V FOR VENDETTA - DVD review

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason, and plot!
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot...."

Note: The following review was a group effort by current and former DVDTOWN staffers William David Lee, Tyler Shainline, Eddie Feng, Tim Raynor, and John J. Puccio, with John also writing up the audio, video, extras, and concluding remarks. We hope you'll find the article informative, provocative, well-rounded, and entertaining and that you'll have as much fun reading it as we did writing it.

The Movie According to William David Lee:
Controversy has surrounded "V for Vendetta," and not just because of its content. The source material was a black-and-white comic series first published between 1982 and 1985 by "Warrior," a British anthology comic. "Vendetta" went unfinished in its initial run but was later reprinted and finished in color by DC Comics. With David Lloyd doing the art, writer Alan Moore created a totalitarian future that acted as a rallying cry against the conservative administration of Margaret Thatcher. Moore, a groundbreaking creator who has pushed the boundaries of what can be done in the comic medium, has wanted little to do with this or any other Hollywood adaptation of his work. And who could blame him? His Jack the Ripper opus, "From Hell," was diluted, while "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was dumbed down into a ridiculous mess.

Producer Joel Silver erroneously claimed that Moore gave his endorsement to the film. When Moore's demand for a retraction fell on deaf ears, he ordered his name be removed from the credits and pulled any future projects he had on tap at DC (owned by Warner). Next, the original lead actor, James Purefoy, dropped out during production for undisclosed reasons. To top it all off, the original release date was Nov. 5, 2005, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Guy Fawkes Day. It was pushed back supposedly to allow more time for postproduction work, with speculation that the recent London bombings may have had a little to do with it.

So what's all the hubbub about? Set in the year 2020, war and disease have allowed a fascist regime to assume control of the British government. Minorities, homosexuals, and political dissidents have long been rounded up and exterminated in concentration camps. John Hurt channels Hitler as the maniacal Chancellor Sutler, who runs the show like one, forceful body. His Gestapo are known as the Finger, constantly on the pulse of the public. The Eye and the Ear are always watching and listening, while the Mouth spews Sutler's spin-doctored propaganda.

And who will stand up for the meek and oppressed? A mysterious masked man, with a flair for the theatrical, known only as V (Hugo Weaving). He lives in an underground bunker (dubbed "The Shadow Gallery"), surrounded by outlawed literature, art, and a jukebox of jazz music. His mask assumes the visage of Guy Fawkes, a Catholic extremist who attempted to blow up Parliament in 1605. Throw in a pageboy wig, enhanced strength and reflexes, a bunch of knives, with a touch of Errol Flynn and the Phantom of the Opera, and you have yourself a lean, mean freedom fighting machine.

We meet V through the eyes of Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) as she is picked up by Fingermen for breaking curfew. V indoctrinates Evey into his world with a little Tchaikovsky and a whole lot of explosives and fireworks. V begins picking off Sutler's underlings one by one, all the while preaching chaos and revolution. His motto: "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." V's tragic past is unveiled as a police detective named Finch (Stephen Rea) investigates both V and his own superiors.

Having been adapted and produced by the Wachowski Brothers, one wonders if the film would have the emotional depth of the original comic or would be filled with the metaphysical mumbo jumbo that plagued the "Matrix" sequels. The result lies somewhere in between. Characters tend to wax philosophical on numerous occasions, but never with the overbearing pomposity found in "Matrix Reloaded" or "Matrix Revolutions."

While the comic was made in the 1980's, set in 1997, and was a parable for the conservative British government of the time, the film has been updated to reflect current politics in a not-so-subtle fashion. Nuclear arms give way to biological warfare. A "war in America" is said to have spilled across the Atlantic and into England. The public must keep a watch against potential terrorists. The forceful allusions tend to distract from the goings-on. The Wachowskis seem to forget that the message should come from the story and not the other way around.

Does the film lend itself to further discussion? Not particularly. There's never a question of whether V is a terrorist or a freedom fighter. He fights to topple an obviously evil power. The real question comes in a moment that occurs early in the film. Hijacking the television signal, V puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the people. Who voted these people into office in the first place? Is it not our fault for giving up a little freedom in order to sleep a bit easier at night? We barely get a chance to digest this little morsel before we jump into the next scene.

There's a lot going on in "V for Vendetta" and just not enough time to delve deeper. There's V, his mission, and his back story. You've got Evey and her back story, Finch's investigations, and the government's attempts to maintain order. Before we can get into one scene, we're pulled away into the next. A lot of exposition and detours off the main path cause the middle of the film to slow to a crawl. Luckily, it picks up in time for the third act.

No one ever accused the Wachowskis of being visually bland. Eye candy is where the film excels. While they took a step back this time, their influence can be seen in director James McTigue, a former second unit director for "The Matrix." Incidentally, the Wachowskis do the second-unit work for "Vendetta." A stunning action sequence sees V dispatching a group of secret police in slow motion. Even a scene of toppling dominoes is engrossing.

Weaving, the former Agent Smith, took on the daunting role of V in mid-production. Using only his voice and body language, Weaving does his best to inject life into the slightly off-kilter V. But, the story truly belongs to Evey Hammond. Portman got plenty of attention for shaving her head for a sequence where she is imprisoned and tortured. Evey finds a sliver of hope in the heartbreaking letters of a fellow prisoner, taken away for being a lesbian. It's the most powerful and memorable segment from the comic, and it remains nearly intact for the film. It almost makes you forget her stilted accent.

"V for Vendetta" isn't quite the action-packed extravaganza you might expect from the makers of "The Matrix." Yet, it doesn't get bogged down by the self-indulgent discourse of those same makers. This is the kind of film that usually kicks off the summer blockbuster season. It's popcorn filmmaking for those who don't mind a little style over substance. On the DVDTOWN scale of 1 - 10, I give "V for Vendetta" a 6.

The Movie According to Tyler Shainline:
I went to a screening of "V for Vendetta," and if you thought the "Matrix Trilogy" was bad, then "V" will have you pulling your hair out like your name was Natalie Portman. Who by the way, wasn't the worst thing in this movie, which is kind of scary considering what an awful actress she has turned out to be.

The movie comes across as little more than an "anarchy sticker" stuck on the bottom of some suburban punk's skateboard to look cool. Just like the suburban punk, the Wachowskis don't really believe in what they are displaying; they're just doing it to look cool.

While "V" is completely unfaithful to the comic book it was based upon, that is hardly its biggest crime. Come to think of it, compared to a majority of this flick's offenses, it's little more than petty theft. "V for Vendetta" is remembered less for being a great comic book and more for being the work of a great comic-book writer, Alan Moore. While nowhere near as good a book as his prior comics that were turned into films ("From Hell" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"), "V" does follow in suit as a yet another terrible and mishandled film based on Moore's writing. While nobody would consider the Wachowski brothers to be more than glorified video-game creators, I was actually curious as to how they would handle adapting a script for a book overflowing with dialogue and light on flashy graphics. Whereas the "Matrix" films are completely style over substance, the graphic novel "V for Vendetta" has countless scenes devoid of action or explosions but full of rich dialogue and character evolution. Unfortunately, the brothers Wachowski, along with their partner in crime, director James McTeigue, screw it up so badly that if this film were ever shown in a football stadium, it could qualify as the longest fumble in NFL history.

For a film that is supposed to be coated in rebellion and anarchy, McTeigue and the Wachowskis never really give you a reason to believe in the terrorist-hero V or his attacks on Parliament. Instead of giving you emotional and character-driven reasons to come to conclusions on the cast, McTeigue and company visually shove it down your throat. You know that John Hurt is bad because he's on a giant screen and has huge black pupils (to show he's evil; can't you see how evil that is?) and that Portman is good because she is attractive, and that V is good because he causes explosions and painfully goes out of his way to attempt to elicit laughter from the audience. None of the characters in this movie have an ounce of reality to them, let alone passion for anything going on around them. And why didn't they re-record Weaving's voice; half of V's dialogue is completely muffled due to the mask. Bloated, self-important, and without any meaning is all you have to remember about the Fifth of November.

The Movie According to Yunda Eddie Feng:
What a terrible movie:
1.) Tyler was right--the sound mix buried V's voice. While this was "realistic" since he wore a mask all the time, it was difficult to understand about 50% of his dialogue.

2.) Natalie Portman still can't act. Her accent was terrible, too.

3.) The use of the "1812 Overture" is stupid. It's as dumb as the United States playing it every Fourth of July. The "1812 Overture" celebrates something specific in history, and allusions should make sense instead of simply having music that sounds "cool."

4.) While Guy Fawkes and his fellow Catholics did suffer religious persecution at the hands of English Protestants, the movie completely ignores the historical circumstances of Protestant/Catholic tensions. At the time, France and Spain were trying to subjugate England. Some English people actually wanted to see a French or Spanish monarch rule over England. Therefore, the division in England was about more than religion--it was about national identity. In this instance, focusing only on the civil-rights aspect of the Guy-Fawkes issue is an oversimplification of matters.

5.) The movie was too damn long.

6.) The police inspector talking about being able to "feel everything" was stupid blathering.

7.) The action sequences were terrible. I couldn't understand anything other than the fact that some people were dying.

8.) V's mumbo-jumbo about cause and effect was a horrible repeat from the "Matrix" trilogy. Yes, there's cause and effect in the world, but so what? The Wachowskis don't have anything substantive to say about the matter, no matter how many philosophical treatises they've read.

9.) Forcing a love story into the overall narrative was lame. The Wachowskis think that they're badasses, but their movies always end with "I did this because I love you" speeches. This is as conventional as Hollywood movies get. This movie gets a 3 out of 10 from me.

The Movie According to Tim Raynor:
I thought the film had a good look about it, but it just delivers too convoluted of a story. It rarely makes any points to sink our teeth into and ends up being more confusing rather than our feeling rallied behind the main character. It is really no more than a simple tale of revenge, but it has very little substance, or it is too vague to make one feel like rooting for the hero.

I can't say I had issues with the acting as it seems passable enough. The action sequencing wasn't as bad as "Batman Begins," and you could at least see what was happening; but for the love of God, GIVE us some action! And as I said, I also liked the look and art of the film. It's unfortunate it couldn't have had a better flow instead of bouncing us around in additional tales to create a bigger picture of . . . well . . . nothing! Perhaps the story should have had better focus on the backdrop, which was government control; however, instead, we get a more personal story of one guy's vengeance, along with Portman who just adds more trash to a story that is already a mess.

Oh, well, it's not the most major disappointment I have ever seen. Generally speaking, it wasn't that bad and certainly not a campy film for this genre; it was just dull. Rating: 5/10.

The Movie According to John J. Puccio:
I found "V for Vendetta" a somewhat old-fashioned adventure flick, filled with action, humor, romance, politics, and the kind of swashbuckling that hasn't been seen in movies for many, many years (and don't say "for good reason"). It's a combination of "Zorro," "1984," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Beauty and the Beast," and "The Count of Monte Cristo," with only Doug Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, or Robert Donat missing from the title role. What more could you want? Well, OK, maybe a little less talk.

At the heart of the film is the old standby, the revenge plot. V has been cruelly experimented upon, tortured, and disfigured; now, he's out to exact his vengeance, and his vengeance is exact. Then, too, he's out to topple a corrupt government and to avenge the government's murder of tens of thousands of its own people. These motives seem noble enough. There was some criticism of the film at the time of its release about the story glamorizing terrorism, but V is a terrorist fighting injustice, the way Zorro did, so for a romantic adventure, it works. As the Bard said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." America's revolutionary leaders were patriots on one side of the Atlantic, traitors on the other. V is a freedom fighter of the best kind, and we don't have to agree with his violent methods to appreciate his motivations.

The movie is long at almost two-and-a-quarter hours, but I never noticed the time going by. It wasn't like: How long are they going to take to get to this island? How long are they going to be on this island? How many more dinosaurs are they going to find? And how many more sunsets do we have to endure? "V for Vendetta" mixes a good deal of dialogue with healthy doses of action to produce a fairly well-rounded story. It's not just stuff blowing up every two minutes.

I liked Hugo Weaving as V, even if you never actually see him without his mask. He could have been Hugo Winterhalter for all I knew, but I loved his voice and gestures. He's a quintessential masked avenger, using knives the way Zorro used a sword or the Lone Ranger used a six-gun. Yet he's a tragic hero as well, a man scarred for life physically and emotionally, who has, nevertheless, not lost his humanity and can still feel love and compassion for those who deserve it.

I liked the revenge plot, tinged as it is with political overtones that can just as easily be ignored as applied to modern-day situations. It's easy to see Orwell's Big Brother in John Hurt's Adam Sutler, England's tyrannical leader. Big Brother in this case could be Stalin or Hitler, or it could just as well be Margaret Thatcher or George W. Bush. Certainly, the ideas of a politician creating a disaster in order to muster votes, stifle dissent, curtail civil rights, and assume a despotic rule are there in the movie for the taking, or the viewer can simply sit back, ignore the politics, and enjoy the daring deeds.

This is not to say I didn't have a few concerns, however. I know one should never question the logic of an old-time romantic adventure, but this one does stretch credibility more than a tad. For instance, I kept wondering how a guy so disfigured that he has to wear a mask all the time buys his groceries. I mean, it's not like he has a houseboy who runs his errands for him. And it's not like he can just walk into any store with or without a mask on. Does he steal all his food? And he's bought countless art objects: How did he manage that? And, more important, where does he get all his money? More thefts we're never told about? And his house: Early on V says it's underground, but later we see that it has a very high rooftop balcony, too. And where'd he get such an elaborate place? Did he inherit it or answer an ad in the newspaper? And don't the neighbors ever wonder about him going to and fro? And as for his clearing out an entire tunnel by himself, even if it took him ten years as he says it did, come on! One guy? And nobody noticed? And the entire government police force fails to notice the excavation, but a detective at the end of the movie finds it in two minutes? Yeah, well, nobody questions a guy in a bat suit, either, so I guess we can suspend our disbelief and go along with it. I did and really had no trouble.

Moreover, Natalie Portman is lovely, and I never experienced a problem with her accent. Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is an appropriate symbol for triumph over oppression (the composer premiered it in 1882 to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of Russia's victory over Napoleon, and everybody's been using it for similar purposes ever since, so why not the Wachowskis). And the CGI special effects are kept to a minimum, meaning right away that the film has more substance than most action thrillers.

Put it another way: In terms of Wachowski films, this one is a darned sight better than their last two "Matrix" efforts. Not that that is any big compliment.

Well, obviously, different people see things differently, and certainly Tyler, Eddie, and Tim saw "V for Vendetta" differently from William and me. On DVDTOWN's rating scale, I'd give "V for Vendetta" a 7. The movie is filled with great, fun derring-do, if maybe a little too much chatter.

Video:
As usual with recent releases from Warner Bros., the "V" transfer benefits from a high bit rate, enhanced for widescreen TVs. The standard-definition picture, stretching to a ratio of 2.40:1, looks quite good, though sometimes displaying a touch of blur, perhaps to reinforce the romantic angle. Colors are slightly subdued for the most part, yet they remain fairly natural, while facial hues can lean to the pinkish. Because it's a new movie, the master WB used for the transfer was probably as perfect as it could be, with only the original print's inherent film grain noticeable.

Audio:
The first thing that almost can't be avoided from the outset of this film is that the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is very bass heavy, very dynamic, and very robust. Although a good deal of the movie contains dialogue, those action sequences rock the house. I had almost no trouble, though, understanding anything that was said (except V's silly, alliterative verses at the beginning of the film); otherwise, I never found Weaving's voice as V an issue.

However, after watching several HD-DVDs with their clearer, tauter Dolby Digital Plus sonics prior to watching "V," I found the regular DD 5.1 sounding a bit soft and woolly. Alas, the dangers of comparison viewing and listening, I suppose. Nevertheless, the rear-channel information on the disc is very good, with an expansive sense of surround and noises coming at one from every direction. The movie is fun to listen to.

Extras:
I watched the Two-Disc Special Edition, which is remarkably devoid of serious extras. Disc one contains the feature film; English and French spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles, thirty-three scene selections, but no chapter insert; and the fifteen-minute featurette, "Freedom! Forever! Making V for Vendetta." On the featurette, one learns a little something about the adaptation of the movie from the 1980s' comic books by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, but not much.

Disc two contains several more relatively short featurettes. The first is "Designing the Near Future," seventeen minutes on production planning, sets, models, etc. The second is "Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot," ten minutes of history on the historical character from 1605. The third featurette is "England Prevails: V for Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics," fourteen minutes on the history and evolution of comic books from the mid 1950s to the present. Finally, there is a Cat Power music video, "I Found a Reason"; a widescreen theatrical trailer; and a not-so-hidden bonus, a two-minute "SNL" short, "Saturday Night Live" rap, starring Natalie Portman.

The two discs come housed in a double, slim-line keep case, further enclosed in an attractively embossed slipcover. I still don't understand why if WB can afford a slipcover, they can't include a chapter insert.

Parting Thoughts:
Anyway, there you have it: One guy, Will, who liked the film reasonably well. Another guy, me, who liked the film even more. Two guys, Tyler and Eddie, who hated the film. And yet a fifth guy, Tim, who thought it was just ordinary. Take your pick. Since Will did the main review, I thought he should get the final say on rating it. To heck with compromises or averaging; this is a democracy of one.