V for Vendetta (2005)

VERDICT:
8/10 Anarchist’s Cookbooks

Definitely one of the stronger Alan Moore adaptations out there.

V for Vendetta takes place in a future England ruled by an Orwellian and fascist government that controls its citizens with an unquestioning iron fist. The story follows Evey, a prostitute who is taken under the wing of the one man in the country who is hell bent on taking down this new U.K. and giving it back to the people one explosion at a time – a Guy Fawkes fan with a knife fetish named V.

When I first saw this in theaters, I didn’t really know what to think of it; I knew I liked some aspects and didn’t like others, but I don’t think I could have given it a fair score out of 10. Pretty sure those sentiments were a reflection of how the source material affected me and in turn I had to be a nit-picky bastard about the differences between the movie and the original story. So, here I am four years later giving it another shot and, whaddaya know, I can’t believe how good it is.

Looks like it’s time to dust off that graphic novel and give myself a refresher course.

Going into the second viewing, there were two things I distinctly remembered disliking about it the first time around: V’s annoying “V-word” intro speech at the beginning and how the cast delivered the Wachowski brothers’ lines like they were all plugged into The Matrix, like they were programmed to speak. Upon further reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that V’s speech is still annoying – but he redeems his cool factor rather quickly thereafter – and the reason it probably felt like I was in The Matrix was because every time V speaks I can’t help but hear Agent Smith instead. Dude’s got a distinctive voice, that’s all there is to it.

Natalie Portman’s still nothing special as Evie (the bald look…that didn’t help either) and it’s too bad all you get out of Hugo Weaving is his voice, but everything else was a lot better than I remembered it being – props to director James McTeigue as this was his debut effort (not too shabby).

And, as always, it helps to have a refreshingly original and well-executed premise to begin with. The story here kept me entertained and interested from square one, and it’s as pertinent today as it was back in the ’80s, as is the major theme of “People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.” It isn’t often a movie resonates the same emotions I felt upon first discovering Rage Against the Machine way back when, but that’s the uncompromising political vibe I got, and that, dear readers, is a very good thing.

I can still think back to some of the more obvious liberties that were taken from the graphic novel, and while some of them don’t work out quite as well, for the most part they are welcome additions and changes that really bring everything full circle and make for a solid adaptation. It doesn’t follow the movie religiously and it ends up being it’s own little monster, but that’s alright since it pulls it off well.

If only I could say the same for Watchmen – the latest adaptation that Moore wisely distanced himself from like it was carrying swine flu. But I’m willing to give that one another shot, too.

Considering how skeptical I was when I hit “PLAY”, V for Vendetta delivered the goods and shut me up right quick. It not only work as a dystopian thriller and a badass action movie, this sucker makes you think and puts a nice big smile on the face of anarchy that you never knew was there. Nonetheless, follow my lead and read the graphic novel. These adaptations really don’t do Moore justice.