Neat film

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2006)

Based on the Alan Moore graphic novel, this is the tale of an apparently disfigured man made "super human" individual known only as V (Hugo Weaving for the most part) who is now trying to get England to rage against the machine so to speak, as England is now living in a cast iron authoritarian state under the Nazi like rule of the John Hurt villain. Natalie Portman plays the requisite eye candy.
True, the whole "fight the power" thing has been perverted over the years to being sort of a fashion statement, therefore this is "rage against the machine" made by the machine type product, whilst the very concept of rebelling against the evil dictator state has been done so many times that it's practically cliché, which is the film's real opponent much more than the Hurt character, but the film is still fun albeit weird. Weaving sounds like he's having a grand old time as V, playing him as a foppish trickster Zorro, and there's violence and style to spare, plus the 1812 Overture. Natalie Portman, however, was a little flat, and to be honest I'm not sure if she's just naturally flat, if she inherited some kind of Star Wars prequel syndrome or if she was just having trouble holding the British accent.