V for Vendetta
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: March 17, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
8
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
PremiereGlenn Kenny
A compelling, rousing and at times strangely moving entertainment. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Richly satisfying entertainment the way movies are at their best, when they prod you to think. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
V for Vendetta puts its ideological intent first, and happens to provide smashing entertainment only as a vehicle for delivering its message. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
It's a terrific movie. I love the look and the verve of the thing, the confidence of its epic design, its smart use of half a dozen noted British thesps, lending weight and wit to the supporting roles. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The explosive V for Vendetta is powered by ideas that are not computer-generated. It's something rare in Teflon Hollywood: a movie that sticks with you. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
V for Vendetta represents 2006's first memorable motion picture - a visually sumptuous concoction that combines political allegory, bloody action, and a few stunning cinematic moments into a solid piece of entertainment. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
An entertaining piece of pulp fiction. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Visually exhilarating, provocative and disturbing. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Portman doesn't catch fire until the second half, then heaves herself into emotional action; this suits her initially passive, mostly unthinking character. Weaving, who acts entirely with his voice, is V's ideal embodiment: witty, rueful, pitiless, visionary and mad. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The Wachowski Brothers once again they prove themselves our reigning masters of murk. Read full review
80
EmpireDan Jolin
Setting out more to challenge us with its ideas than make us whoop at the action, Vendetta can be clumsy, but there are enough impressive flourishes to make up for its stumblings. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
It's the perfect moment for the ridiculous but riotously enjoyable revolutionary comic-book thriller V for Vendetta-which will doubtless outrage conservatives and unnerve fuddy-duddys but liberate the rest of us with its magisterial irresponsibility. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
One of the most eloquent tales in ages of dysfunctional love – between a man and his ideals, between a country and its government, and, in the end, between Evey and V. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Mostly, it's content to remain a compelling, visually striking political mystery with some big ideas woven into it--subversive notions about integrity, liberty, and political change. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
As a fix of pop iconography, V for Vendetta is eyeball grabbing, even if it lacks the relentless videogame bravura that sold the Matrix films. As a movie, however, it's merely okay, with a pivotal dramatic weakness: Evey, for all the attentions of her revolutionary Svengali, remains, in essence, a bystander, and Portman, her head shaved, plays her like Joan of Arc as a tremulous Girl Scout. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
With most action thrillers based on graphic novels, we simply watch the sound and light show. V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue, almost always has something going on that is actually interesting, inviting us to decode the character and plot and apply the message where we will. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Brutally gorgeous and seething with incendiary images. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A lot of dark, Orwellian fun. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Even if V for Vendetta isn't nearly as incendiary as it's been made out to be by some alarmist critics, there's still something enjoyably subversive about it, beginning with the way it tramples over the conventions of the contemporary action film. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
First-time director James McTeigue's big, bold imagery, with slashing reds and blacks, is a close approximation of the novel's look and feel. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Hugo Weaving, weaving deftly beneath a fixed plastic grin and Prince Valiant wig as the mysterious avenger in V for Vendetta, both chills and amuses throughout this enjoyable - if occasionally irresponsible - comic-book thriller. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore
Viewers expecting a thrill ride might be disappointed. V engages in a couple of satisfying crime-fighting set pieces, but the story is more occupied with mystery and intrigue. Happily, it almost is entirely free of the hollow pomposity that marred the Wachowskis' last two "Matrix" films. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
From a fan's perspective, though, one might wish for a smaller budget and a truly uncompromising vision. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The swashbuckling first hour is superior to the second, which bursts at the seams with backstory, but a rousing climax makes this the most potent piece of agitpop in years. Read full review
70
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
With its emphasis on dialogue and political machinations over explosions and kung fu fighting, it remains to be see whether or not V for Vendetta will actually find one (a wider audience). Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's the strangest comic-book superhero movie you're likely to see this year. For anyone looking for something totally different in this most overworked of Hollywood genres, this is it. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
V for very, very ordinary. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The real villain is a cowed and lazy citizenry. Meaning all of us. Disappointingly, V for Vendetta makes this point early and moves on, at some point turning as shallow as what it protests against. Read full review
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