People Should Not Be Afraid of Their Governments; Governments Should be Afraid of Their People

Maybe you though that all comic book movies were the same. That they’re mainly about a bunch of crazy people doing crazy things in crazy costumes, right? Well, you’re not entirely correct, for while Warner Brothers V for Vendetta certainly does have a protagonist who runs around the streets of London in a somewhat outlandish getup, the film’s theme is of a decidedly serious bent.

The comic book series upon which the film is based (with liberties taken) is surely dark in tone itself. It was a limited series, originally published in the early eighties in a British anthology comic magazine, and later fully presented by DC Comics in 1988. Written by comics great Alan Moore, V for Vendetta is just another example of comics that are anything but kid stuff.

As our story begins, we’re introduced to Evey (Natalie Portman), a young English woman trying to get by in a futuristic, fascist England. The world has gone through some dark changes, with the Middle Eastern Wars of the United States turning bad and plunging that country into civil war and despair.

Yet England prevails, albeit under a 1984-style government with a Big Brother like leader at the top. He’s Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt), and he’s seen England through several biological terror attacks. With the help of the mysterious secret police organization called the Fingermen, Sutler keeps a tight reign on the country.

Evey discovers just how sinister the Fingermen can be when she’s nearly raped by three of them after violating curfew. But she’s saved by the mysterious “V” (Hugo Weaving), a powerful and resourceful rebel against the totalitarian regime who hides behind a Guy Fawkes mask and quotes Shakespeare.

Evey’s path seems to be inextricably linked with “V”, and as time passes she starts to sympathize with him-though not at first, and not altogether immediately. And as time goes by, we start to learn the horrible secrets of Sutler’s regime, and how it forged the very seed of its own destruction in the mysterious “V”.

With a script by the Wachoswki brothers that’s fairly true to the original premise, V for Vendetta seems a sure-fire success- and it is indeed one. Much of this has to do with its complexity, because the film plays to many levels-mystery, action adventure, psychological thriller, romance, science-fiction. They’re all thrown together in the pot, stirred together for a long while until they finally become nicely blended, and you’re not sure where one leaves off and the next begins.

There are a number of clever plot twists, too, and we’re never quite sure until the end what’s true and what isn’t regarding the government or “V” himself. In fact, we at times speculate as to “V”’s identity, though the film throws us a couple of bad leads just to keep us guessing.

The action is brilliant when it’s there, though surprisingly there’s not as much as we might expect from the trailers. There’s much more drama and suspense in the final analysis; indeed, at times this seems to be overly the case, making this perhaps the films main flaw.

The film has been updated from the eighties (when nuclear weapons and nuclear war were the primary fear). It's foucs rests on terror and biological weapons as the current bogeyman of choice, and the basic premise is perhaps better suited to that theme. "V" is denounced as a terrorist himself, though one man's terrorist can be another man's freedom fighter (as we see here).

And of course “V for Vendetta”, like 1984, carries a message and a warning that even the most vibrant of democracies can be susceptible to the worst of crimes against liberty, and that we may never become so comfortable with our daily comforts that we sacrifice our liberty for them.

Witness the average citizens in the film, shown surrounded by their comfortable homes, their high-tech gadgets, their liquor and tobacco, their bread and circuses. They think little of the concentration camps full of homosexuals and Muslims, the banned works of art and music, the strict limits imposed upon speech and freedom.

We never see “V”s face, and we never really get to know who he is. That preserves his symbolism, as he’s really a metaphor, an ideal, and an inspiration more than anything else. The film’s powerful, stunning conclusion reinforces that idea more than at any other point in the film.

But the fact that we never see “V” without his mask makes Hugo Weaving a strange choice for the lead role, though he does manage to dazzle us with dialogue throughout. Natalie Portman gives a decent performance as Evey, though it’s hard to believe she’s been through all she has. Her relatively stoic performance is responsible for this.

Stephen Rea is convincing as detective Finch, whose investigation to determine the identity of “V” uncovers some disturbing secrets about the very government he serves. Roger Allam is also in good form as the firebrand Lewis Prothero, a nationalistic, gung-ho talk show host who is the Josef Goebbels of his time.

So often these days we enter a film with great expectations only to be disappointed. Happily, V for Vendetta not only met, but exceeded my hopes. Highly recommended, and be sure to bring your thinking cap with you when you watch. You’ll surely need it for this thought provoking film.


More Comics Movies and Video:

Fantastic Four

Batman and Robin

Batman Begins

Superman the Movie

The Return of Swamp Thing

Spider-Man

Spider-Man 2

Hulk

X-Men

X-Men 2

The Punisher

Daredevil

Darkman

Man Thing

The Flash: The Complete Series