Gripping and Thrilling!

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2015)

In the film "V for Vendetta," a masked anarchist named V (voiced by Hugo Weaving) is bent on revenge on the Nazi-like government that has come in to power in Britain. V is fueled by revenge from experimentations on him that left him with no memory of who he was. He gets help from a young girl named Evey (Natalie Portman) and is able to cause the people of Britain to wake up and rebel against their dictator. The major theme throughout the film is fear and panic. The people of Britain seek comfort in the arms of a dictator after their water supply is poisoned and he promises to cure everyone. When he comes into power, he curiously is able to come out with a cure immediately and everyone begins to follow him almost blindly, ignoring the warning signs of what he may have done. Society seems to just accept the intrusive rule of the government, allowing them to constantly monitor their every movement and listen to their conversations at any time during the day. V's sole goal is to cause the people to wake up and truly recognize what's happening around them. The way that the dictator Adam Sutler is always shown on a massive screen looking down at his council resembles that of the "Big Brother" from "1984." There are more parallels in the way he monitors all of his citizen's actions constantly through intrusive surveillance. The dim lighting of nearly every scene helps to build the feeling that the society is in terrible state. Everything is dark and dingy and truly makes you able to feel like you are a part of the oppressed society. The angle of the camera work when Evey hides from Creedy's men also fuels to the emotional contact felt with her character. I believe that everyone should see this film, not only because it's a great film, but because it shows how people shouldn't blindly follow their government out of fear. It's understandable that the people of Britain wanted Sutler in charge so that he would cure their water sources and they would be safe again, but they gave up much more than they gained. V just wanted the people of Britain to wake up and come to grips with his idealism. He ended up having to pay the ultimate sacrifice, but as he told Mr. Creedy in one of his dying sentences, "Behind this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof." This line sums of V's entire personality and his goals for his actions.