Simple-minded political message is overcome by events

Rating: 1/10 (23 March 2006)

As a comic book movie, I would have been inclined to give "V" an average rating but for its repellent politics. A key scene is when a gay TV host (played by Stephen Fry) comes out to heroine Evey (Natalie Portman). This scene is used to fill in the political background of the story. Apparently, all the evil that ensued in the U.K. came about through the War on Terror: "America's War." It is not implausible that a long-running war could lead to curtailment of civil liberties  this actually happened in the U.K. during the long battle against IRA terrorism and those freedoms have never been regained. If the movie stopped there, it would be tolerable but it doesn't.
As we know, "V" was set to come out November 2005 but the subway suicide bombings conducted by Islamic terrorists was deemed to be too much like the final scene of the movie in which the Parliament building is blown up. Now that I've seen the movie, I think there was another reason. The gay TV host has a centuries-old Koran in his secret room and talks about how lovely the writing is. Never mind that, as a gay man, in theocratic Iran (currently the number one state supporter of terrorism) he would be executed. The fact is, this scene must still be jarring for British viewers, even months after the suicide bombings and the more recent Danish cartoon demonstrations. It is so politically tin-eared and clueless as to be breathtaking.
The Wachowski's should have used the delay in releasing the movie to cut that scene, which has so clearly been overcome by events. That they didn't is yet another indication of the insularity of the Hollywood crowd.