V for Vendetta (2005): Remember, Remember the 5th of November

“Remember, remember, the 5^th of November!” Action Flick Chick rule for staying alive #478: When a guy in a creepy mask tells you to remember something, you might want do it or risk getting blown up.  To celebrate not getting blown up, here is a review of V for Vendetta just in time for Guy Fawkes Day.

V for Vendetta is set in the not too distant future, 2034, where the British government is oppressing its citizens, with a vengeance. However, V (Hugo Weaving), a masked vigilante, is out to expose the government of their lies and to get the people to rise up against them for their freedom. Evey (Natalie Portman) is a young girl who happens to get caught up in all of V’s shenanigans and ends up helping him blow things up. And how does V repay her? He shaves all of her hair off. Fortunately, Natalie Portman is one lady who can still look attractive even with no hair. She deserves a lollipop for her commitment to the role.

This movie is good, folks. It has a good story, some mystery here and there, all the while throwing some tidbits of action at you. The Wachowski brothers wrote the screenplay so of course you get a little bit of Matrixy action in there. It’s a lengthy film, well over two hours, so if you watch it you’d better be prepared for the long haul. Proportionally there is very little action, but there are some excellent explosions and when V makes a promise to kill someone, he frickin’ keeps it. And that Guy Fawkes mask always smiling at you is more than a little eerie. He could be saying, “I’m going to kill you and tear your insides out” but the mask is smiling at you. It’s almost like you think he’s just joking until he actually follows through with his plan and guts ya.

Time until action: ~5 minute

Baddies: The Government!

Best Line: “Don’t get me wrong, I love it. A cow getting crucified…it’s hysterical!”

Best Kill: V is fighting about 10 men with guns. They all unload their guns on him and he just looks at them and says, “My turn.” He then kills all of them with sais. One guy in particular was just about done reloading his gun and was going to fire when V lands a sai right between his eyes. Nice throw, V!

Best Explosion: There are some great explosions in this flick. At the very end, V has loaded a whole subway train with explosives. It travels right below Parliament and explodes. Parliament is a huge ass building, and makes for some huge ass rubble! It takes several explosions to get the whole building up in flames but it happens and it is beautiful. This is all happening to some pretty peppy music as well, the awesome 1812 Overture. So you are just super pumped as the explosion is going on. Plus, I guess it was symbolic for freedom or whatever point the movie was trying to get across to people who are watching it for something other than the action. Blah blah, it was a kickass explosion/fireworks show.

Action Rating: 1 ½ Vs trying to pick what to wear, out of 5!

Illustration by Alex Langley. Rocket Llama World Headquarters

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!

The other reason to celebrate November 5!
iGeektrooper: Flux Capacitor Day with the Back to the Future Rap
Rocket Llama: A Red Letter Date in the History of Science