B for Boring, S for Standard, and so on...

Rating: 5/10 (28 June 2006)

James McTeigue probably intended his 'V for Vendetta' to be a dark and thrilling adaptation of Alan Moore's futuristic graphic novels. Kind of like Sin City, but much more political and intelligent. I am sorry to say he failed in so many ways, because this was simply half-assed and standard.
I don't know what's wrong with Natalie Portman nowadays, but she seems to get progressively worse at acting. I have always thought she was one of the more convincing on-screen criers in Hollywood, but she can't pull off a normal vocal performance for toffee. Let me put it like this, if you were impressed by Kevin Costner's accent in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, you will be blown away by Portman in this film. Her fake "English" accent made my ears bleed. The two StephensRea and Frywere really great, but not great enough to compensate for Portman's poor acting as she undoubtedly had the bigger part and more screen time.
Furthermore, I did not care for the overly eloquent character of V or his corny dialogue. This is typical of something that may have worked on paper, but did not work on screen. The twist in the film, if you want to call it that, was rather predictable (and I am rarely good at anticipating plot-twists). The fight scenes were unoriginal, borrowing from The Matrix, and there was no excitement because you knew who was going to win every timeand this, without having read any of the graphic novels.
The ideas that V for Vendetta put forward are interesting but certainly not new. The ideas of a totalitarian state changing its history records to control its citizens should ring a bell to anyone who's read anything by Orwell, Bradbury or Huxley. Alan Moore who wrote the graphic novels asked to have his name removed from the movie for reasons that should be quite obvious if you've watched it. The film did not leave much room up for interpretation, and opted for the usual 'preachy' Hollywood directing style. That is, it told you what to think every step of the way. Although I must admit that the loud booming playing of the1812 Overture was one of the best uses of classical music in a movie.