A Woke Super Hero Movie? Yep, V for Vendetta Did That [REVIEW]

In an era where movies based on comic books and graphic novels reign supreme, there are few that are vastly different from all the rest. V for Vendetta brought nuance to the genre.
V for Vendetta was released on March 17, 2006 by Warner Bros, and was directed by James McTeigue. The film stars Hugo Weaving who plays the vigilante, V, and Natalie Portman who plays the character, Evey. This film is a great and grounded attempt at a comic book/graphic novel.
When looking at other movies that fall into this category, few have a real-world feel. Movies like Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy are great because the villains Batman fights are not super powered, and Batman himself is self-contained in his own world and not associated with his super powered friends. Both protagonists, V and Batman respectively, have no super powers and are vigilantes trying to make things right in their society. V for Vendetta is on a different scale when compared to other comic book films. Spider-Man has super powers, Superman is an alien that fights off world ending villains, basically most super hero movies involve the main protagonist having super human abilities and saving the world. While V only has his Sai’s as his weapon of choice and great fighting skills.
V for Vendetta, the film, is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore. The film adaptation has changes, as any film that’s being adapted from a book, but the overall story stays the same. The villain in both mediums is the fascist government and the caped crusader is V, who wants to end the fascist regime that has an iron clad grip on the people of London. I wouldn’t say neither medium did it better or worse. The film did a great job of envisioning just how scary government is and could be, while the novel fleshed out the characters, such as the leader of the regime making him a bit more relatable. The comic book is actually inspired by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, who was Prime Minister during the 1980’s. This movie very much deals with real world issues, such as a potential government with too much power. We’ve seen this throughout history across many countries and how their dictator treats the people.
V for Vendetta has inspired many people around the world, and in a way, has become a symbol of freedom. While many argue that the origins of the mask that V uses in the film come from a 4chan meme, you cannot argue that the movie helped the mask gain massive amounts of popularity. The overall message of the movie is to resist government oppression, and people who wear the mask usually do it to protest. The Guy Fawkes masks themselves are inspired by Guy Fawkes who had a plot to bomb the House of Parliament, more on that later, wink, wink. Although influential, the movie has not progressed the genre of comic films in a way where we see more real-life depictions. Super powered heroes and villains still dominate Hollywood, and a real-world depiction of a comic movie has not been seen since probably 2012’s, The Dark Knight Rises.
The film itself sees Evey helping out V after he saves her and incorporates Evey into his plot of overthrowing the British government. The film takes place in a futuristic dystopian London, England.
The plot of the movie is simple and very much easy to follow, V wants to overthrow the government and their chokehold over the British people. This is a good thing as an overly complicated plot can confuse an audience, especially if they’re not familiar with the source material. The performances were great by both main actors, Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. Portman actually shaved her head for the role of Evey so she could better portray the character better. Weaving on the other hand and his great voice sold me on the mysteriousness, and darkness of his character. The scene that stuck out to me was the one where Evey gets captured and they proceed to shave off her head. Knowing now that Portman wanted to go through with actually shaving her head makes the scene and her performance all the more powerful. The character of V is extremely intimidating, if you’re on his bad side of course. V is an extremely tall and toughly built character, like his real-life counterpart, Guy Fawkes. V gets shot at and stabbed multiple times and that does not faze him at all. I’m specifically talking about that incredible scene towards the movies climax where a group of government officials think they have V surrounded and they all empty out their guns on him, only for V to still be standing. What happens next is amazing as V begins to take out all the bad guys with his knives. The nerd in me was in awe during this scene.
As previously stated, the movie is influenced by Thatcher’s Prime Minister years in England, and by the events caused by Germany’s Nazi party. John Hurt’s character, Adam Sutler, is the dictator in the film. His name in the comic is Adam Susan, but changed for the film so it resembles Hitler’s name. Sutler-Hitler. Visually, Sutler is only seen through screens which gives off those, “big brother is watching” vibes. I personally liked that they kept the character as a semi hidden dictator for the majority of the film.
The cinematography in this film is severely underrated. Many of the scenes are stunning and captivating. My explanations for these scenes will do the cinematography no justice, so go see it for yourself! For starters, there’s every scene with Adam Sutler when he appears on screen, there’s the scene with Evey standing outside as it’s pouring rain, the scene where Evey is laying in her cell and the shot is a top down scene, a scene at the end where thousands of people are looking up as they’re dressed up as V, and the shot where (THIS IS A SPOILER ALERT. GO WATCH THE MOVIE. TRUST ME IT’S A GREAT MOVIE. I WILL NOT FEEL BAD IF YOU KEEP READING THE NEXT FEW LINES. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.) V is lying dead surrounded by all the explosives.
I really enjoyed this movie and definitely think it’s one of the better comic book films out there. It tackles potential real-life issues such government oppression, and has a hero that is relatable. Not to say super heroes aren’t relatable, but V is fighting off real life problems. The audience gets the payoff they wanted. As I had previously stated, Guy Fawkes is the mastermind behind the House of Parliament bombings in London in the early 1600’s. SPOILER WARNING AGAIN! Well, once V dies and a mass group of people gather outside, dressed as V, the House of Parliament begins to blow up, signaling the end of the tyranny in England. In a way, you can say V for Vendetta was about V wanting to end the governments totalitarian control, but do it the way Guy Fawkes had intended. As a history buff, and someone who enjoys comics and films, linking three things that I enjoy a lot sent me through the roof! While V’s methods of fighting oppression are a bit extreme, the film is moving in the way that I want to go out and join marches, and speak out about unfair issues, especially during tough times like right now under the current presidential administration. It also really inspired me to buy a Guy Fawkes mask and dress up as V for Halloween.
Watching V for Vendetta today would be a breath of fresh air in a comic movie industry that involves super powered heroes in spandex, saving the world from world ending threats. This is not only a great comic book movie, but a great movie in general. I personally think many people would not know it’s based off a comic unless they were told. This film has personality with its grittiness and overall dark tones, giving it that serious feel. The cinematography is beautiful, and the actors nailed the performances. The plot of the film is inspiring, causing Guy Fawkes masks to become popular and part of mainstream culture. This film about government subversion, is a subversion itself as it is a new take on comic book films. I love this movie, and on a scale of one to five movie reels, I give V for Vendetta 10 movie reels.