V For Vendetta (2005)

We are taking a little break from watching Jean-Claude Van Damme films and we are checking out a film that I have been meaning to watch for a while now. Whenever it hits November 5TH on the calendar, my friends are always preaching, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November" which is a reference to the film I chose for today in 2005's V For Vendetta which was directed by James McTeigue (The Raven). It's the future and Great Britain is under tyrannical rule where the government has cut them off from the world, but there is one person who will not stand for it any longer. The mysterious shadowy figure simply known as V (Hugo Weaving) is the one who is challenging the tyranny that is ruining the country and he does it with the help of a young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman). The film also stars Stephen Rea (Interview With The Vampire) as Finch, Stephen Fry (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as Deitrich, John Hurt (The Black Cauldron) as Adam Sutler, Tim Pigott-Smith (Quantum Of Solace) as Creedy, Eddie Marsan (Concussion) as Etheridge, Rupert Graves (Death At A Funeral) as Dominic, Roger Allam (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Lewis Prothero, Ben Miles (Ninja Assassin) as Dascomb, John Standing (The Eagle Has Landed) as Lilliman, and Sinéad Cusack (Wrath Of The Titans) as Delia Surridge.

This was a magnificent film and what a lot of people may not realize is that this is technically a comic book movie that was a win for DC Comics as it's based off of the Alan Moore/David Lloyd comic of the same name. It proved that with a great script and a great team behind it you do need to have a film with superheroes and mutants to have it be an excellent film. All of the actors in the film did a terrific job especially Portman, Weaving, John Hurt, and Stephen Fry who played a closeted gay talk show host in the film. The action scenes are amazing and the fight choreography is pretty top notch as well as Weaving is exciting with all of V's moves and contraptions. The film definitely did not let you down as it kept you intrigued from the moment it started to the minute it ended and that again is due to the excellent writing by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. It's crazy to see how popular this film became and how the Guy Fawkes Mask literally took over revolutionist/anarchist culture especially in the US. That is the sign of a film that truly made an impact and it should tell you again how amazing written, acted, edited, and shot it was. The cinematography in this film is great and they did a great job capturing all of the action. That is why the film is joining the elusive A+ club because that is exactly the grade that it's going to get.