A childish BATMAN version of FIGHT CLUB.....

Rating: 1/10 (6 April 2006)

First of all I would like to say that I had read the comic first long time before the movie and I instantly loved it. The depth of the story and its characters is endless and the way Moore (writer) plays with the themes of anarchic philosophy is admirable.
The same cannot be said about the movie, which is a badly written draft of the comic. The Wachowski bros made a very simplified version of the comic by using a few of its key scenes and of course removing a lot of the supporting scenes which involve the change the characters went through by the influence of V in their lives (that is in the comic). In the comic "the protagonists" in the story is not V himself but Evey, Finch, Susan etc and V is more like the deus ex machina (an ideal) that changes their life for the better or worst.
WARNING: The following paragraph may contain SPOILERS, if you have not seen the movie please skip this paragraph and go to the end!!!!!!!!!! However in the film every character is given little screening time, insufficient to pass these serious changes, which when shown in a few short scenes seem forced and fake (Especially Evey's imprisonment and torture in the movie seemed so out of place and hard for no apparent reason - Evey in the comic is a more tragic figure always insecure, looking for a protector and in the end loosing it always). And the direct use of some phrases and dialogs from the comic, without the rest of the context, seem so pretentious and forced that you can't help feeling annoyed. An example of this is Valerie's letter; it is exactly copied from the comic (maybe one or two lines are out) but in the movie it feels completely out of place - it just sounds so cheesy!! In the comic I was completely thrilled reading it since there was so much more before it to give it the proper importance. Which leads me to another comment concerning the homosexual concentration camps: The idea of homosexual concentration camps seems completely out of place nowdays, while in the comic, which was written in the 80s (and homophobia was a bigger issue then) is presenting an alternate version of the past rather than the future, and it is much better presented. Oh, and don't tell me "Natalie Portman acts amazing in this movie", come on! just raising one eyebrow to look smarter and the shaved head do not make you a different person!!! gimme a break... I really DO think she is a really good actress and in other movies she has done some amazing work, but her character is already presented very bad from the film script and does not give her enough to work on....
END of SPOILERS.........................
Plus, in the movie script the people (the mass) of this society and how the government suppresses them is not so evident, (everything is about V, Evey and Finch trying to solve the mystery), and the ending seemed to me a complete show-off, typical Hollywood ending that need to be BIG and IMPRESSIVE... whatever...
In the end it is a caricature movie like batman or spider-man, which, directionally speaking they were far more superior than this. I do not understand why people give it so much praise for its direction since for me it was very stereotypical, falling in all the typical Hollywood clichés, scenes and shots completely uninspired, lighting conventional to the point of boring, and artistically speaking... well i am sorry but... The Victorian setting and dark mood of the comic seems more appropriate and creates a suspicious atmosphere, but this modern every day conventional world used in the movie does make V look a bit clowny and idiotic in his mask. Since you are dealing with symbols, "an idea", then make it look a bit more surrealistic. Anyway it's a fictional movie, is it not? Do not make another "suffering hero in mask fights injustice in the world" movie stereotype. V deserved much better than to be exploited in such a conventional way.
I am just sorry that this crazy boom of super-hero movies managed to drag along some amazing comic literature and degrade to the level of pulp. V for vendetta is more than a guy in the mask fighting oppression, like batman or spider-man. It is a story of the people, Evey, Finch, Susan etc caught in the middle of a fight between freedom (as represented by anarchist ideals) and oppression (as represented by totalitarian states). It is more than good fights the bad...
In the end to me, it is an exploitation by The Wachowski bros of other people's work, in order to make more money.... they even did the same thing with their own stuff... I mean look what they did to Matrix with the two awful sequels....
I cannot make you not to go see the movie, but give it the marking it deserves! and 8 is for sure not worth it! i gave it a 1(awful) in hope to affect the end result and because I was furious about how much it degrades the comic script. Having a few key scenes of the comic floating helplessly in air without the strings of the characters to support it make it look childish like spider-man.... it deserves a 5 for just another hero-fights-injustice movie with a spice of revolution....
Good luck and Good night ;-)