V for Vengeance, good maybe great movie

[Lefty]

Just saw "V for Vendetta". Was very well written and made. Special effects did not distract or overwhelm. Great dialog and messages aplenty for those that feel governments can be the worst enemy of the people...
Recommended..........

Lefty

[dr*audio]

Yeah, it's on my list to see. Glad to hear more good stuff about it.

[Ludapower]

I thought it was called V for Vendetta?

[grumpy]

My kid seen it and said it was a great flick.

[WhiteSE]

It may not be neutral enough for some people...lol

[Lefty]

Originally Posted by Ludapower

I thought it was called V for Vendetta?

You are correct, my bad...

Lefty

I saw it, it is great, a bit slow in places but it makes up for it

V for Vendetta was a bit of a surprise to me in that it turned out to be a good movie. CGI while a bit lacking in quality/realism, was used appropriately and not to excess as tends to be the case with the Watchowskis. There were the numerous little details characteristic of the creators, but were not force-fed to the audience like with The Matrix trilogy. The plot had a few twists that were very unexpected, but only combined to improve the depth of character. As has been hinted at, a great many contemporary issues found their way into the primary story that may raise some political ire, but I and those I've spoken to found it a bit refreshing and trendy for it. Of course, these same attributes may make this popcorn flick appear very dated in not too many years.

Something that was quite the surprise and a first for a Watchowski film -- there was actual acting. Hugo Weaving did a quite good job of it fooling those who didn't know he was in the film into wondering just who the actor was. It was a bit overdone, as is expected when trying to act through a mask. There were a few lapses into Agent Smithisms of clipped speech with the rolling enunciation, but they were rare. Comparatively, Natalie Portman's acting was quite stilted and forced, but her primary role as eye candy was successful even with a shorn scalp.

Before this film was released, the joke title I found a few times was B for Better than The Matrix Reloaded. We promise. Turns out to be true and is a return for the Watchowski brothers ... er, not sure if that's still technically accurate ... the Watchowski siblings to the earlier, better film making days of The Matrix rather than the Hollywoodized sequels it spun off.

- JP

[thedelihaus]

alan moore had his name puled from the movie due to him being unhappy about the way it came out. Seems he's the only one unhappy about it though- every one else says it's well done and entertaining.

I'm going to catch it at the IMAX it's playing at here if I'm up to it- seems like that would be quite a treat.

Here's a review from Robert Berry over at www.retrocrush.com -

"For the life of me, I don't know why Alan Moore had his name pulled from this film because V for Vendetta is a brilliant translation of his work. It was pretty sad to only see David Lloyd's name during the closing credits. I know Moore has to be burned by the way his work has been squished into films in the past, but I'd sure love to hear what he thinks of this. It burns me up to see this film marketed as "From the people that brought you The Matrix", knowing the real genius behind it is being forgotten to all but the diehard comic fans that know what's what.

Aside from running a tiny bit long, I can't think of anything I didn't like about this movie. Hugo Weaving does an amazing job acting behind a mask for the entire film, yet still evoking more character and charm than those that have the benefits of facial expressions. Natalie Portman is equally great as Evey. John Hurt and Steven Rea are amazing as well. A brilliant cast with a very smart screenplay. It reeked of Alan Moore all the way through.

Granted I read the comics when they first came out, and haven't seen them against since, so my memory's a bit fuzzy, but it sure seemed pretty faithful to me. There's admittedly some modern twists and additions that have been thrown in, but they don't take away from the flow of the story.

The dialogue is inspiring, clever, and often humorous. The action is wonderfully bloody, and doesn't get too Matrixy, save a slow motion battle near the film's end.

Frankly, with the state of the world, I'm impressed they were able to pull off what is essentially a pro-terrorism film with massive destruction of government symbols. Sure, this is terrorism, for the right reasons, but it certainly makes you think twice about what we think is the right side to fight for. I'll be seeing it again. And I'm off to Amazon to read it once more as well."

-Robert Berry
[email protected]

I used to be into Comics back when V came out as a graphic novel, I still haunt the net looking for cool things to check out, 30 Days of Night is an example (wait till that comes out as a movie!!)

So after seeing V I went to the bookstore to pick up the graphic novel, I was into comics as much for the artwork as for the stories and while some titles could have artwork that wasn't the greatest, Frank Miller's Sin City and of course Dark Knight Returns, are examples where the artwork works witht the story.

When I picked up V and flipped thru it I was immediately disappointed, I thought that not just the artwork was very substandard but the way the story was portrayed in the panels was just too crowded and jumbled. It was almost like it was more a novel trying to be a graphic novel. I know that V is famous for it's story but I'll prefer the movie to the graphic novel any day.

[Bigerik]

Saw it on Imax the weekend it came out and I thought it was a heck of a great movie. Hugo Weaving did an amazing job. Hard to act when all you can use is your voice and body language. But even though the movie will be sold to the teen market, he does a surprisingly subtle job of it. He is probably one of the great actors of our time. Would love to see him get a really meaty, powerful role.
Natalie Portman was ok, but I could see many other young actresses do as well. She was cute tho!
Overall, a big up. Certainly makes up for the crap that was the last Matrix movie!