I’ll be honest, I found V a very pompous protagonist that I could not get behind.

V for Vendetta follows a character called V and a woman called Evey who in some ways, but mainly through Stockholm syndrome, work together to blow up Parliament in a way that Guy Fawkes tried to but failed. Alongside this you never actually learn V’s true identity and that’s a whole big plot point about how V is all of us, and once again as I said at the start, it’s quite pompous.

I understand in this dystopian landscape of order and horrific things including people going to jail and being killed just for their sexuality or lifestyle preference, that things need to change and that, that is a dictatorship. But I feel watching this for the first time in 2022, the world of anonymous and Internet sleuths etc. has really tainted these characters for me.

I completely get behind V and his vision and what he wants to do to make the world change and hopefully be better. I understand his core values and how he sees what the regime is doing as bad and wants to change it, but I feel that whole message has been skewed to fit online people’s own wants and needs that move away from the core value of the film, and I feel that’s where some of my dismay for the film comes from. V is a very strong character, he could be any of us and that makes him really interesting, but the way that he has been idolised and changed to fit the online world’s narrative is what makes him annoying. Yes he is very pompous in the way he talks and the way he acts, but he has purpose, he has a reason for being and that’s interesting.

Of course I recommend this film, it’s a very strong film that has a lot of interesting points to it. I will say it is quite long and some of the scenes could’ve been cut out or shortened because, while they all have their purpose to the overarching storyline, I feel some of them just dragged on a bit and could’ve been condensed. While I may have some dismay with the film and its characters, overall it’s very enjoyable, I understand what it’s trying to tell me and unfortunately I just feel people in their mum’s basement have ruined it and skewed it into something that makes it more annoying than good.

What do you think of V for Vendetta?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding