The first time I saw a preview for V for Vendetta, I wasn’t sure what to think or if I wanted to see the movie. As I saw more previews and heard more about the movie I decided that I did want to see it.
V for Vendetta was set in the not to distant future in England. War has all but destroyed the United States and new government, controlled by Chancellor Adam Sutler, was ruling in England. In the name of protecting people, personal rights and freedoms were taken away. Most people were too afraid of the police and government to do anything. People that tried to stand up in any way were hauled out of their homes in the middle of the night by the police and put in prison or even executed. People that had different beliefs or were a little different were also taken away.
One night a young woman named Evey ventured out after curfew and was stopped by policemen who thought that raping her would be a good idea. A man wearing a mask and cape arrived and saved her. He said for her to call him V and then he took her to the top of a building to watch while he blew up a building. The Chancellor didn’t want the public to know the truth about what had happened and had the media put spin on what happened. V took over the television studio where Evey worked to send out his message. Inspector Finch was in charge of the investigation and believed that Evey had been working with V. Evey ended up spending time with V because he took her with him so she wouldn’t be arrested and was pulled further into his world. In addition to trying to overthrowing the government, V had specific people he intended to deal with that were connected to something in his past.
V for Vendetta was less of an action movie than I thought it would be before I saw it. That didn’t bother me because I did still think the movie was entertaining. Other people may feel differently and be disappointed that there isn’t more action. Explosions were used in a few scenes and looked well done. It looked like the real buildings were being destroyed even though I know special effects were used for those scenes. V was involved in a few different fights throughout the movie. He used knives as his weapons and he was able to hurt or kill a lot of people. Some of the scenes had a lot of violence which could bother some viewers. The violence might be too graphic for some people. The most violent scene was very late in the movie. That sequence did include slow motion. It was done a little differently than those types of shots have been done in other movies and I thought it worked for the movie. Until that scene, I was wondering exactly why the movie had gotten the R rating. Even with that scene, I don’t think it was as violent as PG-13 movies I’ve seen. Swearing was done by most of the characters. It was mostly a word that I know is considered a swear word in England though I’m not exactly sure how bad it is.
The movie dealt a lot with politics and showed a bleak look at what the future could be like if one politician was given too much power. The Chancellor was acting almost like Hitler in the way he enforced his beliefs on an entire country. Anyone that dared to raise questions was taken away by his police force and thrown in jail. Some were even executed. There had been more wars and unrest around the world. The Chancellor used those things to play on the fears of the people in England, telling them it was for their own good and protection when he took away more and more of their rights. The Chancellor even censored what music people could listen to and what they could watch on television. V didn’t like that everyone was so afraid of the government and wanted to change that. He also wanted to get revenge on specific people for something that had happened several years ago. After he took over the television network, he was quickly labeled a terrorist. He did things that a terrorist would do, so that part of the movie could be upsetting to some viewers.
There was never any doubt that V was responsible for the explosions and various other things that he did throughout V for Vendetta. His actual identity did remain unknown since he was never shown without the mask. His reasons for doing those things was a mystery for a while. Inspector Finch was on the investigation from the first explosion and was determined to figure out what was going on. He kept digging, even after being encouraged to leave well enough alone concerning certain information and slowly learned more about V and his motivations. Finch was very troubled by some of the things he discovered and the questions they raised. I was interested in what was going on and what Finch was uncovering. Even without non stop action scenes, I thought the movie progressed at a good pace for the most part. There were a few times when it slowed down a little bit. It wasn’t enough to make the scenes drag or bore me.
V for Vendetta was based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore. He also wrote the graphic novels that From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were based on. I haven’t read it so I have no idea how much the plot was changed for the movie. I had never ever heard anything about it before I first saw a preview. The screenplay was written by Andy and Larry Wachowski, the men responsible for The Matrix movies. I did have some concerns when I heard they were involved in this movie, mostly because the second Matrix movie bored me so much I fell asleep. I still haven’t tried watching the third one. I enjoyed this movie much more than I did even the first Matrix movie.
Even though he was the main character, much about V remained a mystery over the course of the movie. More about his past was slowly shared over the course of the movie, which included his reasons for why he was targeting the government. I would have liked to have learned even more about him, but that didn’t make me like the movie any less. He was basically a terrorist and the hero of the movie. The terrorist activities he participated in could bother some viewers. I thought that Hugo Weaving was wonderful in the part. V wore his mask all the time, so his face was never shown. Weaving had to use the way he said his lines and body movements to express all the emotions for the character. It couldn’t have been easy having to act wearing the mask all the time and Weaving did an amazing job with the part. He had a very important part in The Matrix trilogy. His part as Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy was much smaller than his part as V.
Evey was the other main character in V for Vendetta. Her life changed completly the night she ventured out after curfew. She acted impulsive at times which did get her into more trouble. Evey went though a massive change over the course of the movie, and it was much more than the change to her hairstyle. Evey’s entire way of thinking and looking at things changed because of her relationship with V. Natalie Portman was amazing in the part. The character went through so many emotions throughout the movie and Portman conveyed all of them believably. She had a somewhat small but very important role in the three Star Wars prequel movies. She did seem a bit stiff in those movies, but I always did think that was because of the material she had to work with. She was much better in Where the Heart Is and Cold Mountain. Her performance in V for Vendetta was the best thing I’ve seen her do and really shows what she can do with good material.
Inspector Finch started investigating V very early in the movie. He discovered several things that only raised more questions in his mind. He became determined to discover what was really going on even after he was encouraged to forget about certain information. Finch also seemed to change somewhat as he learned more. Stephen Rea was very good in the part. Adam Sutler was the power hungry Chancellor. He wanted to control every aspect of the lives of the citizens of England. He didn’t hesitate to pass the blame on to others when that would help his position. Sutler frequently had Creedy do his dirty work. He didn’t seem like a nice person at all. John Hurt didn’t have as much to do as some of the others, but he was good in the part. I last saw him in The Skeleton Key playing a very different type of character. He had a small part in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and provided a voice for a character in Valiant. Stephen Fry handled the small part of Deitrich, a man with a talk show, well. He also provided a voice for a character in Valiant and acted as a narrator in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Main Cast
Stephen Fry - Deitrich
Rupert Graves - Dominic
John Hurt - Chancellor Adam Sutler
Tim Pigott-Smith - Creedy
Natalie Portman - Evey
Stephen Rea - Inspector Finch
Hugo Weaving - V
James McTeigue - Director
V for Vendetta was a bit different and isn’t for everyone. I did really enjoy it and think it is worth seeing. People that like Natalie Portman should definitely see this movie. This isn’t a movie that everyone will like because of the subject matter and the fact that V does act like a terrorist.
Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portma...More at HotMovieSale.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.