V for Vendetta also spells V for Victory
by: Average Joe 2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks, 13 hours, 37 minutes ago
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Warner Bros.
Let me first start off by saying that I knew next to nothing about the story behind Alan Moore’s graphic novel “V for Vendetta”. In fact the only thing I did know was what the main character “V” looked like...err, what his mask looked like rather. Not really knowing anything wasn’t such a bad thing going into this movie because it meant my expectations wouldn’t be too high, and they wouldn’t be too low either. Now that I have sat thru the 2hr 30+ film all I can say is...WOW!
Without going too in-depth of the back story behind the film, I will try to give a brief synopsis for those people who like me know next to nothing about the story.
"V for Vendetta" is set in futuristic London, and tells the story of a masked man simply known as “V” (Weaving) who befriends a young girl named Evey (Portman). Highly trained in hand to hand combat, and with charisma to match “V” ignites a revolution when he destroys two London landmarks and takes control of the British airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to strike back at the tyrannical government. As Evey begins to learn more about the mysterious “V” she also in turn begins to learn more about herself and emerges as his unlikely ally in the fight to restore freedom and justice to a society that has lived under cruelty and oppression for far too long.
One of the many things that impressed me the most about this film is that this is Director James McTeigue’s first time in the Director’s chair, yet you’d think he’d been at it for years. Now granted he has had a wealth of experience serving as first assistant director on all three of “The Matrix” films, but for his first time as the man in charge McTeigue makes it look effortless.
Written by the Wachowski brothers (also of Matrix fame) almost a decade ago, “V for Vendetta” gets it right on every level there is. The film not only has a wonderfully original story, boasts a pretty impressive cast led by Hugo Weaving (The Matrix...notice a pattern here?), Natalie Portman (Star Wars, Garden State) and John Hurt (Hellboy, Alien), but will keep you completely and utterly entertained as it takes you thru the development of “V” and Evey’s relationship, leading to the film’s climax that features one of the best action scenes in recent memory (and YES it does feature some slow-mo FX similar to The Matrix) all topped off with a big BANG! (pun intended).
What I most enjoyed about this film was that the character “V” isn’t your typical hero in that he doesn’t run around in a brightly colored costume saving people from your token “bad guys”. In fact “V” is more like a terrorist fighting for a good cause (is there such a thing?) against a totalitarian government. “V” is unlike any other character I’ve ever seen. Not only does he run around in a Guy Fawkes (a 16th century radical who was willing to go to extremes for his beliefs) mask, arm himself with only daggers--which he is an expert at using, but the character is extremely articulate and often speaks using lines from poetry of Shakespearean plays, that will actually make you sit and think. My personal favorite is “Artists use lies to tell the truth, Politicians use lies to cover the truth up."
Overall I thought “V for Vendetta” was definitely the best movie I’ve seen this year, and probably one of the best I’ve seen in awhile. Hugo Weaving (despite not being seen at all) does an amazing job as “V” and has me convinced that NO ONE could’ve delivered the film’s dialogue like him. Natalie Portman, who’s usually always good gives in my opinion one of her best performances yet. Initially she is a very mild-mannered working girl, but by the end of the film we have see her character Evey evolve into a confident, fearless ally of “V”....complete with a bald head.
I definitely recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of the original graphic novel (which I will be purchasing now) or any fan of original, thought provoking films. By the time you walk out of the theater you’ll be repeating the films tagline..."Remember, remember the 5th of November."
From all the great reviews, it looks like a film to see. I wonder what specific problems Alan Moore has with it.
From what I have heard, Moore’s main complaint is that he doesn’t think his books should be made into movies period. He’s had some bad experiences in Hollywood, much like Frank Miller, although it really does come down to the fact that he doesn’t think his books NEED the translation, so there shouldn’t be one. Great movie though, loved it. I actually thought some parts were better on screen than in the novel.