Vaguely vengeful

Our rating:

The year is 2020. Britain's Prime Minister and current ruler is a diminutive little man with a nasty temper and a penchant for keeping the nation in a state of fear. Art, music and books have been banned, and there’s a 10pm curfew across the city. A masked avenger emerges from the depths of the city to inspire the country into a revolt.

And that’s just the first 20 minutes.

V for Vendetta has been adapted for the screen from graphic novelist Alan Moore by the infamous Wachowski brothers, of Matrix trilogy fame, and is directed by their close professional friend, Australian James McTeigue. This is McTeigue’s feature film debut as a director, though his film industry apprenticeship should have put him in good stead – working on everything from independent Australian films The Well and Monkey’s Mask to being first assistant director on the Matrix films.

Unfortunately though, he seems to have been brainwashed by the Wachowskis, so V for Vendetta is a mimicry of Matrix characters crying out for some individual style.

Hugo Weaving is V, a man living behind a Guy Fawkes mask whose intense hatred for the government fuels a serious of terror attacks on London landmarks. He hijacks the government controlled television networks to broadcast his message of anarchy to the entire city, with both humorous and chaotic results.

V acquires an unlikely ally in Evey (Natalie Portman) by chance, after rescuing her from some meat-head government agents. Evey is an orphan of political activist parents, and while she finds V terrifying, she comes to identify with his ideas.

Personally, I enjoyed V for Vendetta far more than the Matrix films, although I think there was a lot more potential in the story than was delivered by McTeigue.

Portman and Weaving are excellent as the crusaders, and John Hurt is menacing as the manic, Nazi style ruler, Chancellor Adam Sutler. However Sutler’s henchmen, who include evil scientists, police chiefs and a slimy but completely inept propaganda spin-doctor, are not played to their full potential. They seem too ‘floppy’ to even be puppets on the Chancellor’s strings.

The script is quite clever, with many memorable lines that will find their way into the vocabulary of film fanatics. V speaks almost in verse, including one very bizarre but entertaining speech to Evey that displays the best researched alliteration I’ve heard in years. Evey’s lines are contrastingly concise, making their interactions truly entertaining.

The film relies heavily on the impact of a few key action sequences, and while they are cinematically spectacular, they try too hard to be clever and end up a bit farcical. I found myself chuckling at V’s antics rather than identifying with his fight against oppression.

All in all, V for Vendetta is quite an entertaining and interesting film. It has the potential to be remade and re-themed in the future, and I suspect it will draw quite a diverse audience – from political idealists to Matrix fans, psychology students to curious film buffs.

While it doesn’t pack the punch its subject matter certainly could in today’s society, it’s still a clever and well-crafted cinematic experience.

Belinda Yench

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V for Vendetta

Director: James McTeigue
Cast: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Stephen Fry, Stephen Rea and John Hurt
Release: Nationally on 30 March 2005
Rated: MA 15+