Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.




Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 




JCVD ***1/2
Lola Montes ****
Quantum of Solace **1/2
More
 




Bikini Bloodbath Carwash
The General: Ultimate Edition
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (3-Disc Special Edition)
Roman Holiday: Centennial Collection
Sukiyaki Western Django
More
 

Film Features

My latest posts at cinematical.com
A Tribute to Paul Newman
Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
Manny Farber (1917-2008)
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Emily Mortimer
Brad Anderson
Scarlett Johansson: Anywhere I Lay My Head [CD Review]
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
Charlton Heston (1924-2008)
Scott B. Smith
Estelle Parsons
Roger Donaldson
Roy Scheider (1932-2008)Mike Binder
James McAvoy
Tony Gilroy
David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen
William Friedkin
Peter Fonda & James Mangold
Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me
Steve Buscemi on Interview
Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz
Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host
Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton
The 'Mexican New Wave'
Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn
Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Chris Noonan Interview
Robert Altman (1925-2006)
Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Joe Eszterhas
Jet Li
Zach Braff
Kirby Dick
James Ellroy
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
Adrien Brody
Steve Irwin (1962-2006)
Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit
Matt Dillon
David R. Ellis
Maria Bello
Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
Al Gore
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
Sign up for my weekly newsletter!
 
About | Lists | Gallery | News | Links | E-mail me.
 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
© 1997-2008 Combustible Celluloid



V for Vendetta (2006)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

You Can Count on 'V'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy V for Vendetta on DVD

Legendary comic book writer Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell) recently denounced Andy and Larry Wachowski's screenplay adaptation of V for Vendetta, but that's just who he is. If fans had observed him smiling and embracing a giant, corporate movie, he would have lost some of his mythic outsider status.

In truth, Moore and the Wachowskis have quite a bit in common. When Moore began V for Vendetta all the way back in 1982, it was a veiled cry against Margaret Thatcher and a call for justice and freedom. The Wachowskis have kept the English setting and have moved it to the near future, but their tale revolves around a self-righteous, conservative government led by the maniacal Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt) -- perhaps too maniacal. How did the people living in this world ever get behind this ranting lunatic?

In any case, only the thickest of viewers will fail to connect this supervillain, who rose to power during a time of emergency, with the current U.S. administration.

Enter our hero, V (Hugo Weaving), a new kind of revolutionary with a master plan. He wears a smiling, Guy Fawkes mask, a smooth black wig and a flowing black cape. He speaks with a sophisticated, erudite vocabulary, peppering it with French phrases, and wields an array of blades with kung-fu elegance.

Rather than rescuing busloads of people, he prefers to set an example and nurse a spark of hope. His fate intertwines with beautiful Evey (Natalie Portman), the daughter of anti-government radicals, when he rescues her from a typical comic book back alley attack. Meanwhile, a curious government official, Finch (Stephen Rea) tries to figure out what's really going on.

The Wachowskis like Big Ideas in their films. They have a penchant for overloading and over-explaining, as in the Matrix sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions), but when the various elements are revealed gradually, as in The Matrix (1999) and V for Vendetta, it works beautifully. The Wachowskis and their first-time director James McTeigue (an assistant on all three The Matrix films) successfully layer their agenda within a gripping, puzzle-box story laden with quizzical clues.

The key is in the effective performances by Portman and Weaving. The masked hero could easily have morphed into a soulless special effect, but Weaving's clever phrasing and movements keep him touchingly human. In fact, unlike many other comic book movies, V for Vendetta never forgets the human foundation among the pyrotechnics and visual effects. It always takes time out for a pause, a thought or a song -- something for the soul and the heart as well as for the guts.

DVD Details: Warner Home Video has released a top-notch double-disc set of this movie, and I was surprised how fast it sucked me back into a second viewing. The extras are relegated mostly to little making-of featurettes (there's no commentary track), and those reclusive Wachowskis are nowhere to be seen (if you were thinking of checking out the new and improved Larry, think again). There's also an Easter egg on Disc Two. Highlight the logo at the top of the second screen, and you'll see a clip of Portman performing a faux gangster-rap song on "Saturday Night Live."

Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, James Purefoy, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinead Cusack
Written by: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, based (uncredited) on a comic book by Alan Moore
Directed by: James McTeigue
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and some language
Running Time: 132 minutes
Date: March 17, 2006

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2007 Combustible Celluloid