V for Vendetta (2006)

Rating: ****

Director: James McTiegue

Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt, Stephen Rea

Review: Let’s hope V for Vendetta ushers in the age of the intellectual action film. There have been a fair number of bash-’em-up popcorn flicks made with intelligent style and panache, but roughly none that leave you with anything to actually think about afterward. While James McTiegue and his producers, the Wachowski siblings, blunt plenty of edge off Alan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s stark, disturbing graphic novel, they leave more than enough dark, thought-provoking material for the average American movie audience. And they marshal a great cast—tremendously efficient character actors, led by the great John Hurt and Stephen Rea, with Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving both giving fantastic performances in the leads.

First, let’s cover why the comic book is better: Evey (Natalie Portman, in the film) is not merely an office girl out to meet a friend, but a desperate woman fallen on hard times, about to sell herself as a prostitute when she encounters the enigmatic terrorist V, who will shape her future. The film often fails to plumb the full depths presented in the novel, and this is an example right from the onset. Additionally, the masked V in the film is less the uncomfortably gleeful killer of the comic, though Weaving does chalk up an impressive body count. Most significantly, the comic is Alan Moore’s dissection of what he saw as the two poles of government—fascism vs. anarchy. The film pulls much of the fascism’s teeth (racial purity having been excised as an issue, for instance) and the alternative presented by V feels more comforting than pure anarchy. By altering Stephen Rea’s character into a sympathetic cop who is better than the corrupt masters he serves (and thus unfairly becomes the arguably hero of the piece), the filmmakers go a long way toward changing the paradigm. It’s not brutally oppressive government versus no government at all, now. It’s vaguely oppressive government versus an arguably democratic uprising that will purify the system. Much more palatable, really.

But that can’t disguise the fact that the film stars a masked man who used terrorism, murder and particularly prolonged and brutal torture to fight an unworthy government. In an era in which just speaking out against the president can bring FBI agents to your door, that’s still some tough meat to chew on. Sure, Moore’s grim tale is now leavened with comforting sops to the irrepressible human spirit, but these addenda are not entirely bludgeoned into our skull. And hell, any film with the line, “People shouldn’t be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people,” is a film we need today.

For those who don’t want to consider the source material, and don’t want to engage the political questions of book or film, here’s what you need to know: It’s a unique film, looking and playing out unlike pretty much anything you’ve seen. Hugo Weaving (most visible man-in-black bad guy in The Matrix) is amazingly successful in a role that has him in black cape and unchanging Guy Fawkes mask for the entire film. Natalie Portman as his unwilling novice is simply god. She really rises to the demand of the role, and elevates a violent action film with compelling acting. Midway through the film, Evey undergoes a powerful transformation, and when she comes through her ordeal and is confronted with a surprising truth, through Portman we see her visibly break down, sloughing off the skin of her old life and becoming a new woman. Portman is powerful and perfect, playing to the exact level of larger-than-life drama of the entire film. That McTiegue throws in several truly ruinous shots (bullet-time raindrops? Really?) does not derail her stellar performance.

Also, lots of cool violence and horrific backstory. If you loved “bullet time” in the Matrix films, you’ll enjoy the slo-mo blur of “knife time” here. Fun for the whole family. And the best non-arthouse studio release I’ve even heard of hitting screens this year.