not in the slightest bit what so ever what I thought it would be like in the slightest

Rating: 9/10 (18 March 2006)

***tiny spoilers, perhaps****
Woooooo o
NIce of the Wachowski Bros to make up for ballsing up the Matrix (first is the only one I recognise for all time - the other turned into the worst movie franchise ever... I should save ranting for the boards). Being a fanboy, I am sad to have missed the original Alan Moore comic (its what they are - deal with it). I think it was something to do with the grinning Guy Fawkes reminding me too much of the whole batman/joker thing... wasn't too fond of Batman at the time... thought it was a rip off... but that's my problem.
I've heard bits of the story have been tinkered with, but this film deals with some seriously heavy themes and any off the cuff comparrisons to the Man in the Iron Mask, Phantom of the Opera, Spartacus etc do it a discredit. It acknowledges it's sources and pays homage by giving them a somber twist, the end result is a tale of holocaust that can't be highjacked by comparisons to WWII.
The London setting is still refreshingly odd and the look and feel has a convincing air, with just the right tint of something is well wrong here. It reminds me of Brazil - for perhaps obvious reasons - and I would urge people to see both of these films as they give a vision of what any controlling system is capable of if allowed to go to extremes and I hope will encourage people to have a stake in society, rather than turn a blind eye or throw their toys out of the pram when things go wrong.
To much for a movie? I think not. As is a theme of in this film, it is a function of art to point at truths with fiction, Or something like that.
Looks great - Weaving, Rea and Fry are brilliantly cast and give fine turns accordingly, though Mr Hurt is under used and the character is somewhat hamfistedly done - but the mood and script make for a compelling and haunting movie that could have been soooo bad. How they got lines like "I had three years of roses" to work has got to be some sort of miracle. Fine fine stuff. See it.