Interesting but not amazing

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2006)

V for Vendetta is not faultless by any means. I thought it got a little "soggy" in the middle during the prison interlude, a series of scenes which would have benefited from some livening up and editing, and the movie was both too wordy and too worthy in places, but overall, I thought it a good investment of two hours of my time and almost ten bucks of my money. Hugo Weaving's performance as V was astonishing, hidden as he was behind a mask the whole time, yet still able to covey pathos and purpose. While credit must be given to some intelligent writing, most of it was down to Weaving's sheer physical ability as an actor. His voice was both seductive and sinister and his presence never less than compelling. And Natalie Portman just gets better with everything I see her in. Stephen Fry also stood out as a gay TV host in a future Britain where homosexuality is once again a serious no-no.
I came to this film as a Brit who grew up celebrating Guy Fawkes Night (or Bonfire Night as it's more often called in colloquial English), and the playground rhyme Remember, Remember the Fifth of November is for me immediately evocative of chilly, foggy November nights from my childhood, shivering crowds gathered around a bonfire and letting off fireworks, hands clutching steaming mugs of hot chocolate to ward off the cold. Few of us gave any thought at all to the historical origins of this strange celebration; we simply seized the opportunity to indulge in public displays of pyromania, united in our rather subversive love of a good fire. Would Brits turn up in their thousands to watch the Houses of Parliament burn down? It's an interesting question. I rather think they might. (And I'm not going to get into the politics of 17th century Britain and the Protestant v Catholic debate or the recent appalling terrorist attacks.) The connection between Guy Fawkes and V in this movie, may be a little lost on other nations, but it makes the obvious point that terrorism has been around a very long time (with a variety of names), and that the old adage "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is as true now as it has ever been.
A future Britain has become a fascist state where information is tightly controlled and the population is kept in line by fear of the chaos and anarchy existing elsewhere. Or maybe chaos doesn't exist everywhere else? Who knows when a few people control the media and the populace prefer to spend their time watching brain-dead TV dross? Does this ring a bell? (Presumably the Internet and communication satellites have been closed down in V's Britain.) Undesirables of every type are rounded up and shipped off to secret facilities where they are the guinea pigs for various biological warfare experiments. A lone survivor of the worst of these facilities, a character known only as V, sets about single handedly bringing down the government and setting the population free by exposing them to the truth. And by blowing up a lot of London and killing not a few people.
The movie is interesting as a contrast to the Wachowski brothers previous Matrix trilogy. Fewer acrobatic displays, more old-fashioned explosions. And the plot is easier to follow but perhaps not as original. I have never seen the comic book from which it is derived, so I can't comment on the interpretation. But one thing I do like about the Wachowski's movies is that although they are full of stunning special effects, they are ultimately character driven, and we can get a sense of empathizing with the people at the centre of the plot. That's something too often missing from science fiction Â– or perhaps future fiction, as V for Vendetta might more correctly be called. I enjoyed it, and I think I could happily watch it again. My teenage son, perhaps closer to the target audience, thought it wonderful.