V FOR VENDETTA

Starring:
Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack and John Hurt

Director:
James McTeigue

Running Time:
132 mins

Out to buy on DVD 31/07/06

"Remember, remember the 5th of November"

V

The world has changed. As suspicion, mistrust and fear gripped western governments, everyone that is different becomes a threat. No one can be trusted in their eyes, countries are invaded, wars escalate and terrorism is rife. As country after country fails into chaos, England's government under the leadership Adam Sutler (Hurt) takes dramatic steps to bring order and control to the nation. Now after years of totalitarian rule, a man will awaken the people by evoking the spirit of Guy Fawkes and everyone will remember the 5th November.

The Wachowski return with a graphic novel adaptation but can 'V for Vendetta' create the same excitement as the Matrix trilogy?

Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, the Wachowski's bring the story up to date and now instead of a reaction to Thatcherite 1980s Britain, the film is statement against the escalating conflicts and continuing mistrust of anything different by Western governments. Terrorism, anti-democratic protests and the hatred of the West are becoming more and more commonplace in the Middle East and the developing world and the film takes the premise and escalates it. America has imploded and tore itself apart, Europe has fallen and England stands as a police state, ruling over the country and the colonies with an iron fist.

This is the strong point for the movie and what was the intriguing premise of the original graphic novel. As governments bring in more and more restrictions on how the public live their lives and questioning anyone who has a differing political standpoints, religious beliefs or even personal opinions on how the country should be run or act, questions are not been asked if this right. The film asks these questions, telling us that the people shouldn't fear their governments, their governments should fear them. While it does take the message slightly too far by using terrorism but the messages that everyone has a voice and the right to have it heard is a powerful one. This political statement is mixed with action sequences that are thrilling and extremely well done.

After honing his skills as an assistant director on the 'Matrix Trilogy', James McTeigue steps behind the camera and shows all this technical know how to create some truly memorable scenes. It is a shame that his contribution to the film seems to be overshadows by the Wachowski brothers and producer Joel Silver's involvement however.

The filmmakers have gathered together an impressive ensemble cast to bring the story to the screen. In what is virtually a voice over role, Hugo Weaving still manages to exude charisma and menace from underneath the Guy Fawkes mask as the mysterious V. With all the best lines, the character manages to be totally convincing, even though he cannot facially express himself, he is a credit to Weaving's talent. Natalie Portman is a good actress. Just watch her in films like 'Closer' and 'Garden State' and you will realise that she is as good as she people are saying she is but as Evey she is a bit of a mixed bag. Her English accent isn't the best and she seems to be concentrating more on that than her actual performance.

The rest of the cast is filled with some accomplished British talent. Tim Pigott-Smith is suitably vile as the manipulative Creedy. Stephen Rea and Rupert Graves are good as investigators Finch and Dominic but their inquirers do tend to drag out the middle section of the movie. John Hurt is excellent as the ranting, tyrannical Chancellor Adam Sutler. There are also notable performances from Stephen Fry as TV presenter Deitrich and Sinéad Cusack as Dr. Delia Surridge.

'V for Vendetta' might be slightly overlong but the underlying political and social message of the piece will ring true with many people who think their voice is too quiet to be heard. With action sequence that are extremely good you will definitely be entertaining and a plot that will get you thinking but just don't expect a genre-defining movie that will become as fanatically adored as 'The Matrix'.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well highlighting the excellent production design.

BONUS FEATURES

Freedom! Forever! Making V for Vendetta (15.57 mins)
Director James McTeigue, co-creator David Lloyd, producer Joel Silver, production designer Owen Paterson and stars Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Sinéad Cusack, Stephen Rea, Rupert Graves and Roger Allam talk about bringing the story of V to the silver screen. The group reveal the contribution by the Wachowski brothers and their love for Alan Moore and his graphic novel. They also talk about the adaptation and changing the emphasis of the movie from V to Evey and what was removed from the script. They also talk about the look of the film and most importantly the message it is trying to put across.

OVERALL

The Region 2 release of 'V for Vendetta' is a disgrace compared to the 2-disc, special features filled edition that North America is getting. This is totally unfair as European fans of the movie only have one fifteen-minute featurette to enjoy compared featurette packed version that the US and Canada get. If you can watch multi-region discs and you are a fan of the movie, buy the region one version.

DVD

The Matrix


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2006