The other movie I saw today…er…yesterday (seeing as it’s after midnight now) was “V for Vendetta”. My pal Ace took me on a date today since he was playing single this weekend. And since Denis got to hang out with his pal Ted last night for St Pat’s Day it was only fair that I was able to get out for a couple hours today.
V for Vendetta was our only choice that fit the timeframe Denis needed in order to show some houses to a client, and neither Ace nor I was completely enthused about it. However, by the time closing credits began to roll we were both enthralled and talking about how much we loved the movie.
The movie is set in England in the future – about 25 or 30 years from now. Britain has become a totalitarian state a la 1984 Big Brother and all that. No music, no art, no ANYthing is generally allowed anymore.
IMDb describes it as this: “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.”
The cast was brilliant – the luminous Natalie Portman, Hugo “I’ll Always Be Elrond” Weaving, Steven Rea, Steven Fry, and John Hurt. The story was well-written, if a bit plodding during the long narrative sections. But that’s to be expected since it was written by the same guys that brought us the Matrix movies (of which I hated the first one and refused to see the rest).
If you get the chance, definitely go see this in the theaters. It’s well worth the time mainly for Natalie Portman’s wonderful performance (although at times her British accent sounded a bit Southern to my ears). And John Hurt – well, I loved him in the mini-series “I, Claudius”, and he gets to be as overly-dramatic in “V” as he did in “Claudius” back in the 1970s.
3 1/2 red roses out of five.
Neither of them was completely enthused about seeing the movie, but that was the first movie they said they wanted to see. Trust me, there was enthusiasm before hand. Nice bit of under playing, my friend. Glad you liked it. I thought it was a little too simple, but enjoyable just the same.