V for Vendetta

Popcorn flick or cinematic thinker? V for Vendetta is both. Big on slicing and dicing, it’s even bigger on the social commentary. So much so, I actually found it surprising that such a film was made for such a mainstream crowd given its unveiling in thousands of multiplexes and its IMAX treatment. But George W.’s popularity is at an all-time low, at least until next week, so maybe American patriotism is sagging a little right now.

It’s the near future and the world is in shambles. The United States is all but wiped out, Canada is nowhere to be heard from and the UK is the last standing world super power – and even they have seen better days. Media is very carefully screened through the offices and watchful eye of Sutler (John Hurt), a not-so-subtle allusion to Hitler. The masses buy into life because it’s all they know. The news reports what’s going on, but even they acknowledge the fact that they take what the government PR machine feeds them and just spews it back out. Sounds familiar. Gulf War anyone?

At any rate, one man is ready to take back the streets and rid the world of its corrupt and hypocritical tyranny. His name is simply V, a mysterious cape and mask-wearing “terrorist” bent on destroying the government’s regime and bringing back true democracy and power to the people. V finds an ally in Evey (Natalie Portman), a young girl who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Evey soon becomes the backdrop for V’s ranting, raving and sparring on the sad state of life for the common folk.

V for Vendetta is based on the graphic novel written by Alan Moore, but for whatever reason he doesn’t want you to know that. And why not? Although I haven’t read the graphic novel and I can’t compare it to its source material (not that it necessarily should be), but V for Vendetta is a rare film that has the action and big bangs for the masses, as well as the message and style that makes film art. Directed by first time helmer James McTeigue under the watchful eyes of the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), V for Vendetta definitely got a rise out of me, but not just from being the first decent action film I’d seen in a long time.

It carries quite a political punch as well. While it might be unfair to compare the current state of Western democracy to the Nazis, modern history is showing us that we’re closer to a totalitarian Big Brother than we might want to think. The American government has been caught in a number of big lies and scandals over its aggressive motives as of late; Great Britain has been caught up in the squabbles by association; Canada’s government was just brought down, in large part, to scandal. Right now, the highest seats of our governments are out of the cool crowd. We, the masses, just can’t trust them. To that end, we’re not the news-fed zombies that go along with things in V for Vendetta. But if our governments are corrupt, how much are we really speaking out against them? Those that do are still somewhat marginalized. So what do we do? Follow along like sheep with a chip on our shoulder and a cuss under our breath. Now we’re like the near- future UK seen in V for Vendetta.

With its delightful mix of action and thinking, V for Vendetta is in one sense escapism but on the other, depressing as hell. And if it gets you thinking all the while, how can that really be a bad thing?