V for Vendetta – Movie Review

*MAJOR SPOILERS*

Okay, wow. Before I begin my review I would like to take a moment to applaud this movie.. *stands up and claps at his screen.. alone* Alright.. On with the review.

V for Vendetta is a 2005 action/thriller film directed by James McTeigue. The film stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in a modern take of the classic novel, 1984. The film takes place in an alternate future in which the government has complete control over their people except for one vigilante who seeks the help of a young girl to overthrow the powers above. Unlike a lot of movies that I’ve recently reviewed, V for Vendetta has a great story filled with a great cast, and nails almost every ingredient for a perfect film (all in my own opinion). The film’s pacing is almost perfect except for some slow issues towards the end of the second act, but other than that, V for Vendetta keeps the audience engaged and well informed (for the most part). A huge issue that films face now-a-days is that characters aren’t developed enough for you to have an emotional attachment to them. V for Vendetta does an amazing job bringing all of its characters’ to life by giving a defining feature to each individual person featured throughout this film. From our main character, to the four eyed little girl, each person has their own well defined arc, and part in the story.

The movie begins with a prologue that helps push the film’s tone and theme to the audience. In the prologue we see the story being set up with beautiful narration (learn from this Blade Runner) and visuals of 17th century Europe during Guy Fawkes’ attempt to assassinate King James I. From there we are thrown into present day where we instantly meet both Evey (played by Natalie Portman) and V (played by the talented Hugo Weaving). From the moment that these two meet, we instantly have a connection between the characters and us. This is where I knew for certain that V for Vendetta would succeed, as the film did an amazing job at introducing the two characters to one another. The scene where V introduces himself to Evey is absolutely perfect, and was some of the best writing in film that I have ever seen or heard.

These characters aren’t just good, they’re very good, and V has quickly become one of my all time favorite fictional characters. The secrecy behind him (V) was so well played, it was honestly perfect to me. In the end after V’s death, I thought for sure we would see Evey take off his mask, and to be honest, I was slightly disappointed she didn’t until the final scene between Evey and Finch (played by Stephen Rea). That final scene solidified this movie as one of my all time favorites as the decision to never reveal his face became apparent. In the end, Evey explains who V was to Finch stating that, “He was Edmond Dantés… and he was my father. And my mother… my brother… my friend. He was you… and me. He was all of us.” The film could have shown us who V was, but then ending dialogue wouldn’t have meant as much as it did. I applaud whoever’s choice it was to go that route as it didn’t matter who V was; he was just a man in a mask. In the end it was his ideas that made him who he was, and in the end ideas are bigger than just one person; and ultimately bigger than him. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved that.

Now although I will openly state that V for Vendetta has been one of the best films I have yet to see, it does have some short comings as well. For instance, I felt that act two was very bare, and slowed down the pacing pretty significantly. The moment Evey gets caught at Deitrich’s (played by Stephen Fry) house, to when it was revealed that V had been imprisoning her the entire time, it seems that the film took a break from its incredible narrative, and went down the wrong alley. Now I’m not stating that these scenes didn’t add to the narrative or weren’t essential to the plot, I just think that they slowed down the movie’s pacing to a noticeable extent. Not only did I find an issue in that, but also some backstory didn’t seem quite clear to me. The whole St. Mary’s incident didn’t seem to connect for me, and I felt that I was a tad bit confused. The reason why this isn’t a huge gripe for me is because it’s backstory, and it didn’t contribute much to the need-to-know plot. All I really needed to know about the incident was that a lot of people died, and that the government tried to cover it all up. Although confusing, that message was pretty clear to me. Now with that in mind, will the confusing backstory stop me from watching the movie again? Hell no. I would gladly watch this film again just to understand what I missed in my first viewing.

Alright, to sum things up, V for Vendetta is arguably one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. This movie had great plot, great characters, great actors, great dialogue, and some short comings when it came to its confusing backstory, and minor pacing issues. Other than all that I decided to give V for Vendetta “Golden V’s” on theVade Review Bar as it is one of my new found favorite films. This is the first film to receive “Golden V’s” which means that this film has my 100% seal of approval. In conclusion, V for Vendetta is one of the best films I’ve seen so far, and succeeds in almost every category. It is beautiful take on the classic 1984, and yet this one includes a happy ending.