I wanted to see "V for Vendetta" the day it opened, but for various reasons, I wasn't able to do so. Well, I finally saw it, and I was ready to write a long review for it, a review that would include an explanation of who Guy Fawkes is (the mask that "V" wears in the movie is a Guy Fawkes mask), but I decided against it. If you'd like to know who Guy Fawkes is, click here, but this review will be relatively short, because... okay, fine, I can't think of a good lie. The truth is, I'm in a really lazy mood, and I don't wanna write a long review. Deal with it.
Although it may not seem like it, "V for Vendetta" is a comic book movie. It's based on the comic book mini-series written by the great Alan Moore (though he insisted on not having his name mentioned in the film's credits) with art by David Lloyd. It was published over the course of several years during the 1980s, a decade that saw some of the best comic books ever written. That's when Frank Miller had his run on "Daredevil," wrote "Batman: Year One," and gave us my favorite comic book story ever, "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns." As for Alan Moore, aside from writing "V for Vendetta," the 1980s was when he had his run on "Swamp Thing," he resurrected "Miracleman," and he brought us his masterpiece, "Watchmen," which many comic books geeks consider to be the greatest comic book story ever written. However, despite my being a comic book geek, and loving Alan Moore's work (especially the three I just mentioned), the "V for Vendetta" graphic novel didn't appeal to me, and I never read it. Because of that, I can't make any comparisons between the comic and the film. I CAN tell you that I liked the movie a lot, and although I've heard that it's relatively faithful to the source material, I can't know for sure without reading it first.
This movie is controversial for two reasons, both of which are without merit. For one thing, it's been accused of being anti-Bush. Although I'm certainly not a fan of President Bush, I don't see how comparisons can be made. The fascist government depicted in the film is almost like the Taliban. The Bush administration is flawed, and I have some serious issues with Bush, but the fact that I disagree with him doesn't make him evil (though Bush's attempt to put road blocks in front of advancements in stem cell research often makes me feel otherwise). The other source of controversy has to do with the belief that the "V" character is basically a terrorist, and we shouldn't make heroes of terrorists. That's somewhat true except that he isn't really a terrorist in the movie. He does commit terrorist acts, but he commits them against an evil, corrupt government, but not innocent civilians, making him more of a "freedom fighter." It could be argued that a terrorist is a terrorist, regardless of who the victims are, but that's a debate I'm not interested in being a part of.
"V for Vendetta" was directed by James McTeigue, and this is his feature film directorial debut, though he was the first assistant director on "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" and all three "Matrix" films. He was also the second assistant director on "Dark City." I think it's a really strong debut, and I look forward to seeing what else McTeigue has up his sleeve. The graphic novel was adapted into a screenplay by Andy & Larry Wachowski, the guys who wrote and directed all three "Matrix" films and "Bound" (a great movie... lesbians and gangsters, go watch it now). I can't really say if it's a good adaptation or not, all I can tell you is that it's a great script. They wrote a fantastic movie.
The star of the film is my future wife, the beautiful Natalie Portman. She gets her head shaved in the movie, but even bald, she manages to be gorgeous. Natalie Portman is an amazing actress capable of doing anything other than delivering George Lucas dialogue convincingly. After her breakthrough role in "The Professional" and her scene-stealing role in "Beautiful Girls," it was clear that she was an extremely talented young actress, but her acting in the "Star Wars" prequels made people question her ability. After her performances in "Garden State," "Closer" (for which she got an Oscar nomination), and now "V for Vendetta," I think it's safe to say that her critics can shut up now.
Also in the film is Hugo Weaving (he was "Agent Smith" in the "Matrix" films) as "V." It's a tough role to play because throughout the entire film, he either has the mask on or he's under heavy makeup. Still, his performance is memorable, despite not being able to see any facial expressions. Very impressive work.
John Hurt is an interesting choice to play the character he plays in this film. The government depicted in "V for Vendetta" is much like the government in George Orwell's novel, "1984." In the feature film version of that book, John Hurt played the hero of the story, "Winston Smith," and in "V for Vendetta," he's playing the complete and utter opposite of his "1984" character. I seriously doubt that's a coincidence. John Hurt has more than 100 acting credits, including "I, Claudius," "The Elephant Man," "Alien," "History of the World: Part I," "Spaceballs," "Contact," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "Hellboy," and many, many others. He's a great actor, and in this film, he's as great as you'd expect him to be.
Okay, this review turned out to be a little longer than I expected it to be, but at least I didn't get into Guy Fawkes. Anyway, yeah, this is a very entertaining movie, I liked it a lot. It's got great acting, a great story, and it's very well directed. It gets slow at times, and some parts of it are too far-fetched, but it's a very entertaining film.
Scale of 1-10: 9