Reviews

V For Vendetta - New to DVD

I couldn’t be happier that the movie market is finally starting to become flooded with comic book film adaptations, good comic book movies, but for every Spiderman 2 and Batman Begins you get a Hulk or a Fantastic Four. So I was a little bit concerned that they were doing a film version of, arguably, one of the greatest comics ever written, V For Vendetta. Even after I heard that the Wachowski Brothers were behind it, I was still concerned. (Need I remind you of the less-than-stellar Matrix sequels?) After I saw enough previews and read a few reviews I felt I was ready to see the film and plunk down my eight bucks. Thank God I did. The film was amazing and a very faithful adaptation of the book. There were some changes, minor and major, but the spirit if the book was there, it ended how it was supposed to and all the players were excellently cast. (Sorry James Purefoy) Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry and John Hurt round out the rest of the cast. Pretty much a bunch of Brits, an Aussie and a Yank.

The film follows a young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is thrust into the rebellious world of the mysterious V (Hugo Weaving). V is a lone revolutionary whose sole purpose is to overthrow the corrupt and totalitarian government of a futuristic England.

Originally the book was broken up into individual stories in the “Warrior” magazine published in England, then into individual issues, later into a graphic novel. Finally the book was finished in the U.S. and published under the DC Comics banner and found great success. In the book the setting was similar to that of the film, but it was set in the 1990’s, which was in the not too distant future for writer Alan Moore when it was originally written. The book deals with many political issues ripped right out of current events, in the early 80’s of England, such as an ultra-conservative England leaning towards a more totalitarian government as a result of what might have happened post WW II. This is as stark of a distopian future as one cold get and Moore illustrated this perfectly due to a lot of research. In the film, the time setting is a little further away, though no specific time frame is given, but the government is the same. The constant monitoring of the people and the total lockdown on culture are the same in both mediums. The only other main difference is that of Evey’s friend Gordon. In the book it was a woman that befriended Evey and helped her hide out. I did like, though, the fact that Gordon hides his culture “items” and also his counter-culture lifestyle. His placement in the script and film seem to fit right in. Also I don’t recall Evey being a production assistant in the governmental media. She was merely just a low-key nothing, who does meet V in the film, in the same way in the book. Other than these differences, the film is very faithful. The characters are right, the origin of who V is is right, the political turmoil and state is right; basically all of the important shit.

The film is a great character driven piece with plenty of action and special effects. Though this may not be immediately recognized as a great comic book movie, I imagine it may grace more than a few lists in the future.

As for the DVD specs, there are three versions to buy. There is a standard one disc that features the film and a making of documentary. The two-disc that has more features including a brief history of the book and one of Guy Fawkes (the historical basis for V’s mask), a production design doc and the theatrical trailer. Not to mention an unexpected Easter egg of Miss Portman’s recent SNL skit. There is also a collector’s edition of the two disc that has all the same features, but includes a replica of V’s mask (not to scale) and four mini posters.

The DVD is in the letterbox format and features Dolby digital sound, aside from that not many technical specs. I recommend, unless you really want to have more crap, to pick up the 2 disc edition and call it a night.

V For Vendetta can be either rented or purchased at Wild and Wooly Video.

Film – 8.5 DVD – 7.5
George

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