V for Vendetta 48
V is apparently also for poorly written dialog, bad acting, horrible costumes, and a heavy-handed message. An action movie, generally can cope with most of these shortcomings, unfortunately Vendetta is not an action movie. Despite some explosions and (admittedly) cool knife play, V for Vendetta lacks the excitement and pacing of an action movie or the depth and imagination to make it anything more.
In their first non-matrix themed film in over 5 years, the Wachowski brothers prove once again that the original Matrix was a fluke. Going into this movie I didn’t know much about it, other than it starred Natalie Portman (a positive), it depicted a dark future (generally a positive), and there was a masked man running around with knives (could go either way). What I found out before the movie even started was that it was based upon a comic (generally a negative, historically speaking) and it was written by the same folks who brought us The Matrix (a positive) but also The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2 negatives in my book). Yes, in their first non-matrix themed film in over 5 years, the Wachowski brothers prove once again that the original Matrix was indeed a fluke.
And like in The Matrix trilogy, once you cut through the seeming fog of philosophy and intrigue, you are left with something that is really not that exciting. The shortcomings in Vendetta are easily exposed to show a rather shallow view of flimsy cartoon-ish villains that fall in rapid succession to V’s revenge-seeking ways.
The only things remotely plausible/interesting about this film are the oppressive government, tightly-controlled media, and the circumstances where a people would let this happen. It is obviously no coincidence that this movie is out now – with the same sort of tactics and excuses being used/made by real-life governments as to why they are doing what they are doing and employing the tactics they are using. The fact that these themes are just touched upon is the biggest missed opportunity for Vendetta. If this would have been pulled off in a creative or even somewhat powerful way, I could look past the completely unrealistic and incredible ways many of the main characters swing wildly to and fro between emotional states and incidentally into and out of the realm or plausibility.
Oh well, at least V didn’t speak like this for the entire film:
Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.More info
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