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V for Vendetta [2006]
from Warner Home Video
starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt, Stephen Fry

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

"Remember, remember the fifth of November," for on this day, in 2020, the minds of the masses shall be set free. So says code-name V (Hugo Weaving), a man on a mission to shake society out of its blank complacent stares in the film V For Vendetta. His tactics, however, are a bit revolutionary to say the least. The world in which V lives is very similar to Orwell's totalitarian dystopia in 1984: after years of various wars, England is now under "big brother" Chancellor Adam Sutler (played by John Hurt, who ironically played Winston Smith in the movie 1984) whose party uses force and fear to run the nation. After gaining power, minorities and political dissenters were rounded up and removed; artistic and unacceptable religious works were confiscated. Cameras and microphones are littered throughout the land, and the people are perpetually sedated through the governmentally controlled media. Taking inspiration from Guy Fawkes, the 17th century co-conspirator of a failed attempt to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605, V dons a Fawkes mask and costume and sets off to wake the masses by destroying the symbols of their oppressors, literally and figuratively. At the beginning of his vendetta, V rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from a group of police officers and has her live with him in his underworld lair. It is through their relationship where we learn how V became V, the extremities of the party's corruption, the problems of an oppressive government, V's revenge plot and his philosophy on how to induce change.

Based on the popular graphic novel by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta's screenplay was written by the Wachowski Brothers (of The Matrix fame) and directed by their protégé James McTeigue. Controversy and criticism followed the film since its inception, from the hyper-stylized use of anarchistic terrorism to overthrow a corrupt government and the blatant jabs at the current US political arena, to graphic novel fans complaining about the reconstruction of Alan Moore's original vision (Moore himself has dismissed the film). Many are valid critiques and opinions, but there's no hiding the message the film is trying to express: Radical and drastic events often need to occur in order to shake people out of their state of indifference in order to bring about real change. Unfortunately, the movie only offers a means with no ends, and those looking for answers may find the film stylish, but a bit empty. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Oh dear, oh dear...
  As a massive fan of the original Alan Moore/ David Lloyd graphic novel, I had my misgivings about this film from the start. It took about 10 minutes for my fears to be realised, and worse. The opening action sequence sees the eponymous hero, V, kill several policemen (or "Fingermen"), as in the comic, but in the most comical, camp action sequence imagineable. Straight afterwards, V decides to introduce himself with a hysterical speech filled with V words. Not good.
  A few minutes later, one of the key... more info

• Really more of a 3.5
  There are good aspects to this film. And then there are bad. The good includes the story (set in the future where the government controls the population, removing privelidges such as freedom, food, opposition), the twists and turns in the plot, the filming (its spectacular to the eyes if nothing else), and certain characters and actors playing those roles (Stephen Fry, for example). However, the first 30 minutes of this film, though full of action, failed to grip me (maybe there should have been an... more info

• Pretty dire
  This is definitely a case of too many cooks...
  Hardly anyone escapes with their reputation intact.
  It's hard to know where to start with this film, nothing feels quite cooked. The plot makes no sense, the dialogue is pretentious and ridiculous and the acting varies wildly.
  To be fair Hugo Weaving does his best, but locked behind a mask he's largely wasted. Natalie Portman is game but her accent slips all over the place and she's required to betray and assist V randomly to suit the plot,... more info

• something lost in translation?
  OK, cards on the table: I am a big admirer of the original comic. I think my disappointment comes not from some crazy notion that to mess with even one word of the book is HERESY, but rather that the transition from one form to another has done no favours.
  It was always going to be a battle to make it work - the film clocks in at 2 hours and even then great swaths of plot are absent, whole plots/sub plots in some cases. I don't mind that, but the sadness for me was the end-affect on the character of... more info

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