Just another neo-fascist butt-kicking super hero in a grinning, rosy-cheeked Guy Fawkes mask. Yawn.

Rating: 4/10 (18 March 2006)

The Wachowskis have proved once again that the first Matrix was a fluke. Not only is this movie more long-winded than the "philosophy"-heavy Matrix sequels, but there is almost no action to wake us back up after being lulled into a coma by the neverending (not to mention predictable) backstory.
There is not a single second of originality in the entire film. This may be the original graphic novel's fault, but in that case they shouldn't have chosen to make a movie based on a dumbed-down comic book version of 1984. Note: I have not read the original graphic novel, so I don't know if this was just a bad adaptation or what. Thanks to this film I never will. But I have read 1984. Shadowy "Big Brother" figure? Check. Censorship of art as subversive material? Check. State-planted news stories? Check. It's all the same things Equillibrium ripped off a few years ago, except the people who made that dreck had the good sense to put in some decent mindless action scenes to complement the mindless political philosophy.
Speaking of political philosophizing, it does make up the serious bulk of V4V's story, and has generated the most publicity for the movie. Some of it is pseudo-related to today's world--I saw the words Avian Flu on a news broadcast in the background at one point, but it doesn't seem to have affect G.B--but never at any point is it interesting. Some critics see V as a terrorist, which would make the entire film a celebration of terrorism. Others call him a freedom fighter, doing battle against an evil totalitarian regime. However, the truth is that he's a little of both. While the film assures us that the dictator is evil (I mean, he looks like Hitler!), V certainly seems capable of influencing the people without resorting to the violent theatrics that make up the film's climax. For all their evil, these fascists are terrible at keeping control of their state. In the first hour V takes over the nation's central television station with no problem, and not only can the government not stop him, they cannot even manage to cut the transmission before V delivers his long, meandering message of liberation to the people. He is able to ship thousands of rosy-cheeked Guy Falkes masks just like his all over the country, despite the fact that X-raying packages is the norm. These evil masterminds don't even control the distribution of mail? In fact, V's sworn enemies are so inept that one almost feels sorry for them. But we can't because, remember, they look like Nazis.
And are we expected to believe that a dictatorship that comes to power in England will model itself so obviously after the fascist regimes of last century? How stupid do they think we (the audience as well as the British people) are? The dictatorship of the future will look just like a democracy, except the outcome of every election will be determined not by the number of votes, but by the interests of the wealthy elite. Art will not need to be banned, because people will stop paying attention to real art in favor of mindless entertainment. Like this movie.
As a last note, how are people not insulted by the condescending intellectualism of this script? Not only do the Wachowskis (through the character V) toss Shakespeare quotes at the audience every few minutes, but they go through the trouble of identifying the quotes as if to say "Betcha didn't know that!" Shakespeare is great, but speaking in Bard quotes is for snobs.
C-