A film that should be easily dismissable

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2006)

It has a very mixed message and one of the sloppiest screenplays I've encountered in quite some time (Andy and Larry Wachowski, the directors and screenwriters of the Matrix Trilogy, are responsible for it). The lead character wears a mask the entire time, so the character has almost no ability to engage the audience himself. Plus, nearer the end, he is turned from a person into a purely figurative symbol. Natalie Portman has to carry the entire movie, and, while she's very beautiful, even when shaved bald, she's not a strong enough performer to accomplish the task (plus, her British accent is less than believable). There are also a ton of silly and unbelievable moments. However, with all that against it, V for Vendetta has some intriguing ideas and is a fairly rousing picture in the end. The story posits a fascist government in Britain in the near future (or in an alternative present). Most of the film's value exists in the believability of this government and how it operates. The film pays close attention to how the government and the media control the people. The references to modern day America are clear, and it's not hard to buy that a similar course of events could take place. There's even scenes where the government is listening into citizens, which is a current event that couldn't have been news when this script was being written. A fair amount of our population, directly after September 11th, said that they would give up their privacies and freedoms in exchange for safety. The hero of the film, V, is a terrorist, any way you look at it, and that is problematic for sure. The movie does not necessarily side with his cause completely, but it certainly doesn't reject his ideas either. The movie uses the story of Guy Fawkes; V wants to carry out what Fawkes failed at. If you know the story, you might guess the ending. But as my friend wondered, how would the movie be accepted if the film had ended with the Capitol building in Washington D.C. being destroyed? A difficult movie to deal with, but definitely worth sitting through.