WATERSHIP DOWN (Released to Theaters USA 1978)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.4|5.0 Stars ììì

Watership Down, a British animated feature, is not a simple story, nor a story that can be lightly followed. It takes attention, thinking, and involvement to follow the storyline. But, while not well received in the United States, the movie is a completely, not-to-be-missed, more than interesting, good rendering of the importance of perseverance, instinct, and fight necessary to find, establish, and keep a safe home. Told through the eyes of rabbits, the film thoroughly and creatively explores life, death, the importance of females to the continuation of species, and the link to higher forces to successfully navigate even the most difficult of situations. Even though this film has all these good things, there is a down side to this film. It has little to no character development and the plot is a a little hard to follow as the story moves from warren to warren.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

A colony of rabbits needs to find a new warren.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director and Producer Martin Rosen for his directing efforts. Cast includes: Richard Briers, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox, John Bennett, Simon Cadell, Terence Rigby, voiced by Roy Kennear, Richard O’Callaghan, Denholm Elliott, Lynn Farleigh, and Zero Mostel.

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. The film may have little character development and the story may need a better plotline, but the upside is: the movie has 'impact' in that it is memorable, multi-layered, and appeals to the intellect due to its depth and value. The movie easily earns multiple watches because of the intellectual storyline.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers

V FOR VENDETTA (Theatrical Release USA 2005)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì

V for Vendetta—a wannabe action drama—seems to desire to rub elbows with movies like Batman, Hellboy, Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy; but falls short because of content and scripting. The metaphors, such as character Guy Fawkes, devout British Catholic from 1606 C.E. placed in the year 2020 C.E. and costumed in a black/white theatre mask, are difficult to interpret. Questions relevant to the storyline are ambiguously hinted at without necessary links to answers, such as the difficulty understanding why ‘V’ is allegedly burned. The main character’s real name or real character is never revealed other than a ridiculous insinuation at the end of the film that ‘V’ is every man. That statement inevitably places the film into the category of a piece of art that haughtily claims every man’s enjoyment while actually appealing solely as a piece of art created for the haute couture clientele. The question of why this particular story is relevant or worth telling seems unclear. Is the story entertaining? No. It misses its purpose. It’s a message movie without a clear message.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The United States is trying to recover from its second civil war. Europe is in the middle of battling the deadly St. Mary’s Virus while Britain’s new ruler, High Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt), in Hitler-like, grand plan fashion, assassinates immigrants, political opponents, homosexuals, and atheists. V (Hugo Weaving), badly burned in a hospital fire, puts on a Guy Fawkes mask, calls himself V (for Vendetta), starts blowing up land marks, kills people he believes to be responsible for his condition, enlists the help of British TV network representative, Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), and this fractured story is on.

Additional Thanks

Really Good Work for Director James McTeigue. Thank you to Executive Producer Ben Waisbren for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Finch (Stephen Rea), Deitrich (Stephen Fry), Creedy (Tim Pigott-Smith), Dominic (Rupert Graves), Lewis Prothero (Roger Allam), Dascomb (Ben Miles), Delia Surridge (Sinéad Cusack), Valerie (Natasha Wrightman), Lilliman (John Standing), and Etheridge (Eddie Marsan).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. If your mind is such that it becomes fixated on a white theatre mask and not much else, this dark action drama may be for you. There are much better films based on DC comics such as Director Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins or The Dark Knight.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers