Action combined with a salient political message

Rating: 8/10 (16 August 2013)

Action combined with a salient political message about sums up V for Vendetta. Britain is under totalitarian rule. Inspired by Guy Fawkes, V, a masked fighter, intends to start a revolution by blowing up Parliament on November 5th. He saves Evey, a young woman employed at the British Telecasting Network during her accidental run-in with the secret police, and brings her to watch the Bailey explode with fireworks. The next day, he infiltrates the BTN to appear on national TV and rescues her from the police that are now pursuing her. We see her attitude to society evolve during the movie - from passivity to a determination to push for change. The Chief Inspector, who is in charge of capturing V, also begins to question things when V reveals that the death of 80,000 was a deliberate government medical experiment.
I think the movie's main message was that we must be released from fear and willing to do battle in order to realise our political ideals. However, the means by which V goes about this raises ethical questions. For example, during his takeover of the broadcasting station, he forced all the others in the room to don masks, so as to make his escape easier. He also killed all the people involved in the medical experiment as well as the Chancellor. People would argue that such individuals should be made to stand trial, and not simply eliminated by a vigilante. I would prefer a clearer message rather than something as murky as this, but the screenplay and pacing were really good hence it gets an 8.