A bit too heavy for its own good.
DVD collector, Sci-Fi fan, movie connoisseur, ex comics pro
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MAR
27
2007
V For Vendetta —
When Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s UK comics series V for Vendetta was released in the USA on DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, I was of course duly impressed, as I have been with every piece of Moore’s work that I’ve read. Moore has publicly denounced this film adaptation – or at least disowned it – and I can see his point, as the film departs from his story at many junctures, and none of these departures is for the better. However, we’re here to discuss the film itself, not compare it to the source, and as a entity unto itself it has a lot to offer. For one thing, its daring masked dark hero is a terrorist. It also dares to be a sci-fi action epic with a political message, and it retains the graphic novel’s British location when there might well have been pressure by Warner Bros. to change it to something more generically All-American.The setting is a totalitarian British Empire of the near future which bears no slight resemblance to George Orwell’s 1984 - a connection reinforced by the casting of the 1984 film’s star John Hurt as the proto-Big Brother villain, Chancellor Adam Sutler. TV network go-fer Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) becomes a prime witness when a mysterious figure in a Guy Fawkes mask (Hugo Weaving) bombs a government building. Taking the young woman under his wing, the man known only as V continues his reign of terror against the oppressive government with a series of murders of powerful men. As he investigates V’s crimes, Inspector Eric Finch (Stephen Rea) is faced with a growing dilemma. The more clues he finds to V’s identity, the more he begins to feel that he’s working for the wrong side, a feeling that is shared by an increasing number of citizens as V’s message of freedom spreads.
Longtime second unit director James McTeigue graduates to the director’s chair with assured finesse, delivering as technically polished and aesthetically pleasing a piece as any modern picture. That is to be expected from the man who did such stellar work on the Matrix trilogy for the Wachowski Brothers (who take screenwriting and producing credits here). Where he succeeds most surprisingly is in his handling of the veteran cast. Weaving gives a first rate performance from behind a mask, and the rest of the cast is highly effective as well, especially Rea in the subtly complex copper role. The film is sometimes too faithful to its source, attempting to compress a story of great complexity and multiple story arcs within a mere 132 minutes, and the audience may at times get lost in it. At other times, the plot gives in to intended crowd-pleasing crescendos as shorthand to carry us along, betraying the depth its already shown. After having the courage to reveal the monstrous side of their hero, who mixes the Phantom of the Opera with Zorro far more than he does Guy Fawkes, by having him put his protégé through a horrific trial by fire, perhaps the Wachowskis feared they’d never regain audience sympathy without some flag waving ballyhoo and bloody action choreography, but their efforts come off as a sell-out. However, there’s too much depth on display here to be dismissed, and the film has a magnetism that may invite reexamination every few years.
Last edited on Mar 28, 2007
V For Vendetta is recommended by gamera23
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