V for Vendetta

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:14 am

''Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself - and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.''

I went to see the film last night and I thought that it was very good. Natalie Portman was, IMHO, very good. I was also impressed to see that Hugo Weaving was in the film. However, he spends the entire time behind a mask which can make his long speeches quite droll. The storyline itself was very good, a little laboured in parts, a little disjointed, but it contained good twists and good action. The best part of the film is when Stephen Fry is in it. He is superb and it is worth going just to see him. The one-liners it has are also good. Rowenna is already sick of me saying ''A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth happening.'' Class.

Overall, I would give this film a creditable 8+/10.
It is worth seeing and is very enjoyable.

Post by **Mike** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:19 am

I have not been to the cinema recently. It might be worth a trip with such a recommendation.

mr_e · Post by **mr_e** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:16 am

I'd be up for a cinema outing. Seems to be an all-round good film.

Fez · Post by **Fez** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:56 pm

see this film and see it now because it is far more than just another comic book adaptation. the script is more important than the action here which in itself these days is hard to find, loaded with references to terrorism in the real world and as well as political hypocrosy and corruption (belarus take note). its also nice to find an action film without a single american accent in it; englishness abounds though with an odd ignorance of scotland and wales as if in the future they do not even exist.

weaving in some interesting news archive footage of rioting from the streets of britain in the seventies and eighties, i personally enjoyed the idea that the dictatorial oppression displayed could easily be implimented on the country in the near future which was aided by a strong tonal echo to 1984. on listening to some of the other audience members as we left i think even this subtely of imagination was wasted on people more use to the bang, bang, kill, kill action dross of hollywood's production line.

the character of v was intriging because he remains an enigma throughout the film with only glimpses of his disturbed past, and the charisma on display from behind a mask is something of an acting coup. i loved the introduction to v in the alleyway where he explains himself in a long speech almost completely featuring words beginning with the letter of his name - an impressive language workout worth listening to in itself. nina portland was good but i thought the real star was stephen rea as the chief inspector, and as always stephen fry was captivating.

rowena is right to complain about the revolution and dancing line, because i find myself repeating it in my head time and time again and i'm just itching to find some excuse to drop it into a conversation!

go and see it and i'll be happy to join you for a second viewing!

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:28 pm

Fez wrote:rowena is right to complain about the revolution and dancing line, because i find myself repeating it in my head time and time again and i'm just itching to find some excuse to drop it into a conversation!

Fancy a dance?

I agree with on the storyline being much more important than the action. It was a good one.

Fez · Post by **Fez** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:07 pm

a revolution will surely follow

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 11:34 am

a revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having!

Post by **johnriley1uk** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 4:59 pm

This film sounds interesting...

Post by **Mike** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:55 am

Lizzie and I went to see this film on Sat. It was very good I would be as bold as to give it a

I agree with Fez, the initial V speach is fantastic, it must have been increadibly difficult to write having practically each word begining with V. I liked the way V was a charismatic fellow it gave the impression he was unsuited to the task but intended to perfect his new art. I also love the end fight scene, just to prove and idea is stonger than bullets. It was also quite odd that I had just decided to re-read 1984 (due to the lack of new books on the shelves!). The film is in a similar setting to the book but with a more explosive ending.

This film was initially to be released in July 05 just after the London bombs, I can see now why it was posponed.

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:28 am

Mike wrote:This film was initially to be released in July 05 just after the London bombs, I can see now why it was posponed.

I thought it had been put back but didn't know why. Now I see the reason, it is fairly obvious! It reminds me of Spiderman being put back a year after 9/11 because there was a number of scenes involving the world trade centre.

Anyway, the reason I was posting was to state another reason why I like this film so much. I didn't know until looking for the graphic novel on Amazon that it is written by Alan Moore. For those of you who don't know who he is, he wrote the graphic novel for ''The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen'' - IMHO an average film but a really good graphic novel. I've seen the graphic novel for V for Vendetta at http://www.play.com for ?12.99 and that is including free p and p. It could be worth it.

Fez · Post by **Fez** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:05 pm

i'll seriously consider buying the novel, and the dvd when its out is a must - and i only stopped short of a full 5 star review for the film because i didn't want to seem like i was letting my enthusiasm get the better of me but mike's rating is fully justified.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:42 am

I bought this for Lizzie for Christmas and we watched it on Boxing Day. Very good film and I would like to re-iterate my

rating.

Fez · Post by **Fez** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:22 am

mental note to self - watch this again, buy the dvd and do it now or there's no more sleep for you until you do!

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:47 am

I've seen it fairly cheap, for about ?8 but I can't actually remember where - I think it may have been music zone, or it may have been play.com

BarcelonAl · Post by **BarcelonAl** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:55 am

I got this last night from Tesco for under 6 quid (hurrah for January sales).

Watched it when I got home and absolutely loved it. This film should be required viewing for the entire educated portion of the UK (especially those that don't vote but then complain about the government, stating that if they voted, they wouldn't have voted for them...), maybe then we'll see a more enlightened approach to politics.

I agree that it was excellent to see a more cerebral take on the action film genre, and would love to see more blockbuster Hollywood films take this approach (though I know that won't happen).

Overall, with a strong cast, excellent acting, wonderful script and having the virtue of being the first film in ages to make me think, I give it a big

Oh and Natalie Portman...mmm! Be still, my beating heart!