P for Pathetic

Rating: 1/10 (19 March 2006)

Watching "V for Vendetta," the story "The birds, the beats, and the bat" from Aesop's fables comes to mind. That story is of a war between the birds and the beast, in which a bat attempts to ally himself with both sides, only in the end, to be friendless when peace is achieved. The moral of the story was that if you try to appease everyone, you will satisfy no one. This is the main flaw of "V for Vendetta." The movie often changes pace, attempting to be a action film, a serious drama, a comedy, and an "intelligent" commentary on the dependence on government ("science fiction," in the sense of remarking on societal flaws). It achieves no success in any genre. The film is too mellow and the action is too spread out to be a gripping action movie. The dialogue is too cheesy and the characters not developed properly for this movie to achieve the level of a serious and meaningful drama. Additionally, the story is executed in a manner that is too cliché and in-your-face to be an intelligent science fiction flick. The movie is funny at points, but it rarely strives to be witty enough to make you laugh for long.
In penning the screenplay to "V for Vendetta," the Wachowski Brothers have hit a new low. They have once again proved that, like me, they have no writing skills. If you've seen their previous work - such as "The Specialist" or even parts two and three of the grossly overrated "Matrix trilogy" - then you understand what I am referring to. They take a good idea and kill it. I don't know how they do it, but they do. Despite it's promising commercial, I assure you that "V for Vendetta" has none of the soul or flair of the graphic novel (which I highly recommend).
Another thing that bugs me about this film is that it feels the need to make Matrix references, as if they were 1) still funny and 2) hilarious because the joke is being made by the writers of "The Matrix." Bullet time has been replaced by knife time and if you pay close enough attention to specific shots in the action sequences of this movie, you may recall them from "The Matrix."
This movie is far from an entertaining popcorn flick, with a plot that drags at numerous instances and dialogue that makes "Matrix Revolutions" looks like Shakespeare. If you want to see something entertaining, I implore that you to heed my warning and avoid this flick at all costs. Go to Blockbuster instead.