Happy St. Patrick's Day!

NOTE: The following is meant to be read with a fake Irish accent.

Top o the Mornin and all that other stereotypical Irish slang! Today be the day that we set aside for the purpose of drinking, feasting, and acting a general fool. I shall do likewise once I get me humble self to Nashville.

Back to normal mode.

A very well done movie has opened today, and last night I was able to catch one of those advance sneak previews that they do for the geek crowd whenever a comic book inspired movie opens. I speak of V For Vendetta , the latest effort from The Wachowski Brothers, who astounded auidences in 1999 with The Matrix and then not so much four years later with the sequels. While the Wachowskis did not direct this one as they did with their previous outings, they did wrtie and produce and their prints are all over the finished product. While the original comic series' creator Alan Moore has publicly disowned all Hollywood efforts (past, present, and future) at adapting his work, I can say as someone who read it that this one does justice to source. A matter of fact, I would venture to say it improves on it in some regards and makes the story more palatable to unfamiliar audiences, moreso than one would think possible with a largely underground/cult publication such as the comic in question.

Let me start by stating that the previews for this movie are doing it a great injustice by making it look like another mindless action movie, which is most definitely not the case. Granted, what action exists is impressive, but the focal point is the distopian society in which the film's characters exist. The not too distant future finds America as the world's largest leper colony and England a fascist state, very much in the vein of Orwell's 1984. While the movie does tend to go in too many different directions at times, it keeps the main theme intact throughout, being whether or not people should blindly follow a government that might only be taking certain actions and implementing questionable programs to serve its own purpose. One must admit, while this theme has been around for a while, releasing a movie with it in our current time period is a very brave maneuver, now more than ever.

The main character of V, played with much gusto by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith of The Matrix Trilogy, ) is a hero with an interesting angle, and its not just the mask and outfit he always wears; he's a terrrorist. However, his motivations are clearly explained and he eventually proves a rather likeable character, not to mention tragic as well. The best way to describe him is a mixture of Batman and The Phantom of the Opera. In fact, I would say this movie borrows more from the classic Phantom tales almost as much as it does from Orwell. In short, go see this movie if you want something to really stimulate your brain and entertain you as well. Granted, there is some blood, but nothing too extreme for a major movie fan.

More later, now time to travel.