Help Me, Mommy-- They're Making Me Think!

Rating: 10/10 (23 November 2007)

Whereas the Wachowskis' "Matrix" trilogy placed more emphasis on the action and effects of the digital age, with the intellectual content coming in a very close second, "V for Vendetta" is the other way around, making it actually a better, more satisfying film.
For the first time in her career, Natalie Portman gives a passable (actually much more than) performance as Evey, a working girl who's had to be trained not to think for herself. Along comes V (Hugo Weaving), who starts the whole cycle over again where Evey is concerned: he has a plot to overturn the tyrannical government of his day, and he's offering Evey a place on that very special train.
It's a highly liberal ode to original thinking and the need for justice. In this, as in several other cases, liberal is good. Everything about this film is a call for order, right down to references to America's "destructive war" (gee, I wonder what that could mean...).
Cinematically speaking, "Vendetta" is also a remarkable accomplishment. From the late Adrian Biddle's elegant cinematography to Dario Marianelli's driving musical score, "V for Vendetta" delivers the goods with more explosive force than you'd ever imagine.
If you're not afraid to think, watch "V for Vendetta." ASAP.