Visceral feast for the senses.

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2006)

In 1999 the Wachowski Brothers brought us the first groundbreaking Matrix film, filled with cutting edge special effect techniques and an action film with no boundaries. On the heels of the Matrix Trilogy, the always mysterious creative duo bring us another veritable action extravaganza, V FOR VENDETTA. Behind the mask of the caped lead is actor Hugo Weaving, who played Agent Smith in The Matrix films. Based on Alan Moore's graphic novel published by Vertigo/DC Comics, the film is set in London, in the not too distant future. The formerly great United States is now apparently a leper colony, and Britain is ruled by an oppressive, authoritarian government where freedom is looked at as a liability in the effort to control the people. The stunned, complacent masses are kept in the dark from the truth of daily events by the government controlled media which manipulates them through propaganda and censorship. Along comes the caped freedom fighter 'V' (Weaving) who stirs things up for the ruling Chancellor and his forces with a show of explosives accompanied by a little Tchaikovsky music piped in simultaneously as the soundtrack. He conducts this "performance" from a nearby rooftop with Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman), a young woman he rescued from a group of men in the streets earlier that night after she was out past the enforced curfew time. He politely forces her to view the massive spectacle alongside himself, the perpetrator. 'V' later takes Evey hostage to protect himself from being betrayed and caught. The ultimate objective of this charismatic madman is to blow up the Parliament building, giving the power back to the people and getting vengeance for events which led to his being burned and horribly scarred during some government endorsed experiments that went wrong. 'V' is uncompromising in his quest for revenge, and the government uses that to promote an atmosphere of fear, gaining an effective tool of control. The government is for the people, and if it is not, then upheaval must occur. The idea of freedom is eternal, and must be a guiding light for governments and the people ruled by those governments. Intentionally or not, the film does have some overtones of present social and political happenings, certainly here in the United States. But it is fiction, and fascinating at that. This film is quite ambitious, with some visuals that brought me back to Terry Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil. The Matrix creators have done it again with a stunning visceral feast for the senses. V for Vendetta is a moving, triumphantly electric, powerful political action thriller. Hugo Weaving does a good job behind the cover of his mask, a daunting task surely, and Natalie Portman flexes her acting muscles in the distressed, yet strong, role of the heroine Also starring in the movie are Stephen Rea, playing the detective tracking 'V' down and John Hurt playing the tyrannical Chancellor Adam Sutler. Is 'V' a terrorist or a freedom fighter? You decide.