V for Vendetta

The 2005 political action thriller, V for Vendetta, seems on the surface to be an exploitative anti-establishment flick that takes pleasure in riling up the masses, but actually doesn’t come across as so mindlessly destructive when watching. Based on the limited DC Vertigo comic created by Alan Moore, David Llyod and Tony Weare, the story of an anarchistic masked freedom fighter slowly toppling the authoritative regime of an ultranationalist Britain, feels like it wouldn’t be anything more than a sponge for controversy, but the graphic novel gained a faithful fan base that became enamored by its words and style, sold over 500, 000 copies in the United States, and proved similar enough to Moore’s other popular comic work like Batman: The Killing Joke and Watchmen in tone and style to warrant a similar kind of praise from critics. In 2005, a film version was released by Warner Brothers and Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who after completing their Matrix trilogy, returned to a screenplay they conceived after enjoying what the book provided, and the results were pretty positive.

Set in the near future where the world has been thrown into chaos due to the outbreak of a nuclear war, Britain has transformed into a fascist, totalitarian regime and is run by the cruel and extremely bigoted Chancellor Adam Sutler (played by John Hurt) who has manipulated the masses into living in blind fear through use of propaganda, media control, and swift executions for anyone who is of a different race, sexuality or just doesn’t agree with the current way of living. One such disassociated woman named Evey (played by Natalie Portman) lost both her activist parents when she was younger yet lacks the strength to fight back against the system herself, but after almost being assaulted by two corrupts officers, she is saved by a stylish cloaked assailant wearing a Guy Fawkes mask named ‘’V’’ (played by Hugo Weaving). Needing to go into hiding after being associated with V (who just blew up a criminal court building on the eve of November 5th), Evey tries to learn more about this masked figure’s motives, yet his literal faceless-ness makes him a tough nut to crack, with only his desire to upend the corrupt political system being front and centre. Being chased down by several of Sutler’s top men as well as Chief Inspector Eric Finch (played by Stephen Rea), who himself is slowly realizing he’s working for a dirty government, V plans on concluding the next November 5th in a big way, and Evey has her own part to play in his grand spectacle.

V for Vendetta may have gotten some push back for changing things from the graphic novel (including from Alan Moore himself), but the film was largely enjoyed by most, who appreciated its themes, visuals and acting. While a little messy in parts and not as stylish as it could’ve been, the movie has a lot of strong working pieces that help make it a memorable flick.

Even though it wasn’t directed by the Wachowskis, this is very much their movie, not just because of how it moves and feels, but also because many people in this movie were also attached to their Matrix films, including actor Hugo Weaving, producers Grant Hill and Joel Silver, and even director James McTeigue (who previously acted as an assistant director and upgraded to main director with this feature). You can feel from the style of the visuals, the look of the costumes, to even the pace of the story and dialogue that this is a Wachowski movie, but while that would normally be problematic, it’s actually handled quite effectively here as all their usual tropes actually benefit this story and its delivery. Since a lot of Moore’s work is also very dialogue-driven, stylistically visualized, and heavy on deep philosophy, it feels like a match made in heaven between creatives, and while there are times when the writing can feel overly convoluted and spoken in a pretentious manner, it’s surprisingly not too common and is instead spoken in a tone that matches the personality and attitude of this world quite nicely. The commentary explored in this story isn’t too bad either, mainly in regard to its exploration of faceless-ness and the positives and negatives that come with it (which is especially relevant now with ambiguity being more rampant than ever thanks to the online space).

Whether it’s through the loud and unsubtle political party and leader who are always shown on full display yet never ring one element of truth in their words, or through the character of V, who is never fully shown and is run more by his ideals than his own persona yet feels more open and honest than those that don’t live in the shadows, this theme is always kept in your mind throughout its entire running time. It’s pretty fascinating to think about, and while the commentary surrounding the political landscape of this universe has been bogged down a little bit (with the original vision of fascism vs anarchism being replaced with something more streamlined), it still comes across in a sense that doesn’t feel easily explained away or falsely established. The film is well paced, acted, and presented in a fashion that might feel a little basic and without much flair (more than likely coming from McTeigue’s rookie status), but isn’t completely absent of an occasional cool visual, poignant moments, and a delightfully insane tone that juggles between raving madness and collected composure in the span of a few minutes. It might not be as complexly handled as the original source and dips its toe into the personality of a mainstream blockbuster a few times too often, but it still gets its point across even while acting as a slightly diluted version for casuals.

The actors know they exist in a world that is cruel, brutal and ‘’mean to the oppressed but kind to the strong’’, but it’s also a distinctly comic book environment, so they’re allowed to be a little over-the-top and dramatic in a way that keeps things from being overly moody and depressing. The characters are certainly played in a way that might seem a little hoaky, but the atmospheric setting and noir-esque tone of the story allows this melodramatic stance to feel authentic, and the well-oiled grit that they contain makes them feel like fully formed individuals in this bizarre world. Evey as a lead is tied to the character of V in a few ways that, while never explored to the fullest, is still interesting regardless. Both are characters that were shaped by a tragedy surrounding the world’s political system and subsequently veered off into different paths on how to face said dangers (with one sinking into the background with a public image, and the other dancing with blades in the night without a true identity), it’s a fun dynamic that (much like the character of V himself) doesn’t have an exact definition and is up to interpretation as to whether it’s parental, mentor/student or even romantic. Evey as a character could’ve been a little better handled and Portman’s acting isn’t always the best with line deliveries that feels pretty wispy and awkward most of the time (probably because she is unable to get the accent down), but the scenes with her and V are still pretty good.

V is easily the best character in the film, with everything from his vague backstory, sleek yet threatening design, and overall attitude and goal being a perfect visual for what the film represents. His connections to Guy Fawkes in more ways than just the mask make him this great enigmatic character who prides himself on being an unknown with no identity other than an idea, and his general pleasant demeanor paired with this cut-throat unstoppable harbinger of justice persona makes him a wonderful blend of being illusive yet still comforting. Hugo Weaving does a great job bringing personality to this role through his eloquent dialect and active moments, with his hammy acting actually adding to the strange appeal of the character rather than taking away from it. The villains are portrayed in an extremely obvious manner, but a lot of fun performances come from this delivery, with people like Tim Pigott-Smith, Rupert Graves, and especially John Hurt clearly having a ball playing these slimy monsters you want to see taken down a peg. Supporting roles like Stephen Fry, Sinéad Cusack and Natasha Wightman are also fairly memorable, and while Stephen Rea can be a little too monotone and overly dramatic half the time, the remaining half is totally serviceable, and his subplot has a few okay scenes.

The film’s graphic novel roots are very apparent through how it’s framed and even designed, as while it never fully submerges itself in this idea to the point that creates a wholly unique visual identity, it still gets across its genre and original medium through the framing of certain shots. The cinematography by Adrian Biddle (who passed away before the film was completed and this film is dedicated to) doesn’t get a lot of great unique-looking shots, but the ones that do whether it’s highlighting an imposing force or just showcasing an obvious visual metaphor, are striking in a dramatic sense and help elevate the film’s themes and narrative. The graphic novel nature is also felt through the production design by Owen Paterson, as in keeping with the film’s Orwellian style, look and atmosphere, the environment has a very washed-out and colorless look to it, with even scenes that are supposed to contain spots of color and light feeling very smoky and drained. This would be a massive turnoff for most other projects, but even though the film doesn’t gain much from featuring this specific iconography, it strangely doesn’t feel like anything is ruined by its inclusion, mainly due to the plot feeling a lot like a film noir which usually contain a lot of shadow work, moody lighting, and cramped angles, it makes the decision feel not as weird. The action is strangely not that impressive, which is doubly odd considering the Wachowski’s overall solid handling of the action’s scene during The Matrix. While this is a different kind of movie with a different tone, you’d figure something would translate over, but the poor shot layout, underwhelming choreography, and horribly noticeable fake blood effects, takes a lot of the cool out of any scene its featured in (which there aren’t a lot of to be fair).

Of the films within the Wachowski’s filmography excluding The Matrix, V for Vendetta is unanimously agreed to be one of their best (which is a little ironic considering they didn’t direct it). While the conflict between those that favor the original source material and those who saw the vision this film had, is still a topic of discussion today (as is the case with most book to movie adaptations),  the film can at least say it tried its best to be its own creation while still paying tribute to where it came from, and this still led to a lot of solid elements. With entertaining actors, effective themes and enough of a fun look to not be entirely bland in delivery, V for Vendetta goes off with a bang with Tchaikovsky’s overture playing amongst the chaos, which feels like a pretty decent encapsulation of everything this film stands for.