11) V For Vendetta
The next film on this list features a masked vigilante who prowls the streets enacting judgement on the oppressive society that had a hand in his tragic past. No, it’s not another Batman movie… it’s V for Vendetta!Â
The 2006 adaptation of Alan Moore’s eponymous graphic novel is not a superhero film, per se, but if we can bend the rules for characters like Batman, the Punisher, and Daredevil, why not bend them for V?
At its core, V for Vendetta is a political thriller that stars Hugo Weaving (Captain America: The First Avenger, the Lord of the Rings trilogy) as an anarchist who stages a series of terrorist attacks in hopes of sparking a revolution against a fascist regime that now rules the British government. Natalie Portman plays a woman named Evey, who gets caught up in V’s mission and eventually befriends him.
V for Vendetta is a film with actual depth and substance behind its ideas, and is packed with both an emotional punch and a literal one. James McTiegue may have been sitting behind the director’s chair for this one, but the influence of the Wachowski siblings (who produced the film) definitely shows in V’s action sequences.
If anything, V for Vendetta serves as a great re-watch on the fifth of November each year, with the titular character stating:
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gun powder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason the gun powder treason should ever be forgot.”
