heavy handed but enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2006)

If you enjoy watching a Guy Fawkes mask dipping in and out of heavy shadows and filling your vision, accompanied by the voice of Hugo Weaving reciting monologue, than V for Vendetta is probably for you. As it happens, it's just the sort of thing I was I the mood for when I saw it, so I had a great time.
The film begins with an explanation of the 5th of November, and then moves on to introducing our main Characters, V and Evey. The first thing that struck me about the opening 10-15 minutes was the incredible amount of uninterrupted dialog. Honestly, it was of Gilmore Girls proportions. It seemed that everything had to be explained or commented on by someone. This really set the tone for the rest of the film. I was impressed by the fact that there was not a single theme or idea in the film that wasn't explicitly, and at length, discussed in dialog. Like the prominence of the Fawkes mask, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it did prevent the film from containing any subtlety at all.
And this was my overall impression of the film-it was heavy handed. The visuals were enjoyable to watch, but were grandiose- not unlike those of the latter two matrix films. The score tells the same story- rarely was there time for a quiet song or unobtrusive atmospheric stuff. All we really got was very loud very dramatic music, again, more than just a little reminiscent of the matrix trilogy score. If your wondering how true the film is to the graphic novel that inspired it, than this is probably the main difference. Where the comic created a claustrophobic, dingy environment juxtaposed with the dramatic character of V, the film creates what feels like an expansive and rich environment for an even more dramatic V.
Having said that, over the top drama and action, done well, can be fun. And it was. The actors expounded their mountains of lines enthusiastically and with conviction- no line seemed tired or hacked. And because they seemed interested in what they were doing it was a lot easier for me to be.
The action sequences were few, but were executed competently. And strangely enough came out looking more like a comic book than the original graphic novel did. A friend commented to me afterwards that one of the moves V performed was identical to that of a Character from the video game Soul Calibur. with the vapor trails behind the blades and all.
While the film was essentially spoon fed political and social ideas wrapped in an action movie, it was done well and fun to watch as a result.