While the superhero genre has gained a lot of popularity in the last decade, the early 2000s superhero movies felt quite different. What they lacked in special effects and CGI imagery, they made up for in gritty, grounded stories that hit too close to home. While features like Fantastic Four, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy, and X-Men franchise are easily recalled as they focused on the origin stories of our favorite heroes, films like V for Vendetta are remembered for their themes and interpretations.
James McTeigue’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, which stars Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman, has found a new home on Netflix, as per ComicBook. So, if you feel fatigued by DC and Marvel’s franchise-based storytelling, it’s a good time to watch this standalone film.
What’s ‘V for Vendetta’ About?
Set in a dystopian future, London is a police state occupied by a fascist government. A vigilante simply known only as V (Weaving) uses terrorist tactics to fight the oppressors of the world in which he now lives. When he saves a young woman named Evey (Portman) from the secret police, he discovers an ally in his fight against oppressors, while a detective leads a desperate quest to stop the vigilante.
The movie, written by the Matrix fame Wachowskis, was a commercial success, grossing $134.7 million worldwide. It is remembered for its themes of standing up to oppression, dissent, revolution, and anarchy, which still ring true to date. The movie has a 73 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating while the audience score sits as high as 90 percent. Fans and critics alike praised it for its stunning cinematography, thought-provoking writing, and a thrilling plot line. The movie has a huge cultural impact and made the Guy Fawkes mask a symbol of anti-establishment groups. That said, the movie also proved controversial upon its release, and Moore famously distanced himself from the film, being unhappy about some changes.
The movie is unlike any other comic book movie and has an illustrious cast along with Weaving as V and Portman as Evey Hammond. It also casts Stephen Rea as Inspector Eric, Stephen Fry as Gordon, John Hurt as Adam, Tim Pigott-Smith as Peter, and Rupert Graves as Dominic. Further rounding off the cast are Roger Allam as Lewis, Ben Miles as Roger, Sinéad Cusack as Dr. Delia, and many more.
V for Vendetta is streaming on Netflix. Check out the trailer above and stay tuned to Collider for more such updates.
Source: ComicBook