By Stephen Pytak 

     I had a chance to see this film a second time today 
and enjoyed it much more. 
     First time out I was distracted because two comic-
book junkie retards kept mocking the characters on
screen. Natalie Portman, for instance, would say "yes."
And they would say "yes." And "V" would say "Oh not
tonight." And they would say "Oh not tonight." 
     Bastards.
     Anyway, today I caught it at a matinee and was glad
I did. 
     This is an excellent fillm, and a decent adaption 
of the Vertigo comic by Moore and Lloyd by The 
Wachowski Brothers.
     I didn't see Moore's name on the credits, just Lloyd's.
Made me wonder if Moore wanted his removed. 
     The direction was actually pretty good. I was pretty 
hard on McTeigue with my first review. 
     McTeigue, according to IMDB, was an assistant
director on "The Matrix" trilogy, "Star Wars: Episode
II" and other genre effort. This appears to be his
first time as the front man on a film like this.
    "V for Vendetta" is one of the best films I've seen 
this year. I couldn't bring myself to write reviews of
some of the others I've seen. The worst so far by
the way was "Ultraviolet." So it's nice to see something
like "V for Vendetta" grace movie screens.
     It takes place in a world where war and corruption
have eventually let a whacked fascist government take
over Great Britain. The only hope for the future is 
a terrorist who wears a Guy Fawkes mask. 
     Fawkes, by the way, was a terrorist as well who
attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 
Nov. 5, 1605, and was hung for his efforts.
     The hero of our film, a swashbuckling madman 
who calls himself "V," aims to start a revolution by 
picking up where Fawkes left off, spewing "Remember,
remember the Fifth of November..."
     He finds an accomplice, a young impressionable
woman named "Evey (Portman)." And on their journey,
she learns the meaning of oppression, and becomes the
hand of fate.
     The film kind of moves at the pace of the comic book
stories. But there are a lot of noticible changes. Some
I liked. Some I didn't.
     For instance, Evey in the comic was a working girl 
who was short on cash and decides to become a 
prostitute. In the film, she's working as a secretary at
a TV station. Nothing else is suggested.
     In the comic, V blows the hell out of Parliament on
page 14. The movie on the other hand builds and builds
to that big moment. At the top of the show, what V 
destroys with gusto is The Old Bailey.
     What I like about both the film and the comic is the 
motives of their main character, who's basically a 
freedom fighter. 
     There are some great action scenes, but I didn't think
there were enough to put it in an IMAX. But it was 
billed there for whatever reason.
     The star of the show is the voice of Hugo Weaving.
He really does something for the character of V. I think
that's why I liked the film the most. That part of it really
came to life for me.
     Portman was excellent, in particular during the
scenes where she imprisoned. Real emotion there. And
I love the look on her face when she finds out who's
got her in the hold.
     What made me change my review and give this film
a gold this time out was how I viewed some off the 
scenes with the police detectives and John Hurt. They
came off pretty flat first time out and didn't hold my
interest.
     There is a dynamic with these characters. Their 
investigation is forcing them to take a long hard look at 
their world and everything that's wrong with it. Once I 
accepted that, I appreciated their scenes a bit more.
     I think I even enjoyed John Hurt's performance more
this time out. It was hard to the first time because of those
retards in the row in front of me.
     I've also come to appreciate the score by Dario 
Marianelli more. I bought the CD a week ago. I'm 
listening to it as I'm writing this. It features select songs
from the film, including some of the moody melodies
from V's juke, like "Cry Me a River" by Julie London
and "I Found A Reason" by Cat Power.
     I also recommend every fan of the film to check out the
comic, which were published in the late 1980s. You
can find them in most bookstores in one thick edition
published by Vertigo. It's also quite inspiring.