FILM REVIEW: V for Vendetta

[pryor15]

not as well-written as i'd like, but here it is. spoilers, etc. and, no, this shouldn't go in the other thread



starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, and John Hurt
written by: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski, based on characters created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
directed by: James McTeigue
R, 132 min, 2006, USA

Opening with a plea to "Remember, remember, the 5th of November[1]" and, for the uninformed, a short history lesson, V for Vendetta is a stylistic endorsement of the communist methods of revolution that in the hands of more capable filmmakers could have been a profound film. But, under the helm of the creative team behind The Matrix Trilogy, it is merely an entertaining diversion.

Cut to November 5th, 2020, and the world is positively in shambles. The former United States is in civil war, Britain appears to be under some sort of quarantine, and an ethnic cleansing mentality has taken over the British government. Undesirables (such as dissidents and homosexuals) have been removed from society, succumbing to late-night raids by men carrying black hoods for the prisoners. But from this culture of fear arises a masked phoenix known simply as V. He rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from the clutches of Britain's finest, makes his Zorro-esque mark on a poster, spouts off a stream of self-indulgent alliteration, and proceeds to blow up the Old Bailey building[2] with the accompaniment of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Minus the speech, it's a pretty cool way to introduce a character.

V's mission, as explained in a speech via an emergency broadcasting system, is to wake a sleeping populace with the promise of a revolution, conjuring the spirit of the late Guy Fawkes, the man who led the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, which attempted to blow up Parliament during a joint session[3]. In one year's time, V promises Britain the grandest Bonfire Night since the first. He only asks that his fellow citizens join him in the revolution. Naturally, those in charge don't take too kindly to the threat, charging Chief Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea) with the task of ensuring Parliament's safety and V's capture. And with that, the game is on.

The man behind the mask is none other than Hugo Weaving, no stranger to the Wachowski Brothers after playing the evil Agent Smith in all three of the Matrix movies. The film's grand irony (or at very least easiest joke) is that Weaving manages to convey more emotion, even while wearing the mask, than Keanu Reeves ever did in The Matrix. His performance is one of the film's high points. Natalie Portman is excellent is stretches, and is to be commended for having her head shaved, but she seems unsure of her accent and has trouble maintaining it for the film's duration. The script wishes us to believe that Evey, who for a time is held against her will, develops an affection for V, sort of a beauty and the beast romance, but neither the actors or the film invest any real energy in developing it, so it falls flat. It just happens, and we are asked to accept it as plausible.

It's a symptom of the film's larger problem. What director James McTeigue lacks is a fundamental understanding of how to build a story's quieter moments. He's quite good, for the most part, at large sequences full of bombast and pyrotechnics, but he never lays the proper groundwork, so when the explosion is over, all that's left is meaningless rubble. To fill those gaps, he employs a litany of cliché's, from Stephen Rea's tired cop to the vigilante getting his revenge to the constant shots of V emerging from a fiery furnace like a mixture of Keyser Soze and a superhero. For example, there's a key scene late in the film when Evey walks out into the rain and raises her arms, mimicking the pose V took when coming out of the fire. This, of course, is meant to symbolize that Evey and V are now of a like mind (or thereabouts). It's an obvious technique that's been around for as long as film has existed. McTeigue has been showing us this clip of V's emergence at various points along the way, but he shows it to us again, in a match cut, as if to remind us of the symbolism. Then he does it again, for the one audience member who might not have picked up on it. And somewhere in there is a point of view shot of the rain that's as inexplicable a shot as you're likely to see. For the life of me I can't figure out if it's worse that McTeigue felt the need to pound the symbolism into our heads, or that the shot of Evey references an earlier shot that largely lifted from a superior film and was, even then, a cliche. Either way, it's not a good sequence.

Of course, you could make the argument that he's just working from the script by the Wachowski Brothers, which specializes in beating symbolism into your head until you've no choice but to recognize it. The British government leaders, led by Adam Sutler (John Hurt), are as thinly-veiled a depiction of the Bush Administration as you'll ever see. Essentially taking Bush tactics and phrasing extrapolated into an Orwellian tyranny, the screenplay vilifies them in a way most obvious, and for an added touch, combines them with commonly recognized Nazi propaganda so that even the most ardent Republican might have trouble justifying Bush's Presidency. It accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of making Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11 (2004) feel subtle.

V for Vendetta is a film built largely on cliché's and heavy-handed allusions to previous works. However, as the Wachowski Brothers and other cinematic imitators have shown in the past, if you use enough of them, either a couple will slip through and feel original or the sum total will pass as a style. But in the end, it all feels like the stories written by writers who haven't yet found their voice, so they mimic what they've read last. A lucky few find success with this method, but the vast majority must mature and evolve until they find their own voice. Sure, V for Vendetta is an entertaining way to spend two hours, but it's also a seriously flawed movie made by people unsure of their message and unable to trust their audience to find it without a detailed road map. There's a hint of the blind leading the blind and the sinking sensation that this ship, while a lot of fun, won't hold water for long.

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[1] An astute reader will remember that on the 5th of November Sinclair Lewis won the Nobel Prize (1930), the first Monopoly game was sold (1935), we first learned of a genetic study showing that Thomas Jefferson impregnated one of his slaves (1998), and, interestingly enough, The Matrix Revolutions (2003) was released in theatres worldwide.

[2] The Old Bailey Building is a criminal court that deals primarily with Britain's major criminal cases. Hence, it is a symbolic target for V and not to be confused with the Bailey Building & Loan as depicted in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

[3] It is said that Fawkes was "the only man to ever enter parliament with honest intentions."





a complete list of OOT film reviews, as compiled by diebitter

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for current films, i'll add my own take on the rating scale:

0 -- Unless there's a rapping genie, avoid.
1 -- You should probably get drunk first.
2 -- Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, but you should find a way to do something better.
3 -- Either a nerd will tell you this is better than you thought or a film buff will tell you it's overrated.
4 -- Expect it to be in the Oscar discussion.
5 -- A [censored] classic on par with the all-time greats.

Like sugar, tasty but empty. 3.2

[El Diablo]

pryor,

"no, this shouldn't go in the other thread"

This makes you seem like an annoying prick. Mods, please lock this thread as there are already multiple V for Vendetta threads.

[KaneKungFu123]

while i didnt actually read anything he wrote, i really dont mind him creating his own thread. he put alot of effort on this and it deserves its on thread as opposed to being tagged at the end of a dead thread.

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
pryor,

"no, this shouldn't go in the other thread"

This makes you seem like an annoying prick. Mods, please lock this thread as there are already multiple V for Vendetta threads.

[/ QUOTE ]

El D,

this comes up every time i review a new movie (sometimes even from you) and every time the general opinion is that it should be its own thread. i was just trying to cut off the question before it came up, since it is redundant and annoying

[KaneKungFu123]

pryor,
you could probably care less about my opinion, but i dont understand why you write your reviews the way you do. why not write a review towards an audience that has actually seen the movie, as opposed to those thinking about seeing it? do people actually read a review before deciding to see a movie? i find reviews that analyze certain scenes more interesting. but that is just me.

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
pryor,
you could probably care less about my opinion, but i dont understand why you write your reviews the way you do. why not write a review towards an audience that has actually seen the movie, as opposed to those thinking about seeing it? do people actually read a review before deciding to see a movie? i find reviews that analyze certain scenes more interesting. but that is just me.

[/ QUOTE ]

it's a tricky situation, as if i go into details about the specifics of a scene, then people complain about spoilers and whatnot. so for new films i try to look at themes and general impressions and generally try to stay away from anything specific from the movie's final third, unless it's a deal-breaker. i try to assume an audience that's trying to decide if they want to go see the movie, but to each his own, i guess.

for older ones, i go after more specific stuff, but still you don't want to ruin an experience for someone who hasn't seen it, but certain things become fair game after a while.

for example, i wouldn't discuss the ending of The 6th Sense if i had reviewed it when it came out, but if i was reviewing it now, i probably would, but w/ a warning.

that, and analyzing certain scenes leads to a much longer review.

[yellowdoyle]

Pryor - Give me a sample of some movies that rate a 5 on your scale. Thanks.

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
Pryor - Give me a sample of some movies that rate a 5 on your scale. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dr. Strangelove, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Brokeback Mountain, The Best of Youth, etc.

films that achieve greatness

[illeagle]

Good review. A few things though:

If you haven't read the graphic novel, you should have fessed up.

I really don't understand why knowing anything in footnote [1] would make one astute.

I think V for Vendetta(the graphic novel anyway) used the fire and rain scenes in a symbolically deeper manner than most people realize.

When V experienced his transfiguration, it was in the midst of the explosive fires at Larkhill. V was born in fire, the most destructive of elements. He becomes Shiva the Destroyer and seeks to demolish the government that is oppressing humanity.

When Evey's transfiguration comes about, it is in the midst of rain, a force that without which, there can be no creation. (In the book) Evey becomes Lord Brahma, the creator, and will eventually take up the mantle of V and rebuild a new, free society.

It's symbolism that is not cymbalic, so will be lost on most people, especially in the fast-paced medium of film.

[spanshcastlemagc]

3

Entertaining and somewhat interesting, good but not great IMO.