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David McK (3550 KP) rated V for Vendetta (2005) in Movies

Oct 23, 2022  
V for Vendetta (2005)
V for Vendetta (2005)
2005 | Action, Thriller
7
7.7 (58 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Remember, remember, the fifth of November ...
2005 adaptation of the 1980's Alan Moore classic, set in a near-future dystopian Britain where the populous is afraid of the (fascist) government, and where a vigilant known only as V uses terrorist tactics to rebel against said government and slowly falls for a young reporter named Evie

The story, then, has more than a hint of The Phantom of the Opera about it - both involve masked figures who live in the shadowy underworld, both involve melodrama and a star-crossed love story - with Hugo Weaving never once showing his face through the entire runtime, but still - impressively - able to convey his emotions through his acting.
  
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David McK (3550 KP) rated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) in Movies

Dec 18, 2019 (Updated Jun 16, 2020)  
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
9
8.3 (227 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Enpire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home abord her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy ..."

So reads the opening crawl to the first Star Wars film (otherwise known as "Episode IV: A New Hope"), with this opening crawl becoming a feature of all the Star Wars films to date.

That is, until this one - the first to NOT have an opening crawl, and the first to NOT focus on any of the Skywalkers. Instead, this film deals with what was originally only just described in that crawl; by the mission to steal those Death Star plans and, as such, is the first completely self-contained and stand-alone Star Wars film.

I'd heard this described as a war movie, and that's probably a pretty fair comparison - this is more serious than the other six (especially the prequel Trilogy), maybe a bit darker in places, with the Rebel Alliance not afraid of getting their hands dirty and not quite the idealists they were originally portrayed as.

As this is back in galactic Civil War territory, we also have the return of some of the original villains of the saga - it's no secret that Darth Vader casts a shadow over the film (while not being the main villain of it), with an extended sequence towards the end showing just why he was so feared, and probably destined to become - like the 3-way Qui-Gonn Jinn/Kenobi/Maul fight in 'The Phantom Menace', or Vader vs Luke in 'The Empire Strikes back' - one of the most talked about scenes in the entire saga.

(As an aside, and talking of scenes: yes, there are scenes shown in the trailers that don't make it to the final cut, but since I managed to avoid (most of) those trailers, I can't really comment on that.)

Maybe a tad slow in getting started, but the bombastic final act more than makes up for it!