Surprisingly great!

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2006)

"V for Vendetta" was a comic book series (later published as a graphic novel) written by the now-legendary writer Alan Moore and penciled by David Lloyd. The complex sci-fi tale of the terrorist codenamed "V" and his fight against the fascist British government in a near future setting was the first of many successes in Moore's career in the comic book industry.
After many failed attempts to adapt Alan Moore's works to film (resulting in the writer's hatred to the idea and disowning of the final product), "V for Vendetta" succeeds not only as a very good sci-fi film, but also as a good adaptation that, while deviating from the original storyline, it keeps the substance and keeps Moore's message consistent.
The plot follows Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), a young woman in futuristic London, who one night is about to be raped and murdered by the corrupt secret police, but is saved by the mysterious masked vigilante who calls himself "V" (Hugo Weaving). This way she becomes acquainted with the idealist terrorist and his personal crusade against the fascist government of the country, which will culminate with the destruction of the Houses of Parliament, mirroring Guy Fawkes' own attempt of blowing the building 400 years earlier on a 5th of November.
Directed by James McTeigue and adapted by the Wachowski brothers (known for "The Matrix" series), the film is a very good debut for McTeigue; who unlike the famous movies directed by his partners-in-crime, opts for a less flashy approach to action films and keeps the movie in tune with the original source novel. While the script done by the Wachowski moves away from the source novel making the film less complex (taking away most of the many complex subplots), the spirit of Moore's "Vendetta" remains the same and "V" remains a mysterious character right in the thin line between a villain and a hero.
Hugo Weaving excels as "V", giving the character the feeling of extreme idealism complete with the dramatic persona it needed. It is amazing the way his vocalization gives "V" a personality; as a masked figure, the character demanded a lot of Weaving really could convey true emotions through the Guy Fawkes' mask. Natalie Portman is a great young actress, but while her expressive face and powerful presence do the job well, at times she sounds odd with a British accent that seems to come and go.
Among a supporting cast of well-known British faces , Stephen Rea shines as police chief inspector Finch, who while trying to discover "V"'s past ends up discovering his own government secret past. His performance is remarkable and very underrated, he nailed the character perfectly and it's a shame that his character weren't used more prominently.
And there is the movie's biggest flaw, the simplification of "V for Vendetta" leaves out a lot of great subplots, and a longer runtime would be better. However, it is understandable that what it is in print not always can be translated to a 120 minute film (specially Moore's complex story lines), and the Wachowski brothers deserve credit for making the most of the storyline resulting in an interesting sci-fi movie with a powerful and still valid message. In this movie they prove that with a solid backbone such as Moore's novel, they can do very good stuff.
James McTeigue shows promise as a director, and while his restrained style and focus on the plot rather than on the action may turn off hardcore action genre fans; the real fans of the comic book will be thankful. "V for Vendetta" is easily, the best adaptation of Alan Moore's work to date. 8/10