Adapted by the Wachowski brothers (creators of The Matrix) from Alan Moore's 1988 graphic novel, VFV is a piece of dystopian science fiction set in London in the not too distant future.
V (Weaving) is a mysterious masked avenger fed up with the fascist, totalitarian state that has taken control of Britain. We know the feeling.
After donning a fetching Guy Fawkes face mask and arming himself with more knives than a gang of 15 year old school kids, he begins his attack on the oppressive Orwellian government by blowing up the Old Bailey.
Then, with the help of a shaven headed Portman, he sets out to destroy the Houses of Parliament on November 5th in honour of his hero.
They say:
Independent: “Politically confused and badly acted.”
Guardian: “Watching it is like having the oxygen supply to your brain slowly starved over more than two hours.”
Time Out: “Ultimately unpersuasive in its posturing radical chic."
We say:
Since "The Matrix" in 1999 the Wachowski brothers appear to have been slowly losing the plot. "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" were pretentious and impenetrable, reviled by fans of the original and panned by the critics.
Meanwhile, Larry was caught cheating on his wife with a dominatrix pornstar and then outed as a closet transsexual.
Sadly, VFV (written and produced by the brothers) continues their miserable downward spiral. Seeing our hero blowing up the London tube train with explosives is the most tasteless piece of cinema all year, and lines such as "Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose" come across as pompous nonsense.
Weaving, permanently hidden behind his mask, struggles to bring any character to V and Portman deserves locking up for her feeble attempt at a British accent.
Also, at 132 minutes long, you may feel like you are being punished by a fascist regime if you manage to sit through it all.
Extras:
Producer Joel Silver and director James McTeigue contribute to a workmanlike “Making Of” featurette that is the only extra included on the regular single disc DVD edition.
However, die hard fans (there must be some of you out there as VFV is currently placed 150th on the IMDb’s greatest films of all time list) can get hold of a two disc special edition, available only from HMV, that includes a brief history lesson on Guy Fawkes, a eulogy to comic book creator Alan Moore (who doesn’t feature and reportedly hated the movie), and a Cat Power music video taken from the soundtrack.
There's no director’s commentary or any contribution from the Wachowskis who were too busy picking out new dresses and getting their nails painted to participate. Probably.
CAST
Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving,
John Hurt, Stephen Fry
DIRECTOR
James McTeigue
TIME
132 mins
POSTED...
Mon 27 Mar 2006 at 6:31pm
