V for Vendetta
Beware! Beware! The fifth of November! Well we've certainly got a while before that day, so in the meantime, let's check out why this movie wants us to beware that day.
In some form of futuristic British city, the streets are full of bad cops and criminals. Enter an unknown guy in a mask simply known as V (Hugo Weaving). V isn't necessarily your typical hero as he'll stop at nothing to do whatever he wants to do. He rescues a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) from being mugged and possibly raped. Afterwards, V shows her his power by blowing up a statue in the city. This causes panic, especially with the government since they now see V as a terrorist. The next day, we see that Evey works for a news station where V eventually attacks. He gives them a disc to play which tells everyone in the city that in exactly 1 year, he will blow up their biggest symbol so that the people will never forget why November 5th is so important. During his escape, Evey helps him, but gets knocked out. So V takes her back to his house while the entire government tries to stop him before the next November 5th.
The character of V is interesting. Throughout the whole movie, we learn little about him except for a little bit of backstory, which gives him some mystery. Not knowing a lot about one of the characters the movie focuses on can be rather risky because it can either lead to us not caring about what happens to them or enjoying the mystery surrounding them. With V, it works in his favor, especially towards the end of the film. The movie has a message that it wants to share, that the people should never let the government get in their way or let them become too powerful. That the people hold more power than any government could imagine. By giving us little to know about V, it allows us to see ourselves as V. Granted, that little bit of backstory we do learn does play a huge part on who he is, but it doesn't get in the way of having V be a symbol for this message. As for Evey, she's also pretty interesting, but not anywhere near as interesting as V. We do learn a lot more about her and in doing so, care more for her when something terrible happens to her.
If I had to point out any flaws with the film, it's with the minor characters, mostly the multiple antagonists. They all just seem like generic detectives, cops, or other forms of government. None of them, except for maybe one or two, get any kind of development. The little that is given just seems to exist just so they can make the head dick seem like he's always been a dick and nothing more. Granted, they're not supposed to be likable, that's why they're antagonists, but that doesn't mean that you can't give us some info on them. Giving little info worked for V because his character wouldn't work the way it was supposed to if every last little detail about him was explained. Giving little info to the multiple antagonists doesn't work because it just comes off as "You should hate him because he doesn't like the hero". Before anyone gets pissy and tells me to read the comic that this is based on, I will inform you that I've always had a strong belief that no form of media should be reliant on another form of media for its storytelling. Telling me to read the comics if I wanted to see a more fleshed out antagonist isn't defending the writing in any way. It's just pointing out that the writers for the movie were to lazy to put some in.
So should you check out V for Vendetta? Of course you should. This is a revolution movie done right, even with it's minor flaws. It's fun, exciting, dramatic, and just an overall great film.
In some form of futuristic British city, the streets are full of bad cops and criminals. Enter an unknown guy in a mask simply known as V (Hugo Weaving). V isn't necessarily your typical hero as he'll stop at nothing to do whatever he wants to do. He rescues a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) from being mugged and possibly raped. Afterwards, V shows her his power by blowing up a statue in the city. This causes panic, especially with the government since they now see V as a terrorist. The next day, we see that Evey works for a news station where V eventually attacks. He gives them a disc to play which tells everyone in the city that in exactly 1 year, he will blow up their biggest symbol so that the people will never forget why November 5th is so important. During his escape, Evey helps him, but gets knocked out. So V takes her back to his house while the entire government tries to stop him before the next November 5th.
The character of V is interesting. Throughout the whole movie, we learn little about him except for a little bit of backstory, which gives him some mystery. Not knowing a lot about one of the characters the movie focuses on can be rather risky because it can either lead to us not caring about what happens to them or enjoying the mystery surrounding them. With V, it works in his favor, especially towards the end of the film. The movie has a message that it wants to share, that the people should never let the government get in their way or let them become too powerful. That the people hold more power than any government could imagine. By giving us little to know about V, it allows us to see ourselves as V. Granted, that little bit of backstory we do learn does play a huge part on who he is, but it doesn't get in the way of having V be a symbol for this message. As for Evey, she's also pretty interesting, but not anywhere near as interesting as V. We do learn a lot more about her and in doing so, care more for her when something terrible happens to her.
If I had to point out any flaws with the film, it's with the minor characters, mostly the multiple antagonists. They all just seem like generic detectives, cops, or other forms of government. None of them, except for maybe one or two, get any kind of development. The little that is given just seems to exist just so they can make the head dick seem like he's always been a dick and nothing more. Granted, they're not supposed to be likable, that's why they're antagonists, but that doesn't mean that you can't give us some info on them. Giving little info worked for V because his character wouldn't work the way it was supposed to if every last little detail about him was explained. Giving little info to the multiple antagonists doesn't work because it just comes off as "You should hate him because he doesn't like the hero". Before anyone gets pissy and tells me to read the comic that this is based on, I will inform you that I've always had a strong belief that no form of media should be reliant on another form of media for its storytelling. Telling me to read the comics if I wanted to see a more fleshed out antagonist isn't defending the writing in any way. It's just pointing out that the writers for the movie were to lazy to put some in.
So should you check out V for Vendetta? Of course you should. This is a revolution movie done right, even with it's minor flaws. It's fun, exciting, dramatic, and just an overall great film.