the first excellent film I've seen in 2006

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2006)

I admit, I'll have to see V for Vendetta again to fully grasp some things about it- chiefly things in the story and dialog (that and I had a rather faulty screening of the film at the theater). But to say that I haven't been this excited about a film brought by Andy and Larry Wachowski, the Matrix creators, since their 1999 ground-breaker, is saying a lot. Some may not like the film, or may not 'get' it, as it does go for a lot of dialog and character development over useless explosions and violence (of course there's some in the film, but no in over-abundance). But it is, like the first Matrix, quite challenging in the futuristic story kind of way, taking more from Orwell this time at a look of totalitarian society and the humanism that lies beneath terror and fear through dominance. That it is also a well made and well acted film is much to its credit.
And while the film is credited as its director to James McTiegue, who was AD on the Matrix trilogy, one can see the Wachowski's (possibly akin to the V character) pulling the strings throughout in their script and co-producer credits. They take from a graphic novel and churn out something rather epic, and complex. V (Hugo Weaving, in maybe his greatest performance without a 'real' face) has set the date November the 5th as a kind of judgment day, as one year from that date he will return to change the course of history. But in this year's time Evie (Natalie Portman) gets in the cross-hairs, and becomes involved in his vengeance against the government that did this "monstrosity" to him. Through this there is an investigation by an officer (Stephen Rea), some good deal of back-story through flashbacks involving a tragic character who's life is scribed on a roll of toilet paper, and the whole story of how this totalitarian society in England came to be.
It's through this story, of which even I can't say that much more, that the Wachowski's deliver some action, however more food for thought than some might come in thinking it will be. For those expecting the non-stop action that went with the first Matrix you might be disappointed. But if you come in with an open mind, like with the Matrix sequels, it won't spell what came for many as disappointment. The talk in those films, which became muddled through the action at times, isn't so here. And through the cast of actors, who are all very, very good (particularly Portman, Weaving, Rea, and of course John Hurt as the high chancellor), there are some individual scenes that are just great, and entertaining, and involving dramatically in ways the filmmakers didn't quite get on their previous efforts. One favorite for me was the fake TV show with the two John Hurt characters in a comedy kind of scene. And the whole sequence with Evie in the 'prison' is surprisingly moving. If I could make criticism of the film upon a first viewing, yes, it is sometimes a bit 'talky', and the direction is not as astonishing as with the ones squarely helmed by the brothers.
But for any of the small flaws seen on a first viewing, I can say that they weren't enough to deter me from recommending it, enough even to say that it SHOULD be seen twice, even if there isn't much confusion on what the story or characters are. One thing's for sure, you're likely to see very few other science fiction dramas this original this year, if at all, and least of which challenge the viewer's expectations and intelligence like this does. And great song over the end credits, by the way.