but comes as silly and an adolescent when the comic book was not.

There is no passion in any of the delivery of the dialogue. The words are just rattled off as if everyone is on autopilot. It's too bad because you can tell that the screenplay is trying to say something but the message is lost in the bland delivery and the way-too brisk pacing. For a thriller, there is no tension, no build-up to the big set pieces and so, on this level, V for Vendetta also fails to deliver. One of the only things that the film does get semi-right is V's backstory and the motivation for why he's doing all of these things. It's also no surprise that the ten minutes that the filmmakers spent telling us Valerie's story (a part of V's past) made us care more about her story than any of the other characters combined. It is no coincidence that it is also the most faithful to the source material.

Structurally, the movie is a narrative mess. It's all over the place with character motivations that are poorly constructed and explained unless you have read the graphic novel. You don't feel any empathy or emotional attachment to any of the characters and you end up wondering why someone like Stephen Fry is even in this movie. The character he plays is radically different from the comic book version. As a result, he just does not fit in this movie. He is merely a device, someone sympathetic for Evey to play off of because V is not a sympathetic character. As wonderful an actor as Fry is, it feels like he just walked off the set of Peter's Friends and into this movie.

As I was watching this movie I kept thinking to myself that it had already been semi-adapted onto the big screen with Terry Gilliam's Brazil which was much more effective in presenting a fascist England challenged by an anarchistic terrorist who also educates a meek innocent. Gilliam's film takes way more chances than the Wachowskis who spend too much time trying to comment on our current political situation without demonstrating that they have any understanding of what the graphic novel was about or what Moore and Lloyd were trying to say. I could go on and on but I think that Peter Sanderson's multi-part critique over at IGN is much more eloquent than I: http://comics.ign.com/articles/698/698478p1.html

[The Invunche]

Well said, Fletch. I feel pretty much the same way about the movie.

[Galen Young]

[DrewReiber]

God forbid that the film use the ending that attempted to portray the balance between two extremes, thereby weighing and analyzing the destructive aspects of both sides. The Wachowski's have *always* pandered to adolescent anarchic fantasies going all the way back to the embarrassing stories about their days as screenwriters. They are the anti-thesis to maturity and intellectualism, and instead of confronting the complexity of Moore's themes head on, they choose the safety over-the-top super-heroism and an ending that was no less ridiculous in The Three Amigos. Another comic book adaptation that I must mourn as a brainless, dead-on-arrival butcher job. Ugh.

[Antoine Doinel]

Guy Fawkes versus Scientology.