For the most part, movies are made to be watched and rewatched over time, but relatively few contain a core message that grows in import with each year that passes. V for Vendetta is undoubtedly one of those movies, because despite it being 20 years since it hit theaters, James McTeigue’s political thriller is every bit as relevant and reflective of our current political climate as it is an exciting, action-packed thriller.
Featuring one of Natalie Portman's most captivating performances, and boasting the Matrix’s Wachowskis as producers, V for Vendetta is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore, David Lloyd and Tony Weare. The source material is also timeless in a sense, but it’s the live-action flair from McTeigue, star Hugo Weaving, and stuntman extraordinaire David Leitch (John Wick) that turned V and that instantly recognizable mask into a global phenomenon. When I spoke to the filmmaker timed with the film’s 20-year anniversary, he spoke to its continued power as a film amidst the world’s cyclical politics, saying:
I think that's why it resonates with people; that's why people are still interested in the movie. Because you can watch the film and go outside and go, 'Wow, this isn't very far away from where we are now, and this film was made 20 years ago.' But all these things that happen in society, you know, are circular and cyclical, right? So what was happening in Thatcher-right Britain was happening during the first Bush administration, and it's happening now, to a lesser or more extent, depending on what side of the political aisle you fall on.
Now, we could spend the rest of 2026 talking about politics and how we're all doomed and boned no matter what. OR...we could talk about how V for Vendetta boasts arguably the coolest dominoes scene in all of cinema.
Article continues below 
V For Vendetta's Dominoes Sequence Is Still Very Magnificent And Satisfying
Of all the ways for a character to make a final quiet statement before going out with knife fights and a massive blaze of glory, a perfectly crafted domino rally shaped like the character's own symbol is pretty incredible. I don't see Batman or Ethan Hunt or the aforementioned John Wick pulling this sweet move off. It's arguably one of the most satisfying ways for a movie to enter into its big climax, so I had to ask James McTeigue about how hard it was to make that come together. As he put it:
Well, the dominoes was like a two-day event. These Belgian guys set up the dominoes. And so there was a lot of pressure on Dave [Leitch], under the mask, to do the flick of the dominos. That was the thing that made him sweat the most at the time.
l cannot imagine how much of a nightmare it would have been had Leitch, while in costume, sneezed too hard and accidentally toppled the entire array of dominoes before the cameras started rolling. If it was me, I'd probably superglue the mask straight to my face to avoid ever being seen again. I guess it wouldn't be that haunting.
Still, I wonder if the stress embedded in a sequence like that is why we don't see giant domino set-ups in more movies. It looks great, and is never unsatisfying. Pretty sure the Avatar movies would have made twice as much money if each of them had a scene like this. Or not. You know, it's hard to tell.
James McTeigue On Bringing That Haunting And Explosive Ending Together
After the dominoes give way to V's fantastic slo-mo knife fight, V for Vendetta rockets forward to its humdinger crescendo, with Evey sending the explosive-filled train (and her vigilante lover-mentor's body) beneath the Tower of London and other major landmarks, in order to blow them all sky-high. But not before a massive crowd of Londonites take to the streets wearing black robes and V masks, giving all the authorities quite an unsettling experience just before boom-time.
To be expected, that final sequence was a highly technical combination of a variety of filmmaking techniques brought together to turn England's capital into the most destructive fireworks celebration imaginable. As McTeigue put it:
Then the end sequence was a melange of...it was hard to shut down the Houses of Parliament and White Hall and Trafalgar Square. That took months of organizing, actually. Then to have 500-plus extras in masks and capes and all that, that was great costuming — Sammy Sheldon and Terry Needham, who was the A.D. — that was a great thing that they put together with the art department, Owen Patterson.
Any time filmmakers are able to totally shut down busy areas of major cities in this way, it blows my mind. Obviously the easiest way to make this happen was at night, when there are fewer people out and about, but it still must have been a stressball of organization to make sure all the planned shots could be fit into those filming windows. Not to mention wrangling all those hundreds of extras and getting the costuming and timing to work. All it takes is one clumsy actor to botch the whole shebang.
As well, McTeigue talked about also utilizing minatures to get the explosions looking so spiffy, saying:
Then, you know, I had to do the miniatures of the Houses of Parliament blowing up, and Big Ben blowing up. So there were all these disparate elements that came together, and there's a decent amount of visual effects in there. But that was a great sequence to put together. I loved putting it together; in the working out of it, it was hard.
I gotta say, even if all of V for Vendetta's political and ideological storytelling felt silly in today's modern political climates, those explosions would still look absolutely astounding in comparison to the plethora of awful-looking digitally created explosions that currently being overused in movies, usually for budget's sake. It's hardly a coincidence that two of the film's stunt coordinators David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, went on to insprei the long-awaited Oscar category championing such efforts.
It's a perfect enough movie that I don't quite understand why there was ever any talks about remaking the movie into one of the upcoming DC TV shows produced through James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Studios. Instead of doing all that, just rewatch the 2006 classic, either by picking up the 4K Blu-ray set, or by streaming it via HBO Max subscription.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
