V For Vendetta

Synopsis: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot." So starts the graphic novel V For Vendetta, written by comic book mastermind Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, that is the basis for this movie.

It takes place in England sometime in the near future, where a fascist government has used fear and oppression to rob the people of all their freedoms and rights. Along comes a man in a Guy Fawkes mask who calls himself V and blows up The Old Bailey in London and soon after he delivers a promise that one year later he will blow up the Parliament as well. He's immediately branded a terrorist and the police put all effort in on finding him.

Evey Hammond is a young girl who suddenly finds herself in a lot of trouble when she is caught outside after curfew. She is saved by V and later returns the favor, but in the process of doing so she makes herself an accomplice and also become hunted by the government. V decides to help her and takes her to his hideout. As she's there she tries to find out who the man behind the mask is and what is the reasoning behind all the killings and destruction he instigates? As time passes and once again nears the 5th of November the situation quickly escalades towards a final and inevitable confrontation...


Review: In short V For Vendetta is just a really good movie. It's looks great, the actors are great and, most importantly, the script manages to take the original story and adapt it into a faster moving movie without losing the spirit and message that were so fundamental. This is a great example of how you do a comic book adaptation. It's a shame comic book author Alan Moore decided to have his name removed from the credits because of disagreements with the producers. This, unlike some of the others, is really a very well done adaption of his work in my opinion, though for all I know he really hated it (or maybe he didn't even seen it).

At the bottom of both the movie and the original graphic novel lies the question: How much freedom would you give up for security? It's a very important question when you consider today's political climate. The frequent use of fear as a tool to drive through laws that restrict and/or ignore freedoms and civil rights in the name of security is a central issue in this so called "post 9/11-world". In the movie it was poison gas attacks on a school, subway and water treatment plant that ignited the fear of British citizens and in the wake of it a extremist conservative party was elected into office. It's leader Adam Sutler and his government used their power to the fullest and it led to the banning of all "dangerous" art and culture as well as a genocide off everyone who was "different". Then the charismatic V, terrorist or freedom fighter, depending on which side you're on, arrives and tries to wake the people out of their fearful apathy by blowing up The Old Bailey.

Most of the story has been taken right out of the graphic novel, but it's been changed here and there. Particulary the ending takes a rather sharp turn away, but it works very well because of the cinematicality of it. The movie built towards and needed to end on a higher point so that the whole thing didn't peter out in the end, leaving an abundance of disappointed audience members in its wake. It also works because it makes the message come out much clearer and since it's very much in tone with the original story all the way through it doesn't matter that some things are different. That said, it was awesome to see the turning point of the story translated pretty much panel for panel from the comic. The "prison sequence" was such a great twist and it really made the story go from good to great in my mind when I read it. Hopefully it felt like that for the audience who watched this movie with no knowledge of it, too.

The story is a sort of warning about the future, originally aimed at Margaret Thatcher's conservative rule of Great Britain in the 80's, but just as interesting and relevant today. It does hit you over the head a bit with the messages at times, but this "second layer" raises the movie out of the sea of mediocre action movies that have been coming out lately. All round this movie is a fast-paced and exciting action thriller that kicks off with a bang and never looks back until the credits roll. One of the most entertaining, yet still very smart and well written, movies I've seen in the last few years.

I also have to mention how beautiful the movie looks. The mood really comes through in every shot. The dystopian future is presented in a very dark, yet detailed, way with a grayed out look forming the backgrounds that the dystopian and futuristic story is set against, with an exception for the very light and colorful look back into the time before the change in society. The contrasting use of light and shadows, particularly in relation to V and the mask he wears is just very well done all through the film. It's a very stylized movie, as you'd expect from the makers of the Matrix-trilogy, complete with some slow motion action scenes that are thankfully used sparingly so they don't distract you too much or lose their "coolness".



The two main characters are of course V and Evey, both played very well by Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman respectively. Weaving really manages to create a very interesting character with V despite the fact that his face is never shown in the movie. Instead he makes it all come through in his voice and physical performance and it works very well. I really like the softer and more playful side of V that you see every now and then. It helps to make him more human and not just some angry guy out for revenge. The character could easily have ended up like a total cliché, but thanks to all of the nuances that Weaving expresses you really get a feeling of the person behind the mask. Natalie Portman does a very good job too making Evey Hammond feel like a very real character. The movie hinges on her as it's really her story we're going through so it's very important that the audience feel with her and can see themselves in the same position. Thankfully that is no problem here as you really feel for Evey as her life slowly gets ripped apart until she's sort of born a new. She transforms from a relatively insecure and weak girl into a very strong and confident woman through the story and Portman does a great job showing the differences. She does a pretty good job with the English accent too, though I'm no expert so I don't know how correct it is, but it's much more subtle when compared to some other Hollywood actor's British accents.

There are lots of great actors in the smaller parts too, Stephen Rea in particular as Inspector Finch. John Hurt is perfect as the big bad Adam Sutler and the rest of the bad guys are played well too. They're all a bit similar and standard bad guys, but the story doesn't really involve them that much so it's okay.

Summary: V For Vendetta diverts a little from the graphic novel it is based on at times, but only to make it a more entertaining film. In the end it keeps the spirit and message of the original material, looks fantastic and has some great action scenes. All round a very solid and entertaining movie action thriller with more depth than you’d expect.

9 / 10