V for Vendetta (2005, James McTeigue)
This movie is an absolute fucking travesty, pardon my language. But let’s start with the few things I did like and appreciate (they are few). I got a chance to see this in HD, and as such, it looks gorgeous. The colours used and the stark contrasts really make this a visual feast. Secondly, I adore Stephen Fry and would probably excuse him in any shitty movie. Ok, that’s about it. Now let’s get down to it.
V for Vendetta tries to tell the story of a not-so-distant future, in which America is all but annihilated and Britain survives only thanks to its totalitatian regime. A vigilante who calls himself V (Hugo Weaving, although how would we know, since he’s under that stupid mask all the time) decides to take on the establishment by force, in a misguided attempt to produce peace by means of terrorism.
This movie is absolute tripe. First of all, the way the Wachowskis and McTeigue present their arguments is juvenile at best. They come off as whining adolescents, and their writing is at best on par with that of an amateur film student. It doesn’t strengthen their arguments, it only makes them silly and superficial. They try to make us sympathise with V, something that is on the micro level hard at best, since he wears a mask all the time, and at the macro level impossible, since he seems to think that Guy Fawkes was some great hero of the people. Using terror to fight a terrorist regime, my foot! Wow, what a great democracy Britain will enjoy after V’s campaign. Morons.
This regime, which is led by John Hurt (who, by the way, does nothing but shout his way through this entire thing), seeks to oppress the people, as all such regimes do. They take away their freedom, their will, and all the rest of it. They forbid homosexuality, and as far as I could gather, Islam. It’s all very confusing. Are you trying to make this an allegory for the world in which we live today, or the world that existed under Thatcher in the 80s? Pick one, please.
John Hurt as Chancellor has a number of people at his command, including Stephen Rea, who of course doubts Hurt throughout, and Tim Pigott-Smith, whose allegiances turn on the spot for some inexplicable reason. Joining V, there’s Evey (Natalie Portman, who is useless and also sports what is possibly the worst fake British accent ever), and the less I say about her, the better. In fact, all the characters here are extremely wooden and one-dimensional.
Socio-political aspects aside, the filmmaking at display here is deplorable. First of all, you cannot tell a story using 75% flashbacks. We the audience know what happened, yet you feel the need to hammer it home by having someone tell us? Gee, thanks for patronising me. And what’s with V making a big symbol out of dominoes, only to knock them over where no one else can see them? On the eve when he had planned to blow up Parliament, no less. Sheesh.
Look, there are some interesting ideas here, but I’m sure Moore’s graphic novel isn’t quite so heavy-handed about it. As Francis Ford Coppola once said, “if you try to make a profound film and fail, you end up with the very worst kind of aesthetic crime.” In fact, it comes off as pretentious and childish.
I hated this movie. With a Vengeance. No wonder Alan Moore disowned it.
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