Entertainment, warning and wake-up call

Rating: 8/10 (26 April 2007)

Having just seen this cinematic extravaganza, I am compelled to comment on it. I was especially moved by the crowd that gathered to march on Parliament. People banding together because each and every one person believes that what he or she is doing is right(!) does tend to move any one watching, such as I. What Evy underwent at the hands of V may strike many as going too far. It was however, in the conviction of V, the only way he knew to set her free from her fears. And that strikes right back at a central issue of the film , which is that fear can control you, and hold you silent when you should not be. Justice is not a building, but an idea, that lives in the hearts of men and women. And that has much to do with what V tells us in the beginning of the movie: "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments; the government should be afraid of the people." The film is full of ideas; is V the flesh under his mask? should we be allowed to make fun of authority figures? should anyone have to suffer injustice? The movie was very stylish and true to the feeling of its parent, the comic, while at the same time being an enthralling movie. It was not perfect; the birth of V, due to medical experiments to create a virus, is weak to say the least. The total story of ruthless men who used a biological weapon to gain control of an election is not. It may seem unlikely, but so many events do, in the political games we see played from afar, all over the world. An entertainment, a word of warning, and a wake-up call.