FILM REVIEW For the life of me, I don't know why Alan Moore had his name pulled from
this film because V for Vendetta is a brilliant translation of his work. It was
pretty sad to only see David Lloyd's name during the closing credits. I know
Moore has to be burned by the way his work has been squished into films in the
past, but I'd sure love to hear what he thinks of this. It burns me up to see
this film marketed as "From the people that brought you the Matrix", knowing the
real genius behind it is being forgotten to all but the diehard comic fans that
know what's what.
Aside from running a tiny bit long, I can't think of anything I didn't like
about this movie. Hugo Weaving does an amazing job acting behind a mask for the
entire film, yet still evoking more character and charm than those that have the
benefits of facial expressions. Natalie Portman is equally great as Evey. John
Hurt and Steven Rea are amazing as well. A brilliant cast with a very smart
screenplay. It reeked of Alan Moore all the way through.
Granted I read the comics when they first came out, and haven't seen them
against since, so my memory's a bit fuzzy, but it sure seemed pretty faithful to
me. There's admittedly some modern twists and additions that have been thrown
in, but they don't take away from the flow of the story.
The dialogue is inspiring, clever, and often humorous. The action is wonderfully
bloody, and doesn't get too "Matrixy", save a slow motion battle near the film's
end.
Frankly, with the state of the world, I'm impressed they were able to pull off
what is essentially a pro-terrorism film with massive destruction of government
symbols. Sure, this is terrorism, for the right reasons, but it certainly makes
you think twice about what we think is the right side to fight for.
THE PACKAGE
The special 2 disc DVD has some nice extras on it, but it has its flaws as
well. First of all is the awful package design, which you can see in the
pictures above, could have been greatly improved by taking Natalie Portman's
head off the box. The altered image on the right is a gorgeous iconic design,
while the actual production version on the left looks like V is ready to cut up
her head. Natalie Portman's name is barely visible anyway, and I can't imagine
that many folks are going to try the DVD out just because they put her emaciated
mug on the box.
NO ALAN MOORE
Comic book writing legend Alan Moore had his name removed from the credits, and
asked that all royalties go to the artist David Lloyd, instead. With that, his
absence on the film's extras, that go into excruciating detail about the origins
of the character, seem to have a gaping black hole in them. Moore is only
spoken of casually a few times, and even comic artist David Lloyd doesn't seem
to share the credit as much as he should. He's an incredibly fascinating man,
and is the subject of an
upcoming documentary, himself.
NO HUGO WEAVING or WACHOWSKI BROTHERS
Another mysterious omission is the complete lack of any Hugo Weaving, who plays
the title character, from any of the extras. Though producer Joel Silver and
director James McTeigue wax poetically about the film, as does costar Natalie
Portman, it feels incomplete. It would have been cool to hear the Wachowski
brothers talk about how they went about writing the film, instead of just
hearing Silver talk about it. It would have been nice to have John Hurt in the
extras, as well.
THE HISTORY OF GUY FAWKES
The deluxe DVD is worth getting, however, for a very well done mini documentary
entitled "Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot" in which
several historians tell the story of the 1604 Catholic terrorist that gives the
story its heart and motivation.
OVERALL REVIEW
If you're a DVD nut that's a fan of extras, this DVD will appease but not
amaze. But if nitty gritty details about movies aren't your thing, the single
disc version of this set should suit you just fine.
We're giving away a limited edition mask from the
film. If you'd like a chance to win one, email us at
contests@retrocrush.com and let us
know. We'll announce the winner on August 8th.
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