3/27    Can someone post a link to the text of the Wall Street Journal's
        review of "V For Vendetta"?  Obviously I am not a WSJ Online
        subscriber.  Thank you.
        \_ please delete after you are done. :
        \_ Why did someone delete the review?  Thanks for posting it. -!op
           \_ Because it was stupid to post the content rather than a link
              in the motd.
           \_ It's not deleted, it's behind the paywall.
              \_ I mean someone posted it to the motd then it was gone from
                 the motd a few mins later.  Nevermind, I got to read it. I
                 hop the op did, too.  Thanks to whoever posted it.
        \_ stubborn and stupid person try 2:
---
FILM REVIEW
By JOE MORGENSTERN

V for Violent, Vapid:
Sci-Fi 'Vendetta' Celebrates
Love, Liberty -- and Terrorism

In "V For Vendetta," an action fantasy set in London in 2020, the
masked hero calls himself V, models himself on the 17th-century
political bomber Guy Fawkes, and says that words will always retain
their power. He certainly uses them with verve -- especially v-words,
as in his devotion to "vindicating the vigilant and the virtuous."
Eventually this literary veneer devolves into vexatious volleys of
cultural ventriloquism, or, if you will, a vichyssoise of vapid
verbiage. But images have power, too, and several sequences in this
film are powerful indeed, as in the apocalyptic fulfillment of the
Gunpowder Plot, Fawkes's failed attempt to blow up the Houses of
Parliament. "V for Vendetta" is a veritable gallery of forceful
images, and provocative notions, recycled from such sources as "The
Phantom of the Opera," "The Mark of Zorro," "1984" and "A Clockwork
              In "V For Vendetta," an action fantasy set in London in 2020,
           the masked hero calls himself V, models himself on the
           17th-century political bomber Guy Fawkes, and says that words
           will always retain their power. He certainly uses them with verve
           -- especially v-words, as in his devotion to "vindicating the
           vigilant and the virtuous."  Eventually this literary veneer
           devolves into vexatious volleys of cultural ventriloquism, or, if
           you will, a vichyssoise of vapid verbiage. But images have power,
           too, and several sequences in this film are powerful indeed, as
           in the apocalyptic fulfillment of the Gunpowder Plot, Fawkes's
           failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. "V for
           Vendetta" is a veritable gallery of forceful images, and
           provocative notions, recycled from such sources as "The Phantom
           of the Opera," "The Mark of Zorro," "1984" and "A Clockwork
           Orange." It's also a sententious piece of pop pap that celebrates
terrorism as a necessary evil, and peddles anarchy in a user-friendly
package.  [Hugo Weaving]

The film was written by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski, the
brothers who created "The Matrix" trilogy; they based their screenplay
on the comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore and David
Lloyd. (The first-time director, James McTeigue, was assistant
director on all three "Matrix" productions.) For a while "V for
Vendetta" draws expertly, and extravagantly, on the primal power of
its pulp antecedent. The fancy language, the mysterious protagonist,
the pervasive sense of evil in an England tyrannized by steely
fascists and religious crackpots, it all promises to be great fun. And
so it is when the epigrammatic swashbuckler V, who's played by Hugo
Weaving (Agent Smith in "The Matrix") crosses paths with Natalie
Portman's Evey, a frightened little mouse who doesn't know what to
make of him -- "Are you like a crazy person?" she asks -- or when V,
like some latter-day Vaughan Williams with a vicious streak, conducts
his own explosive London symphony from a rooftop. (The film is also
being shown in IMAX. I haven't seen it in that format, but I'll bet it
           terrorism as a necessary evil, and peddles anarchy in a
           user-friendly package.  [Hugo Weaving]
              The film was written by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski,
           the brothers who created "The Matrix" trilogy; they based their
           screenplay on the comic book series of the same name by Alan
           Moore and David Lloyd. (The first-time director, James McTeigue,
           was assistant director on all three "Matrix" productions.) For a
           while "V for Vendetta" draws expertly, and extravagantly, on the
           primal power of its pulp antecedent. The fancy language, the
           mysterious protagonist, the pervasive sense of evil in an England
           tyrannized by steely fascists and religious crackpots, it all
           promises to be great fun. And so it is when the epigrammatic
           swashbuckler V, who's played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith in "The
           Matrix") crosses paths with Natalie Portman's Evey, a frightened
           little mouse who doesn't know what to make of him -- "Are you
           like a crazy person?" she asks -- or when V, like some latter-day
           Vaughan Williams with a vicious streak, conducts his own
           explosive London symphony from a rooftop. (The film is also being
           shown in IMAX. I haven't seen it in that format, but I'll bet it
           looks impressive.)

At its entertaining best, "V for Vendetta" has the courage of its
borrowings, and conviction in its posturings. (What's not entertaining
is the smarmy tone of its potshots at an America in the throes, we are
told, of a civil war. "Here was a country that had everything," a TV
voice intones at one point, "and 20 years later it's the world's
biggest leper colony.") Some details of the musty English dystopia may
seem familiar to moviegoers old enough to remember Terry Gilliam's
"Brazil." Still, the movie is pitched shrewdly to young audiences,
what with its heroine, Evey, in constant jeopardy, and a hero who
turns out to be tortured, horribly mutilated -- Darth Vader with a
smirky if not quite smiley face -- and conflicted in the bargain,
since his ostensibly principled terrorism is tainted with a mad lust
for revenge. ("Do you really think blowing up Parliament will make
this a better place?" Evey asks him earnestly. The answer is yes, he
does.)  [V] Evey (played by Natalie Portman) is held prisoner in 'V
For Vendetta.'

Yet the film is beset by incoherence and implausibilities that are
perplexing, given the close relationship between the Wachowskis and
the director, Mr. McTeigue -- this is not one of those familiar cases,
it's safe to say, where the writers lost control of their material
when it went into production. Evey's background clearly makes her ripe
for radicalizing, but it's never clear who she's become, or what she's
up to. At work as a secretary for a TV network that resembles the BBC,
she's middle-class. Away from work she could pass for a Dickensian
shop girl. An older, rebellious man who works at the network stars in
              At its entertaining best, "V for Vendetta" has the courage of
           its borrowings, and conviction in its posturings. (What's not
           entertaining is the smarmy tone of its potshots at an America in
           the throes, we are told, of a civil war. "Here was a country that
           had everything," a TV voice intones at one point, "and 20 years
           later it's the world's biggest leper colony.") Some details of
           the musty English dystopia may seem familiar to moviegoers old
           enough to remember Terry Gilliam's "Brazil." Still, the movie is
           pitched shrewdly to young audiences, what with its heroine, Evey,
           in constant jeopardy, and a hero who turns out to be tortured,
           horribly mutilated -- Darth Vader with a smirky if not quite
           smiley face -- and conflicted in the bargain, since his
           ostensibly principled terrorism is tainted with a mad lust for
           revenge. ("Do you really think blowing up Parliament will make
           this a better place?" Evey asks him earnestly. The answer is yes,
           he does.)  [V] Evey (played by Natalie Portman) is held prisoner
           in 'V For Vendetta.'
              Yet the film is beset by incoherence and implausibilities that
           are perplexing, given the close relationship between the
           Wachowskis and the director, Mr. McTeigue -- this is not one of
           those familiar cases, it's safe to say, where the writers lost
           control of their material when it went into production. Evey's
           background clearly makes her ripe for radicalizing, but it's
           never clear who she's become, or what she's up to. At work as a
           secretary for a TV network that resembles the BBC, she's
           middle-class. Away from work she could pass for a Dickensian shop
           girl. An older, rebellious man who works at the network stars in
           a broadly comic TV show that electrifies the nation by making a
mockery of England's dictator, yet he's confident he won't be fired --
an inexplicable misjudgment on his part for what was obviously
seditious conduct.

V, the only character with sufficient magnetism to hold the narrative
together, drops out for an extended period while Evey endures a
hellish imprisonment that's contrived in more ways than one, and in
the end awfully silly. Natalie Portman, as skillful as she is
attractive, does have her moments -- it's affecting to see her hair
being shaved, like Joan of Arc -- but wide-eyed Evey whimpers
endlessly, and tediously, on her way to becoming a fearless woman
who's able to love. And speaking of love, things go blooey instead of
gooey whenever heroine and hero come close enough to touch; far from
being sensual, let alone erotic, the movie proves to be not much fun
at all.

But then fun isn't high on the agenda, crowded as it is with solemn
debates about the role of terrorism in the face of tyranny. The
movie's heart, a mechanical pump connected to a reservoir of
adrenalin, throbs for the smash finish in which the biggest bomb goes
off, and the Houses of Parliament come tumbling down, along with Big
Ben, a frequent casualty in disaster movies. "V for Vendetta" wasn't
meant to be a disaster movie, of course, and there's no reason to
think it will be a disaster, even though its original opening date of
November 5th -- Guy Fawkes Day -- had to be pushed forward after
real-life terrorists attacked London last July. These days filmmakers
who play with fire don't get burned, they get rich.
---
        \_ Why did someone delete the review?  Thanks for posting it. -!op
           \_ It's not deleted, it's behind the paywall.
              \_ I mean someone posted it to the motd then it was gone from
                 the motd a few mins later.  Nevermind, I got to read it. I
                 hop the op did, too.  Thanks to whoever posted it.
           mockery of England's dictator, yet he's confident he won't be
           fired -- an inexplicable misjudgment on his part for what was
           obviously seditious conduct.
              V, the only character with sufficient magnetism to hold the
           narrative together, drops out for an extended period while Evey
           endures a hellish imprisonment that's contrived in more ways than
           one, and in the end awfully silly. Natalie Portman, as skillful
           as she is attractive, does have her moments -- it's affecting to
           see her hair being shaved, like Joan of Arc -- but wide-eyed Evey
           whimpers endlessly, and tediously, on her way to becoming a
           fearless woman who's able to love. And speaking of love, things
           go blooey instead of gooey whenever heroine and hero come close
           enough to touch; far from being sensual, let alone erotic, the
           movie proves to be not much fun at all.
              But then fun isn't high on the agenda, crowded as it is with
           solemn debates about the role of terrorism in the face of
           tyranny. The movie's heart, a mechanical pump connected to a
           reservoir of adrenalin, throbs for the smash finish in which the
           biggest bomb goes off, and the Houses of Parliament come tumbling
           down, along with Big Ben, a frequent casualty in disaster
           movies. "V for Vendetta" wasn't meant to be a disaster movie, of
           course, and there's no reason to think it will be a disaster,
           even though its original opening date of November 5th -- Guy
           Fawkes Day -- had to be pushed forward after real-life terrorists
           attacked London last July. These days filmmakers who play with
           fire don't get burned, they get rich.
           [ reformatted - formatd ]
           \_ Placed in /tmp/VforVendetta.WSJ for posterity. --erikred
              \_ And if you put it on HTTP it'll be archived in Berkeley MOTD
                 forever! Yeah!
              \_ Btw, I found WSJ's dislike of "the [movie's] smarmy tone of
                 its potshots at an America in the throes... of a civil war"
                 to be laughable. What, it's okay to have a totalitarian
                 England but it's unforgivable to imply a failed USA?
                 \_ Agreed, but they are right when they say that the Evey
                    character is incomprehensible.  In the comic book she was a
                    teenage prostitute, but the story clearly had its rough
                    edges sanded off for mainstream appeal.
                    \_ plus the movie ending took out the entire reason for
                       her being in the comic, which was one of the most
                       powerful parts of the story.
                    \_ Reread the book: She was _not_ a teenage prostitute;
                       her one foray into prositution (out of desperation)
                       was the incident that led her to meet V. However, I do
                       agree that her straitened situation would have been
                       more evocative than what featured in the movie.
              \_ thanks for your help.  - stupid and stubborn wsj scrounger