Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

V FOR VENDETTA (R)

MOVIE BIASES: Great look, great trailer. Pre-sold.

MAJOR PLAYERS: Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Natalie Portman (Closer), John Hurt (The Skeleton Key), and producers/writers The Wachowski Bros. (The Matrix)

The "former United States of America" is "the world's biggest leper colony." The British government seems overly concerned with phone surveillance, banning books and lifestyles, as well as abusing its authority (sound familiar?). Welcome to 2018. When Evey Hammond (Portman) is rescued from an after-curfew assault by the wordy, theatrical V (Weaving), she's soon whisked away to his brave, subterranean world of personal freedom. Pledging publicly on national TV to blow up Parliament exactly one year from that day ("Remember, remember, the fifth of November") in order to take back their government from the terrors of totalitarianism, V and Evey develop a close friendship while being branded and hunted as terrorists.

"V for Vendetta," based on the DC Comics graphic novel, has plenty of style to spare. Starting with an airtight script bursting with ideas and sociopolitical commentary on today and our not-so distant tomorrow, "V" is a heady, subversive call to arms against oppression of any kind. With the movie wryly noting that the USA has fallen to its own decadence and "godlessness," it's that same brand of
unfettered personal liberty this country was founded upon that is sorely needed in this oppressive view of futuristic London. Just with the way McTeigue's (a "Matrix" second unit director vet in his solo directorial debut) British government operates as a monolithic, top-down entity that shapes the news through government approved
national news outlets (ahem, Fox News) is enough verisimilitude to give any thinking person pause. And if it wasn't obvious enough through dialogue, the overwhelming Soviet and Nazi symbolism should give you a clue.

While Natalie Portman (and her durable British accent) is lovely as the production assistant turned freedom fighter Evey, centerstage belongs solely to Weaving's verbose, grandiose, alliteration-friendly V. As the self-proclaimed "vaudevillian veteran" gallivanting about behind the mask of a revolutionary 17th century British hero, Weaving spouts such rabble-rousing lines as "People shouldn't be afraid of
their governments; governments should be afraid of their people," cutting a mysterious, dashing figure as the dagger tossing V. When the government is a corrupt, incestuous infrastructure of big business and media that thrives on keeping its citizens in check through the institutionalized manipulation of fear cycles (color-coded alerts, avian flu, ban on free speech protesting...does this ring a bell?), you can see how easily a masked freak like V could become a folk hero.

As a symbol of hope and revolution, "V for Vendetta" is pretty inspirational. However, a few, but fairly substantial logic gaps (How does V finance all this? Does a certain character's imitation of V's tendencies mean there's a little bit of V in all of us, or is there some other connection I missed?) keep this movie from being the
incendiary classic it clearly aims to be. Nevertheless, "Beneath this mask...there is an idea...And ideas are bulletproof." And so is V - almost.

@@@ REELS
(THREE REELS)
It's pretty hot – go give it a shot.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare V FOR VENDETTA (R) MOVIE BIASES: Great look, great trailer. Pre-sold. MAJOR PLAYERS: Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Natalie Portman (Closer), John Hurt (The Skeleton Key), and producers/writers The Wachowski Bros. (The Matrix) The "former United States of America" is "the world's biggest leper colony." The British government seems overly concerned with phone surveillance, banning books and lifestyles, as well as abusing its authority (sound familiar?). Welcome to 2018. When Evey Hammond (Portman) is rescued from an after-curfew assault by the wordy, theatrical V (Weaving), she's soon whisked away to his brave, subterranean world of personal freedom. Pledging publicly on national TV to blow up Parliament exactly one year from that day ("Remember, remember, the fifth of November") in order to take back their government from the terrors of totalitarianism, V and Evey develop a close friendship while being branded and hunted as terrorists. "V for Vendetta," based on the DC Comics graphic novel, has plenty of style to spare. Starting with an airtight script bursting with ideas and sociopolitical commentary on today and our not-so distant tomorrow, "V" is a heady, subversive call to arms against oppression of any kind. With the movie wryly noting that the USA has fallen to its own decadence and "godlessness," it's that same brand of unfettered personal liberty this country was founded upon that is sorely needed in this oppressive view of futuristic London. Just with the way McTeigue's (a "Matrix" second unit director vet in his solo directorial debut) British government operates as a monolithic, top-down entity that shapes the news through government approved national news outlets (ahem, Fox News) is enough verisimilitude to give any thinking person pause. And if it wasn't obvious enough through dialogue, the overwhelming Soviet and Nazi symbolism should give you a clue. While Natalie Portman (and her durable British accent) is lovely as the production assistant turned freedom fighter Evey, centerstage belongs solely to Weaving's verbose, grandiose, alliteration-friendly V. As the self-proclaimed "vaudevillian veteran" gallivanting about behind the mask of a revolutionary 17th century British hero, Weaving spouts such rabble-rousing lines as "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people," cutting a mysterious, dashing figure as the dagger tossing V. When the government is a corrupt, incestuous infrastructure of big business and media that thrives on keeping its citizens in check through the institutionalized manipulation of fear cycles (color-coded alerts, avian flu, ban on free speech protesting...does this ring a bell?), you can see how easily a masked freak like V could become a folk hero. As a symbol of hope and revolution, "V for Vendetta" is pretty inspirational. However, a few, but fairly substantial logic gaps (How does V finance all this? Does a certain character's imitation of V's tendencies mean there's a little bit of V in all of us, or is there some other connection I missed?) keep this movie from being the incendiary classic it clearly aims to be. Nevertheless, "Beneath this mask...there is an idea...And ideas are bulletproof." And so is V - almost. @@@ REELS (THREE REELS) It's pretty hot – go give it a shot. Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com © 2004, Edwardo Jackson