V for Vendetta: Predictably Mediocre

[Sinclair]

I saw it. Predictably mediocre. It would have been a million times better if the generic Hollywood musical strains and so forth hadn't been in it. Watching it was... Well, it was no worse than I expected, a little better really, but still pretty lame.

Also, it's funny how everything in this dystopic neo-Fascist near-future Britain looks so shiny. All those flat-screen TVs and computer screens... It honestly makes it hard to believe that the average person would WANT to rebel. As long as it's only minorities that are being oppressed, well... But then again, I'm a cynic.

Anybody notice the computers were all Dells, far as I could see? Wait, I thought America was a leper colony or something?

I'm not gonna go into the plot, or some shit like that, because I think people are bright enough to go see the movie if they want to, but for fuck's sake, READ THE GRAPHIC NOVEL FIRST. I beg of you.

[WFHermans]

Dell is a jewish company. :D

I must say the Graphic Novel was a bit too artsy fartsy, with the artists geting bored at the end.

But I'll definitely watch the movie! after I downloaded it.

[brigadier Biggles]

looks like any other glossy hollywood actioner, same style, effects etc.

Also, it's funny how everything in this dystopic neo-Fascist near-future Britain looks so shiny. All those flat-screen TVs and computer screens... It honestly makes it hard to believe that the average person would WANT to rebel. As long as it's only minorities that are being oppressed, well... But then again, I'm a cynic.

i think thats similar to the present, people preoccupied with materialism while being subjugated and feeling more and more isolated, not having a dig i'm as guillty as anyone of it.

Anybody notice the computers were all Dells, far as I could see? Wait, I thought America was a leper colony or something?

blatant product placement, getting more and more common to see in hollywood films, anyone remember the island last year ?.

[Sulla the Dictator]

Stupid movie. Muddled premise. Crappy critique of modern affairs.

Rarely have I left a film PREFERING fascism to an alternative.

[Sinclair]

It made fascism look NICE. If everybody has flat-screen TVs (Fuck, in REAL dictatorships, electricity is often in short supply), and people can make insulting comments about the regime in pubs and not get killed by the Fingermen, weeelllll... Doesn't history indicate that unless the majority of people are having severe day-to-day difficulties, they're not going to make a fuss? And even then, they might be too scared.

The scene with the supposedly-nasty security police standing stock-still as the crowd in masks and hoods and hats surges towards them... Ridiculous. That was just such a deus ex machina.

And notice how, even though the Norsefire regime supposedly went after minorities, there's at least one black guy in the crowd at the end? Was that a mistake?

It was better when it was notable eccentric Alan Moore's reaction to Thatcher, instead of notable hacks the Wachowski Brothers'* lame adaptation of his reaction to Thatcher changing it into a "clever" commentary on fear of Muslim terrorism (How exactly that turned into also going after homosexuals and other ethnic minorities, I know not).


*The Wachowski Brothers being notable mainly for the Matrix films, a lame trilogy combining shitty action movies heavily ripping off Asian action movies, with the sort of philosophy one gets from a gaggle of stoners in a corner in a party:

[Stoner One takes massive bong hit]
Stoner One: [exhales] Duuuuuuude, you ever think, man, maybe we're just DREAMING, and we're really living in tubes, and there's robots and shit? Duuude.
Stoner Two: Maaaaan, that's deep.
Stoner Three: Yeah, you just blew my mind.

[Sulla the Dictator]

A bigger problem was how they resurrected the annoying girl with the glasses from the dead for the mask removal at the end.

And the fact that the mob is on the SIDEWALK next to the building they're blowing up.

[Sinclair]

When it came to showing a nasty dictatorship, and showing the rebellion, I suppose the filmmakers got really, really lazy.

If I was making the movie, I would just have ripped off 95% of that from books about Ceaucescu's Romania.

[Dan Dare]

I understand that Alan Moore has disowned the the movie version of "V for Vendetta" as he did the the Hollywood version of "From Hell", which was a star vehicle for Johnny Depp or some other such nonentity a few years ago.

Moore's "Voice of the Fire" is btw an excellent read. He is an excellent writer who should stop selling his soul for a mess of pottage and tell the Hollywood schlockmeisters to go jump in the lake.

[Petr]

Moore's "Voice of the Fire" is btw an excellent read. He is an excellent writer who should stop selling his soul for a mess of pottage and tell the Hollywood schlockmeisters to go jump in the lake.
Alan Moore is a nihilistic leftist himself, his possibly overrated talents nonwithstanding.


Petr

[Petr]

Libertarian bozo Butler Shaffer (who has defended Ebenezer Scrooge in the past) is cheering this movie like a nerdy fanboy:

http://blog.lewrockwell.com/


"V for Vendetta"

Posted by Butler Shaffer at 07:11 PM

My wife and I just got back from watching "V for Vendetta." WOW!! Not only is this the greatest anti-state movie I have ever seen - nothing else comes close in my mind - but one of the best films (regardless of content) I have seen. The acting is superb (especially that of the heroine); the production, script, and direction are marvelous. Even if this film had been about anti-vivisectionism it would be a great film.

This film far, far exceeded my expectations. It explores the dynamics of tyranny; how we are ruled by our own fears; and, . . . well, go see it for yourselves!

[il ragno]

First things first. Please...for the love of plain talk, if nothing else...let's just call them comic books. That term may connote pop entertainment or dire junk to you, but for damn sure the first time someone flips through a "graphic novel" I guarantee you the first thing that runs through their heads is "Graphic novel my foot - this's a damn comic book!" And so they are.

Mind you, I enjoy them myself now and again. But just as there's no shame in being a garbageman, but there is in trying to fob yourself off as a 'waste removal engineer', I view 'comic books' with more favor than 'graphic novels'.

Frankly I find most of the Graphic Novel Auteurs to be annoyingly self-indulgent and overrated. It's not as if Alan Moore or Gaiman or Garth Ennis et al are bad writers.....Gaiman may be the best of them....but the whole medium of comics these days groans under the same dead weight of post-ironic pretension - and postmodern self-consciousness - that is rapidly killing off every once-charming and refreshingly unpretentious junk-art form. And helping to kill the notion of children enjoying a real childhood.

A mainstream comic book with a MATURE READERS advisory sticker is betraying its essential nature. We apparently have lost the gift of creating entertainment that can appeal to kids and adults for different reasons without patronizing either segment of the audience.

[Sinclair]

I think that the comic form has things that work for it.

For instance, visual clues can be used to great effect. In books, they'd be written down, and would be obvious. In movies, they'd either be missed, or be obvious.

[WFHermans]

Good point, il ragno. It's the old trick, aptly described by George Orwell, of changing the word so whatever it describes will appear to be different.

Comics are looked at as stuff for kids? Let's change the word to Graphic Novels. (Now pick up your old comic that's now called a graphic novel. Did it change?)

[Sinclair]

Individual comic books are still called comics though. The term "graphic novel" only gets involved when they're collected into a larger volume.

[Crowley]

can somebody please racially deconstruct this new bowel movement from Hollywood? Such as heroes: white or minority; villians: white or minority.

[WFHermans]

Judging its cast, I would say.

Heroes = all jews and those that obey the jews
Villains = everybody else

But I didn't see the movie yet so I may be wrong.

[Crowley]

Judging its cast, I would say.

Heroes = all jews and those that obey the jews
Villains = everybody else

But I didn't see the movie yet so I may be wrong.

the reason I ask is because the Matrix is blatantly anti-white in the grand tradition of red terrorism. What used to be the demonization of aristocrats and capitalists as oppressors of mankind has morphed into demonizing whites as the oppressors of mankind.

[brigadier Biggles]

heres what UK film critic Jonathan Ross had to say about it..

In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I come to V for Vendetta with a background that could be described as 'informed' (or as 'geeky' by those who fail to appreciate the ways in which an obsessive interest in comic books can enrich the life of even the most well-rounded individual).

Though I believe the original comic to be a little over-rated, it certainly had a topical edge when it appeared in the early 1980s. The Prime Minister of the day was busy giving the country the smack of firm government and there was little effective opposition to be seen and 1984 was just around the corner.

Fast forward to 2006 and for all the complaints about the nanny state, that resonance has ebbed away. And trust me, that's the least of the problems for this film, which is misconceived from opening titles to end credits.

Nothing, but nothing, works. For a start, Hugo Weaving is given an impossible task in playing a hero who spends the entire film behind a full face mask, and is therefore incapable of visual expression. It's a notion which is perfectly acceptable in a comic book, and deadly on film.

As the heroine, Natalie Portman just isn't up to the task, failing in even the most basic requirements of the role, such as providing a consistent and credible accent. Around her, a cast of notable and familiar talents such as John Hurt and Stephen Ray stand little chance amid the wreckage of the Wachowski siblings' dismal script and its particularly poor dialogue.

And unlike so many fantasy adventure films, the visuals don't offer any compensation for the shortcomings of the screenplay. Despite postponing the release date from last November to allow more time for post-production work, the film looks cheap and lacks any sense of time or place.

Throw in Matrix veteran James McTeigue's flat direction and you have a woeful, depressing failure. If it had been called V for Vasectomy I could scarcely have found it a less enjoyable experience, so please don't let your curiosity get the better of you when it arrives down your way.

[Crowley]

heres what UK film critic Jonathan Ross had to say about it..

Ross: common jewish name. If you want to know even less about a new Hollywood bowel movement then ask a kike reviewer.. All I get from reading this is that the jewish reviewer likely had his sexual advances spurned by the heroine.

[brigadier Biggles]

lol Jonathan Ross is no yid mate, hes a fairly popular TV presenter from birmingham, although it might be wise to consult jew-watch first just to be absolutely sure.

[Crowley]

although it might be wise to consult jew-watch first just to be absolutely sure.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/bardamu/leninchertoff.jpg

:D Now there's a good laugh out loud.

but I couldn't locate a search toolbar.

[Anima Eternae]

This movie was liberal agitprop to the max.

"OMG TEH KORAN IS ILLEGAL!!"

[Scales]

Ross: common jewish name. If you want to know even less about a new Hollywood bowel movement then ask a kike reviewer.. All I get from reading this is that the jewish reviewer likely had his sexual advances spurned by the heroine.
Jew monomania or what? A fucking movie review slamming V for Vendetta gets Jew-named.

[Sinclair]

The movie "softens" everything.

In the comic, V is kind of creepy and strange. In the movie, he's this eccentric lovable guy who's a bit odd, and happens to blow things up, but is really quite nice.

In the comic, society at the end has to rebuild itself, there is a state of anarchy. In the movie, a seemingly organised revolution pops up out of nowhere.

Etc.

[Fade the Butcher]

I watched Gattaca which was a polemic against eugenics and came away from the film enamored with the concept.

[Sinclair]

If the government forced me to use no other computer than Dells, I would probably rise up in revolution.

"DOWN WITH THE PROPRIETARY PART-PUSHING BASTARDS! RAAAARGH!"

[Fade the Butcher]

Rarely have I left a film PREFERING fascism to an alternative.

I must see this movie. :p

[Fade the Butcher]

This movie was liberal agitprop to the max.

"OMG TEH KORAN IS ILLEGAL!!"

Just watched the trailer. The knife throwing V guy looks like a fag.

[Fade the Butcher]

LOL

"Process her."

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/movies/clips/1808632423/1809267903/?http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/mf/frame?theme=minfo&lid=wmv-700-p.1415635-164728,wmv-56-p.1415632-164728,wmv-100-p.1415633-164728,wmv-300-p.1415634-164728,wmv-28-p.1415632-164728&id=1808632423&f=1808632423&mspid=1809267903&type=c&a=0,15

I picked up that phrase from Equilibrium, though.

[Scales]

Equilibrium was underrated. Except for the ending, which was a bit shit.

[brigadier Biggles]

Just watched the trailer. The knife throwing V guy looks like a fag.

? well you know the mask is based on guy fawkes who was a collaborator in the plot to blow up the HOP, a failed terrorist act has been a british national holiday for close to 400 years :rofl: .

[Donny the Punk]

I don't know what all the fuss is about, I just saw this and quite liked it.

[Sinclair]

I don't know what all the fuss is about, I just saw this and quite liked it.

The comic is, to be frank, better. The movie is predictably watered down.

The book:

-V is creepy, a bit weird, and not such a nice guy.
-There is actual discussion of anarchy.
-Britain is grimy and unpleasant.
-In the end, society sort of falls apart, and it isn't established what happens.

The movie:

-V is a lovable eccentric who just happens to blow shit up.
-He's some garden-variety revolutionary.
-LOL DELL FLAT PANELS
-There's a mass uprising at the end, where the civilians are all together, and for some reason the paramilitary types don't shoot.

[Donny the Punk]

I've read the comic; frankly, I was surprised by the amount they managed to pack into the film and still maintain coherence.

As for your complaints about the TVs, they're JVC. :p

Of course the comic was better - the book always is. But the movie was far from senseless or mediocre as a result.

[Sinclair]

I saw Dell. At least for the computer monitors.

I just want to see more shaved-head Natalie Portman, myself.

[Billy Score]

naturally poty would love to see the big bad tyrannical "fascist" government of the film taken down by a limp wristed immigration homosexuals. I am keeping my 10 dollars for something better, like I Spit on Your Grave.

[Jake Featherston]

The movie "softens" everything.

In the comic, V is kind of creepy and strange. In the movie, he's this eccentric lovable guy who's a bit odd, and happens to blow things up, but is really quite nice.

The character "V" has some very appealing traits, yes, but he's portrayed in quite a creepy and strange way overall.

I saw this movie in the theaters TWICE. I friggin' loved it!

[Jake Featherston]

Equilibrium was underrated. Except for the ending, which was a bit shit.

I love that movie too, but "V for Vendetta" is even better.

[Jake Featherston]

-There's a mass uprising at the end, where the civilians are all together, and for some reason the paramilitary types don't shoot.

The "paramilitary types" at the end were, I think, the regular British Army, consisting of more-or-less ordinary, young British men. This may explain their reluctance to fire on the crowd.

[Sinclair]

The "paramilitary types" at the end were, I think, the regular British Army, consisting of more-or-less ordinary, young British men. This may explain their reluctance to fire on the crowd.

I believe they had party insignia on their uniforms.

In any case, the comic is better.

[Jake Featherston]

I believe they had party insignia on their uniforms.

Fair enough (yet not decisive).

In any case, the comic is better.

Just so long as its not a "graphic novel." :bbbat:

[Hippias]

The character "V" has some very appealing traits, yes, but he's portrayed in quite a creepy and strange way overall.

I saw this movie in the theaters TWICE. I friggin' loved it!

Yeah, I loved it too. My favorite scene was when the two lesbians kissed. What was yours?

[Jake Featherston]

Yeah, I loved it too. My favorite scene was when the two lesbians kissed. What was yours?

My favorite scene was when "V" presented his television broadcast, one year prior to the film's culmination.

[Hippias]

My favorite scene was when "V" presented his television broadcast, one year prior to the film's culmination.

You're pulling our legs, Kevin. How could you possibly have enjoyed such brazenly left-wing, pro-fag agitprop as V?

The film also recycles every action movie cliche we've all seen a milion times: massive explosions, impeccably timed martial arts moves, and one person overwhelming dozens.

[Sinclair]

Just so long as its not a "graphic novel." :bbbat:

Yeah, it is a bit wanky. Still, "comic book" does make it seem a bit juvenile. And what is something that never was released in comic format supposed to be called?

Could be worse, like "sequential art".

[Jake Featherston]

You're pulling our legs, Kevin. How could you possibly have enjoyed such brazenly left-wing, pro-fag agitprop as V?

I censored the pro-fag & pro-muslim aspects from the plot in my mind, and made up my own movie with a more desirable plot than the one objectively shown on the screen. Don't you ever do that?

[Billy Score]

I censored the pro-fag & pro-muslim aspects from the plot in my mind, and made up my own movie with a more desirable plot than the one objectively shown on the screen. Don't you ever do that?
.. No, not really.. However that is a good idea. I will do this from now on. Every film with be a masterpiece

[IlluSionS667]

Perhaps someone should add this thread together with this thread (http://www.thephora.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7596). I only just saw there was already a thread about this film :o

IMO, "V for Vendetta" the film is excellent criticism on the Bush regime, and that's what I like most about it. It tells how a regime can use fake terror and media control to create fear among the masses where it will represent itself as the savior of mankind who will make everything better. The masses just have to give up their freedom, however they will be compensated with hedonistic entertainment and luxury if they're lucky to obtain a decent position. This is what the US is all about today, and "V for Vendetta" shows us what the near future will look like if we don't do anything about.

[Anarch]

Just watched the trailer. The knife throwing V guy looks like a fag.
I'd expect you of all people to know who Guy Fawkes was. I've known about Guy Fawkes since about the time I knew what the British Empire was. He's a legend :D

[Ahknaton]

I'd expect you of all people to know who Guy Fawkes was. I've known about Guy Fawkes since about the time I knew what the British Empire was. He's a legend :D
In Kiwistan we have a yearly fireworks festival in his honour, so I've known about him since I was old enough to appreciate the aesthetic value of loud noises and blowing shit up (about 5 years old). We even used to burn effigies of him.

[Anarch]

In Kiwistan we have a yearly fireworks festival in his honour, so I've known about him since I was old enough to appreciate the aesthetic value of loud noises and blowing shit up (about 5 years old). We even used to burn effigies of him.
That's kinda harsh. I like him.