Talk about "V for Vendetta" here:
Review by: Breanne Derby
Plot Summary
Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta is the story of a young woman named Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) and her interactions with a man known only as "V" (Hugo Weaving). V is a terrorist mastermind who is attempting to overthrow the totalitarian 1984-esque government. He wears a Guy Fawkes mask to disguise himself and makes it his personal mission to succeed where Fawkes failed by blowing up parliament. This film takes place in England in the not-so-distant future after the United States has fallen as a great nation, and Great Britain has given in to a dictator (who is presented in a very Big Brotherly way) named Adam Sutler (John Hurt) who takes away their freedoms. It is these freedoms, and a vengeance for crimes committed against the people of the country, that V is attempting to reclaim.
Review
I found the setting of this film very interesting. The society built in it was very complex and there were many issues of censorship and the loss of basic human rights. It was somewhat difficult to become accustomed to, but it is made clear from the beginning that it does not place in modern day
England as we know it. I found it very fascinating, but I am also very fond of books that take place in similar societies, such as George Orwell's 1984 or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Actually, a lot of things in this society bear similarities to the societies of 1894 and Fahrenheit 451. For example, there are posters in the streets that read "STRENGTH THROGH UNITY | UNITY THROGH FAITH" which strongly reminded me of the posters seen everywhere in 1894 which read "WAR IS PEACE | FREEDOM IS SLAVERY | IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Along with the setting similar to 1984's Oceania, there were many similar themes as well. One definite benefit this film has is that it actually incites thought in its viewers, and I think that alone made this a better film than the vast majority of the ones I've seen since I started reviewing movies. Most films follow an incredibly formulaic setup that has been used and abused countless times. Fortunately for the film industry, every once in a while a real gem hits the silver screen and proves itself different and interesting, and that is the type of film V for Vendetta was.
Though I enjoyed this film, there were a few parts of it which were a bit over-the-top. This wasn't an action-packed car-chase-and-explosions type of film; instead it only had a few action scenes, and that itself was very appropriate and worked well, but during the "climax" of the movie, the action was borderline outrageous. The actions themselves weren't, but the special effects with the blood were.
Conclusion
In spite of the fact that it went a bit too far with the blood in the end, I would still recommend this film to anyone, and I will definitely see it again. When I first walked out of the theatre, I did not know how I felt about this film. I had certainly been captivated by it—I was so captivated that my notebook was nearly empty of notes, which made going back and writing this review somewhat difficult. Having heard nothing but good things about this film from everyone I'd talked to who had seen it, I was prepared to enjoy it. I suppose it may have been that expectation that left me in debate once the lights un-dimmed and I dumped my empty popcorn container in the garbage. It took a few days for me to decide about this film, but I have come to the conclusion that I did in-fact enjoy it. Now that I look back on it, I have the desire to go watch it again to see the things I missed the first time around. I wish I had known that V was played by Hugo Weaving before I had seen the film; I may have been able to pick up on more if I had. This seems like the type of film that one could watch multiple times and notice different things the second or even third time they watched it. Unfortunately, I don’t really want to pay to see it in theatres again, so I'll probably wait until it comes out on DVD and rent it or even buy it. It's really saying something when I consider buying a film because it is not something that I take lightly. I was intrigued enough by this film to consider buying it, and I am considering finding a copy of the graphic novel somewhere, because everyone knows that the book is always better than the film.
