V for Vendetta
a brief movie review:
(***spoilers, duh***)
"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the Gun-Powder Treason and Plot.
I know of no reason, the Gun-Powder Treason, should ever be forgot."
The film is good, but not great, and quite frankly, not V for Vendetta the book at all. It takes some of the main moments from the books and gets there differently, almost like a cliffs notes/cover version. FATE is not existent, the back story of why people were in Larkhill and what they were doing is elaborated upon, most of the subplots have been excised, and the end, while similar in spirit and sentiment, is in some ways VERY different.
What was good: Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving. Wow, the man just IS V. The torture scenes with Evey were note-perfect. John Hurt as the Chancellor was suitably full of fire and brimstone and fascism. The movie had its heart in the right place.
What wasn't so good: Natalie Portman's accent. Sorry, baby, I still love you, though. The pacing was slightly... "disjointed", I think is the right word. Some of the changes made seemed arbitrary and clumsy in comparison to the book. Switching the blowing up of Parliament from the beginning to the end might provide a nice climax image, but still seems odd to me. Can't quite figure why. AND the major complaint I have and maybe this is in the book and I just haven't been able to pick up on it, but I recall the "love" between V and Evey being strictly PLATONIC. I don't remember any romantic sentiments from the book, I always have taken it more as a familial type love. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed so odd in the movie.
Anyway, overall, a good popcorn picture, with some ideas behind it, which these days is unusual in and of itself. I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars.
"A revolution without dancing is one hardly worth having at all."
(***spoilers, duh***)
"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the Gun-Powder Treason and Plot.
I know of no reason, the Gun-Powder Treason, should ever be forgot."
The film is good, but not great, and quite frankly, not V for Vendetta the book at all. It takes some of the main moments from the books and gets there differently, almost like a cliffs notes/cover version. FATE is not existent, the back story of why people were in Larkhill and what they were doing is elaborated upon, most of the subplots have been excised, and the end, while similar in spirit and sentiment, is in some ways VERY different.
What was good: Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving. Wow, the man just IS V. The torture scenes with Evey were note-perfect. John Hurt as the Chancellor was suitably full of fire and brimstone and fascism. The movie had its heart in the right place.
What wasn't so good: Natalie Portman's accent. Sorry, baby, I still love you, though. The pacing was slightly... "disjointed", I think is the right word. Some of the changes made seemed arbitrary and clumsy in comparison to the book. Switching the blowing up of Parliament from the beginning to the end might provide a nice climax image, but still seems odd to me. Can't quite figure why. AND the major complaint I have and maybe this is in the book and I just haven't been able to pick up on it, but I recall the "love" between V and Evey being strictly PLATONIC. I don't remember any romantic sentiments from the book, I always have taken it more as a familial type love. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed so odd in the movie.
Anyway, overall, a good popcorn picture, with some ideas behind it, which these days is unusual in and of itself. I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars.
"A revolution without dancing is one hardly worth having at all."
posted by nicholas reed at 10:41 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home