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Reviews
V for Vendetta (2005)
Hmmmmmmm.
I just saw this film at the local cinema (was hoping to see it in IMAX, but for some reason the UK doesn't seem to be showing it in IMAX), and my final thoughts on the film are "Hmmmmmmmmm." With the Spider-Man films, I was a comic fan beforehand, and I loved the films all the same. I was quite familiar with X-Men, Hulk, so on, and I enjoyed those films too. The harder thing with V, which I finally read in October, is that it's a mini-series. One story. Thus, comic fans will notice the changes more. I've noticed the films been getting rave reviews in the States, and mixed ones in the UK. That's why I believe the film will perform better across the Atlantic. Profuro is a Hannity-alike, which will have American liberals jumping with glee, but will have most English people scratching their heads. It's just not quite what we're used to. The comments Alan Moore made here about "eggy-in-a-basket" still hold true, and I was tempted to walk out numerous times during the first half hour. There were some brilliant moments, even some surprisingly decent ones (the alliterative opening speech isn't that bad, thanks to Weaving's fine performance), but after the brilliant beginning explosion there's a great slump. Shouts of "Bollocks!" and numerous shots of people with bad teeth in pubs seem artificial and forced. Natalie Portman's accent does improve as the film goes on, and by the time we enter the Shadow Gallery (a beautiful set), things peak up again. The torture scene: brilliant. The flashbacks to Larkhill were haunting. Its just the odd flaws that stop this from being downright brilliant. To a US audience, these flaws will not be so apparent. I'm not US-bashing. I am Iranian, I've been brought up in England, and I love the States as well. I have family in Virginia, and when I come to visit I'm taken aback by people's kindness and generosity, as a lot of people here have a somewhat warped view. Tangent aside, it's just that these flaws may make the film hard-going for a British audience. I love Weaving's performance, but the early TV station speech was one too many, and too soon. V has won over the populace within the first 20 mins of the film. This leaves less of an arc for the rest, but still, the film prevails. The final explosion, even the infamous V army, is proof of what Hollywood does best. A Mesmerising Climax. If you're desperate for a star rating, I'd give it 4 out of 5. Star knocked off for the artificial Britishness. Two stars for the middle slump. But an extra star each for the wonderful domino montage, and the... I was going to say explosive, but... one extra star for the ending it is. A flawed film, but one worth seeing. I just fear that Saturday the 18th will be like any other day, and that copycat criminals will give the film, and V's cause, a bad name (the shoplifter in the film may be a sign of things to come). Partly I saw the film today for fear of a Clockwork-Orange style backlash in the UK. The hairs on the back of the necks of everyone in the cinema were on end when they saw that Tube train packed with explosives. Even I, who had already read the book and countless previews of the film, was taken aback. An Uncompromising, but flawed, Vision of the Future, indeed.
Dune (1984)
Why?
I usually love cult movies, and have an interest in science-fiction. I love the Star Wars saga, and after initially not liking the sequels have come to love the Matrix Trilogy. I though Flash Gordon was great campy fun, and thought Serenity wasn't bad (but not as good as the Browncoats made it out to be). However, I just can't understand, after watching the film yesterday and today, why people I know love this film. I got a 130min cut free with The Observer newspaper, but I doubt I could stand any extended versions.
Now, the film isn't a disaster. David Lynch is not a hack, and there are some great shots and surreal visions. People might think I didn't like the film because of the special effects, but I thought they were quite impressive (I'm not a CG-hater, but it's definitely overused these days). Having only read a bit of Dune beforehand, I still managed to understand the basic plot line. However, what I didn't like was the acting and the dialogue, which nearly killed the movie for me. Internal monologues are not a bad idea, but were overused and treated the audience like idiots, when what they're thinking is clearly expressed in their emotions. You might think criticizing dialogue is rich coming from someone who loves the Star Wars saga, but in the much maligned Prequel Trilogy, at least George Lucas lets the characters shut up every once in a while. "Your father is dead!" "I know!" "Why? Because he is the Kwisatz Haderach!". Also, trying to get people on film to shout other people to death is nigh-on impossible to pull off (on Wikipedia I read that they merely shout Muaddib as a death-prayer, which would have been visually more effective).
There are some great moments in the film. The baron is so repulsive I nearly threw up, and that's a commendation to the great make-up artists. Patrick Stewart is, well, Patrick Stewart (was this man born 45? He doesn't seem to have aged in the past 20 years) and the vision, as described in these boards, can be wonderfully otherworldly and epic. With a lot of the redundant dialogue cut, and a less woeful knife-fight, this could have been great. I almost gave this a 4, but the vision behind the film tilted it to a 5. That, and the Toto soundtrack, which valiantly defied my expectations and turned out to be rather damn good (I'm a sucker for '80s synth soundtracks).
Amir
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Breathtaking
I had never seen the play before, indeed seen few plays before. I am not a fan of the theatre and feel the limitations detract from performances, but I was a big fan of the soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Webber's production, which was a change from his usual work (which again I do not care for greatly), and wanted to see what this director, Joel Schumacher, notorious for the Batman sequels could do. I was originally going to see this with a group of friends, with the numbers whittling down as the night grew closer (being 16 with parents waiting at home), it ended up being me and just one of my friends. At the end, in short, we found it amazing. Neither of us knew what was to happen. I was really looking forward to the film, but hype has quashed many films (see, or don't see, the extremely lackluster Troy), and this film would have been so easy to screw up. Not the case. In particular, the opening scene is spectacular. A must-see in the cinema.