My IMAX V For Virginity Lost

I went to see V For Vendetta on Friday night at our local IMAX theater. This afforded me the chance to see some former co-workers and friends whom I hadn't seen in many a moon as well as take in the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

I want to admit that I've never read the graphic novel upon which the film was based, though I have read other works by Alan Moore. Let me start at the end and say that I was saddened to see in the credits that Adrian Biddle had died. V For Vendetta was his last picture. At first I thought he was another DoP but I looked him up and realized my mistake. Instead I found that Biddle was Ridley Scott's cinematographer during Scott's middle period which includes Willow, Thelma & Louise, and 1492: Conquest of Paradise and was focus puller for Ridley's first two films, The Duellists and Alien. In addition, Biddle shot the darkly moody films Event Horizon and Reign of Fire. Plus Aliens and The Princess Bride. Apparently he died of a heart attack. A shame.

Since I've never read V For Vendetta I can't compare & contrast the book and film. What I can say is that the film was a visceral and fun ride. People get killed and shit gets blown up. This is, of course, assuming you can get passed Natalie Portman's horrid attempt at an English accent. There's no nuance here at all. V is a fairly typical hero fighting against stereotypically evil government. If there's any political commentary to be had, it's the rather hackneyed aphorisms of V.

The film traces the efforts of V to bring down the totalitarian government in the story that runs the UK. All the while, the history of the man behind the Guy Fawkes mask slowly unravels before us as well. In addition, Portman's character, Evey, gets thrown into the middle of it all and she her past also plays a role. The script is well-paced and does a good job of alternating between telling V's and Evey's story. The special effects are excellent as is the cinematography. There's a wonderful scene where a doctor wakes up in the middle of the night. The moonlight coming in through her windows sharply divides the room into areas of light and shadow. A wind blows through the windows and moves the curtain which sheds just a bit of light on V who stands in the corner. There are several nice touches like this although I could have really done without the Matrixization of the final fight scene at the end.

Two final comments: Firstly, did Madison get a mini-IMAX? I thought the screen would be much bigger. And secondly, there was a trailer for the re-make of The Poseidon Adventure. No, no, NO! A thousand times NO! No Ernest Borgnine, no good.