V for Vendetta (2005, R)

After going back to read the graphic novel, I thought it was high time I watched this film again.  While it’s very different from the book, I still like it a lot.  In fact, I think I still might prefer it to the book, and not just because I saw it first.

As in the graphic novel, Evey Hammond’s life is forever changed by a chance encounter with an enigmatic masked man called V.  Saving her from danger at a crucial moment, V makes Evey witness to the first stage of his plan to dismantle England’s fascist government, at the same time taking his revenge on the powerful people who committed atrocities against him years before.  Evey is torn between her fear of the compelling terrorist and a desire to see the change he promises.

Like I said, there are a lot of alterations here.  Overall, the story feels much more streamlined, keeping the main focal points on Evey, V, and Finch, the investigator trying to apprehend him.  A fair amount of plot development on the other side, the goings-on of the various government departments complete with corruption, backstabbing, and secret agendas, has been excised, and for the most part, I don’t mind the loss.  However, the condensing of some big framework stuff – the backdrop on the rise of the fascist government in England, and the exploration of undesirables under the new order – feels more “bite-sized” in the movie, more simplistic with clearly-drawn lines between points A, B, and C.  In that case, the snipping doesn’t work as well for me.

V, though, is just as cool as he is in the book.  Maybe a skosh less remote, but still every bit as theatrical, complicated, and mysterious.  Hugo Weaving does a great job with the character, such that you really don’t mind that his facial expressions are hidden behind a Guy Fawkes mask the entire movie.  I think I like Evey a little better here; I spent much of the book feeling frustrated with her and wishing she was stronger.  In the film, she still goes through quite the journey and changes a lot as a character, but she starts changing in small ways almost immediately (it helps that much of the “sexual survival” stuff I complained about from the book is either gone or very understated.)  Natalie Portman balances Evey’s fragile beginnings with her endurance and powerful transformation very nicely.

Plenty of familiar British faces getting in on the action.  John Hurt himself is England’s chancellor, and between the police and the government departments, we get Roger Allam (Peter from The Thick of It,) Rupert Graves (Lestrade from Sherlock,) and Ben Miles (Patrick from Coupling.)  But for me, the supporting-character MVP is Stephen Fry as Evey’s boss, a popular media personality who’s much more than he seems at first.  He has a great scene with Evey that I remembered from my first viewing of the film, years ago, just as well as the excellently-realized big moments, like V’s opening act or the prison sequence.

Warnings

Strong violence, sexual content (including references to pedophilia,) language, and strong thematic elements (including war crimes.)