A movie with a message that we should stop and smell the roses, before we have none

Rating: 6/10 (14 March 2006)

(Synopsis) The movie is set in Great Britain in the near future. Under the guise of several terrorist acts, a totalitarian government is elected to Parliament under Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt) to save the country from these terrorists. The only problem is the people must give up a lot of their freedoms for being safe. The government eventually becomes cruel, corrupt, and oppressive to the people. Driven by a personal vendetta, a mysterious individual William Rookwood (Hugo Weaving) comes to the forefront to take up the cause of freedom. He wears a mask of Guy Fawkes to cover his face, and changes his name to only V. V's mission is to kill all the doctors who had tortured him at the detention center, and bring back justice to the country. On November 5, in the process of blowing up his first building, V rescues a young woman, Evey (Natalie Portman), from the secret police. V takes over the TV station and broadcasts a message to the country condemning the oppressors in Parliament. V invites all the people to join him in one year on Guy Fawkes Day to see him complete what Guy Fawkes couldn't, blow up Parliament.
(My Comment) After seeing the movie trailers several times, I had very low expectation of this movie. I was surprised after seeing it. The mask is kind of comical at first, but you get use to it, and it kind of mesmerized you. You begin to listen to the voice behind the mask, with his words of wisdom. The character of V is ruthless, yet he is also intelligent, compassionate and poetic, especially, towards Evey. V is a modern day Zorro on steroids. V ends up cutting more throats than were killed in the Kill Bill movie. The movie has the same feel as George Orwell's 1984. V would always leave a rose at the scene of each murder, perhaps to remind us that we should stop and smell the roses, before it is too late. The storyline was taken from a DC comic book. However, I think the political message and storyline are controversial in today's climate with terrorism in the world. V's actions are right, but his terrorist tactics are wrong. (Warner Brothers, Run time 2:12, Rated R)(6/10)