2006 ****
Well, I'd just gotten off the phone with JPX to meet Sherm at the local comic book store. Today was new stuff day, but none of my stuff was out, so I was just nosing around when the shop's owner sidled up to me and said "do you have anything to do for the next two hours?" That would sound weird except he was also handing me a free pass for two to a V for Vendetta screening that started in an hour. Yes!
Right off I want to say that before the movie started there was one trailer for Poseidon and THAT WAS IT. It was sooo nice.
I remember that during my first viewing of Two Towers I was a little distracted by the differences between the movie and its source, and I'll admit I had a bit of that distraction going on here. Also, this is one of those comics I'm extremely familiar with, so I don't feel I can predict the reactions of those seeing this story for the first time.
Now, a warning (NOW a warning?): there's a news broadcast/exposition opportunity in the opening minutes that is pretty annoying, and V's introductory speech that's chock-full of v words is going to make you cringe. It's okay, just get through it. The movie never pulls anything dumb like that again. Here's the laundry list of defects: mainly that thing I just said, and the occasional hamfistery. To the unfamiliar, it may seem like there's too many flashbacks.
The director was the a.d. on the Matrix trilogy, AOTC, and some other stuff, but this was his first job in the big chair. It turns out he's pretty good with actors, which is the key thing to a character-driven story like this.
I was thinking of naming this post "Alan Moore is a Cranky Old Man," when I saw illustrator David Lloyd credited all by himself. But there's this: in the comic, V is this character of grace and speed in a world of dull brutality. David Lloyd brought out the dark, murderous vitality of the character with a keen eye for artful motion -- the motion of V's cape and wig. This was a comic with no sound effects, so all the punch is about body language and that damn cape. Even in repose, the combination of mask, hat, wig and cape make for a striking image. To my delight, that image translated perfectly to the screen. The physical presence of V was compelling to the eye, and Hugo Weaving does a marvelous job. I kept noticing that I was watching a guy in a mask talking, and that it was GREAT. The opposite experience of DeFoe's Green Goblin.
Providing a perfect counterpoint was the always welcome Natalie Portman, who, like Fanning in WOTW, plays the whole movie for us across her face. She brings her usual intelligence and poise to the role, working with much better dialogue than Lucas ever gave her. And it's fun seeing her get her hair buzzed off.
This movie does a deft job of fusing a big number of elements: you have V's plan against the goverment, Stephen Rhea investigating the mystery of V, Evey's whole journey, a backstory woven of personal histories, and some very satisfying ideas on politics. They also do a good job of getting the populace involved, cycling through the same families and pub-goers as they watch events unfold on government-run TV. There are a number of statements that deliberately resonate with where we're at in USA 2006, but they never overplay the hand.
Side note: Today's Onion headline: New Poll Finds 86 Percent Of Americans Don't Want To Have A Country Anymore.
I'm gonna have to vote no on the knife trails. There's a slomo fight scene at the end that totally captures the kinetic allure of V that I mentioned earlier, except that it includes fx trails behind the paths of the knives. It's not a complete misfire, but I found myself wishing I could see the same exact thing without them.
Before we went in, Sherm predicted this wouldn't be a huge blockbuster. He may be right, but I feel darn satisfied. I'll probably see it again.
4 comments:
Octopunk, awesome review and great scoop on a film I've really been looking forward to (a rare thing these days). What are the action sequences like? Aside form the "knife trailing" stuff you mention I don't really get a sense about the kinetic (I'm hoping) action sequences. Is this Matrix-action we're talking here?
There are some satisfying action scenes in this, but I wouldn't really tag it as an action flick per se. Like the comic, it's largely about the unfolding of the V's unbelievably deep, involved plan to take down the government.
The knife fight is the most Matrixy scene, but it's still not too matrixy. I wonder if they were going out of their way to avoid too close a resemblence.
But the dark, swooping cape and the groovy mood of the character really deliver.
i was reminded of the re-make of manchurian candidate (which, for the record, i liked far less than i did this) in that the pace was far more frenetic than its predecessor.
in this case, unfortunately, it had to be that way -- it's a very laborious comic. it devotes pages detailing the characters and ideas that were all but glossed over here. (the film adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide also comes to mind)
but it picks its spots, rushing back-story to leave sufficient space for things like the evey-torture thing. and it pays at least slight homage to finely crafted frames from the comic. my favorite, i was telling octopunk a few weeks back, is the frame of V standing on the wall over prothero's train, hinted at in a gorgeous slomo shot of V vaulting the roof of a cathedral on his way to ice the cardinal dude.
i'm with OP on the lameness of prothero's here's-where-we-are-now tirade at the beginning, but i'd also point out that the shot of him in the shower surrounded by television screens was a nice touch.
on the whole a very satisfying adaptation, made lame only by the pea-brained decisions of the people at the SXSW festival who insisted on collecting all cameras, phones and laptops, delaying the start of the film by almost an hour, and then passing them all back, in a terribly haphazard fashion, over what must have been a 2 hour span after the movie was over (thank god i skipped the closing credits). as if (a) a razr phone can take a screen shot that looks like anything other than a white blur and (b) the movie weren't being released TWO DAYS LATER. seriously, what top secret info did the film contain that anyone was going to care about that much?
ps - was it a deliberate irony casting john hurt as big brother in this?
They were screening for devices at my showing, too.
I completely forgot about Hurt's role in 1984. That's funny. He was great in this, spending the whole movie as a giant head yelling at his underlings. Loved it.
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