V for Very Rubbish
Oh dear. If even Jonathan Ross doesn't like it, it must be bad. Sadly I can see myself forking over some of my hard-earned anyway.
"Nothing, but nothing, works. For a start, Hugo Weaving is given an impossible task in playing a hero who spends the entire film behind a full face mask, and is therefore incapable of visual expression. It's a notion which is perfectly acceptable in a comic book, and deadly on film.
As the heroine, Natalie Portman just isn't up to the task, failing in even the most basic requirements of the role, such as providing a consistent and credible accent. Around her, a cast of notable and familiar talents such as John Hurt and Stephen Ray stand little chance amid the wreckage of the Wachowski siblings' dismal script and its particularly poor dialogue.
And unlike so many fantasy adventure films, the visuals don't offer any compensation for the shortcomings of the screenplay. Despite postponing the release date from last November to allow more time for post-production work, the film looks cheap and lacks any sense of time or place.
Throw in Matrix veteran James McTeigue's flat direction and you have a woeful, depressing failure. If it had been called V for Vasectomy I could scarcely have found it a less enjoyable experience, so please don't let your curiosity get the better of you when it arrives down your way."
τ
:: | 5:17 pm |Save This Page | |
|
3 Comments:
Yes, he didn't exactly hold back there, did he? I was saying only a few hours before his comments that I was so long forward to this film as well. Oh well ...
Agh, but Mark Kermode likes it. I'll just have to make my own mind up!
Yes, I heard Kermode on the Culture Show picking it as his film of the week - like you, I'll go and decide myself!
This is an archived story. See current posts here!