Saw "V For Vendetta" today at Aventura Mall. I purposely refrained from reading press and reviews until I saw the film. Having read all of them now, I agree with some of what they say, but not everything.
First of all, Natalie Portman is unbelievably hot and therefore makes any movie easy to watch no matter what its problems might be. I remember seeing her in "The Professional" lo those many years ago and thinking that she was going to go very, very far in her career. When people started giving her flak about "Star Wars" I defended her to the end, trying to get people to understand how bad Lucas' scripts are. I feel vindicated watching her in this film. She's wonderful - subtle, brooding, brave; her performance made me not care about her faulty British accent one bit.
I thought the movie was a great ride overall. I thought the message was interesting - and clear. I thought it was a huge f**k you to the US government. There's a bit of a buzz that the fascist leader of Britain, played by John Hurt, is modeled after Bush, which is completely ridiculous. The movie is still very much about the fascist overtaking of the British government. Where the US government comes into play is as a catalyst. The script indicates that, like the Treaty of Versailles, which weakened Germany enough to allow someone like Hitler to take power, the actions of the U.S. government right now, if continued in the same direction, will leave many governments (such as Great Britain) open to that kind of leader to come in and take over. Playing the fear card can leave all of us without our freedom.
The movie had one scene of gratuitous, special effects laden violence, and tended to go a bit towards the cheesy dialogue towards the end. Mostly, however, I found it thought-provoking, ballsy and, above all, entertaining. The best entertainment is the kind that makes us think later. Is it far-fetched? Perhaps a little, but ultimately I think a defiant smack in the face of where we are heading.
I've read that the author of the graphic novel on which the film was based asked to have his name removed from the credits. I'm not sure what his biggest beef was other than the fact that the Wachowski brothers have altered the story in a few ways in order to move it away from a response to Thatcherism and push into a more timely place.
So there. It's relevant, it's entertaining, and Natalie Portman's hot. What more do you need to know?
2 comments:
I highly recommend reading the graphic novel, as well; the author hasn't been pleased with any film interpretation of his work. I respect it, though I think sometimes the principles dissuades people from an important piece of literature.
Hey Lynne. I plan on reading it - have never picked up a graphic novel before, I must say. I don't think we can ever truly view a movie as an accurate representation of its source materials. The book will always be a totally different thing. Most adaptations are simply inspired by the book from which they come.
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