Director: James McTiegue
Cast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt, Stephen
Fry
Screenplay: The Wachowski Brothers (based on the graphic novel by Alan
Moore)
Rated "R" for strong violence and rough language, but I think anyone 13 or over would have no problems.

First and foremost, "V" is a patriotic film. WHAT!?!?!?!?! Fanboy, how can you say that? Have you sold out to the corporate and elected bigwigs who are tearing this nation apart?
Nope. I am still a Fox news fan, still a liberal/conservative/socialist/anarchist. But, I think "V" (the character here) is trying to do what a government is supposed to do, rouse the people to see their own potential and worth.
"V" is called a 'terrorist' by a government dedicated to oppression. They are run by fear, with "Fingermen" smashing into homes and 'black-bagging' people (that is where they shove a black bag over your head so you can't see) resorting to torture to elicit false confessions out of people, and stomping on the rights of the individual.
"V" wants to stop that. He wants to return the country to the people, to return free elections and show that the populace does not have to be afraid of its rulers, that in fact it should be the rulers who fear the populace.
During one of his early missions, "V" comes across Evie (Portman, in what I think is her best role since The Professional) who is about to be raped by three Fingermen. "V" deals with them, and then takes her to his lair where they begin to form a bond. Thus begins a romance without sex, and a friendship born from the simple human need to communicate with someone else.
For Evie, she wants to do the right things, but knowing that "V" is a wanted terrorist makes things a little tough.
The story itself just grabbed me. I have not been this moved in a film since Redford's "The Last Castle" in 2001, and it never let me go right up until now when I am still thinking about it.
Yes, this is a film I will see more then once.
Hugo Weaving was absolutely amazing as "V". He gives his lines in a touching manner that will bring a smile to your face and tears to your eyes a moment later. And you never saw his face without the mask or without makeup, but that never mattered, not for a second. Weaving has done a masterful job with a character that I didn't think could be brought to the screen. His speeches on life, the government, and society never come off as high-handed or amoral, instead you can feel the passion and fire of each word.
And he completely destroys the idea that masked heroes have to be quite, by speaking the most lines in the movie. "V" is full of verve, a personality, romance, a sense of humor but still convey the idea of the 'mystery man' persona.
As for Natalie Portman, sweet God above can this woman act. When she smiles, you smile; when she cries you want to cry and tear the head off whatever makes her cry.
Comparisons to the U.S. have been abounding. Phooey. Oh sure, you can make a connection about eavesdropping and the attitude many take on homosexuality, but I don't think there is too much worry of the U.S. going as far as the future England did.
But, this film is about extremes. The ones the average person ignores and the same ones the leaders use to their advantage.
But think about this, if America was as bad as England is in "V" or as bad as the people who have been comparing us to Nazi Germany, you would never be able to watch this movie. Or read the Comic for that matter.
And the only way it could come to pass is if there was a dedicated, well run, plan to raise a dictator in this nation.
It won't happen. One of the lines, among many truly great ones, is a comment about what normally happens when "A large group of unarmed people meet a group of well armed people"; no worries, America will always be armed. Thanks to our founding fathers and the Second Amendment, it is unlikely a dictator will ever take power in this nation at least without the general population supporting them. In which case, the Second Amendment will be the least of our worries.
Anyway, back to the film.
John Hurt plays the Chancellor, a Hitler type dictator who shows up on three story tall TV screens in public and uses his power to control England with an iron fist.
He uses his Gestapo units (sorry, Special Police Units) to round up those who stand against him and his cronies, mostly intellectuals, Muslims and Homosexuals although a fair number of blacks and Asians seem to be missing from English society as well.

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But, "V" is not just out for justice. He is also out for revenge on the same people who turned him into who he is. We have no idea of his skin color, his race, religion or anything else behind the mask, except that he has been physically scarred by fire. We later discover that "V" was a test subject at an interment camp outside London.
The images of fresh bodies tossed into a mass grave and covered with lye will stay with you a while, I promise. You begin to hope that everyone involved in those horrific experiments will die painfully. Well, I did.
As "V" continues his battles against the police and Fingermen, we see English society watch and come to desire a freedom that many of them never had or had heard about from their grandparents.
Anarchy symbols appear around London and it isn't long before a trigger happy cop causes an incident.
"V" is mainly entertainment; but is still asks a question about life. "If you knew that your government had murdered 100,000 of your neighbors to gain power, what would you do?"
The second question it asks is, "Is it right to use terrorism against a fascist ruler?"
"V"s answer and mine are the same. "Heck Yes." Against Saddam, against North Korea, against any fascist regime the people should rise up and fight their oppressor. And I believe that all free people should help them.
God, I should be talking more about the film. What can one say about a thing of beauty? The camera work was great, the images easy to follow and made an impression.
The script… Well, Alan Moore separated himself from the script calling it 'Trash' or something like that. But, it was actually pretty well done.
The underlying substrata of the film are much deeper then Matrix was, and seeks to present us with a new set of problems. First and foremost is, do we ever consider that behind the mask of police officer, hero, fireman, soldier or Marine, we are still men and women? That we still want love, companionship, sex, and food? We are all still human.
Yes, the CGI was well done and thankfully not as massive as Matrix, which would have destroyed the movie and the image it placed in your head.
Finally, Stephan Fry as the TV talk show host with a lot to hide. He comes across as a tall Benny Hill, even using Hill's classic "Yakety Sax" routine. Fry has always been a good actor, able to convey a variety of emotions in his facial expressions and his tone of voice.
I think he gives the best performance of his career here.
This brings us to another point about the differences between this movie and the U.S.
On Fry's characters TV show they made fun of the Chancellor one night. A lot of fun. Probably a lot like Letterman, Carson or Leno have made a career out of. But, Carson, Leno, Letterman, and all the others are still alive. They have not all disappeared in the night, never to be heard from again.
What would happen in Saddam's Iraq if a website had popped up with openly hostile articles or images of Sadie? How long do you think someone in North Korea will last if they come out about how lousy the ruler is? Do you think Castro will just sit there laughing at images of him with exploding cigars, being made fun of in front of the entire population of Cuba?
Censorship is another big difference between this nation, the future England and dozens of other nations around the world today.
This future England is not the U.S. today. Or tomorrow for that matter. It is a fictitious story, written for entertainment and it delivers that in spades.
"V" for Vendetta is the kind of film I wish there were more of. And there will be, I am sure. Probably even now there are studios working to come up with a film that will be like it.
Patriotic? Again, yes. While the English government calls "V" a terrorist, he never kills the innocent, and targets only those responsible for the oppression he fights.
Who is "V"? The movie never really tells us. He was just a victim, just one more of thousands. A man without a face, with no life, no past after he was removed. He was a man behind a mask.
"V" should be all of us.