To call this "fiction" would be an injustice.

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2006)

V for Vendetta - World War III has come and gone, and the mistakes of the past have come 'round full circle. The people of Great Britain, in fear of the plague and chaos that resulted in the "States", have handed their rights away to the church, and a Hitler-esquire ruler (John Hurt) for protection. But not all hope is lost, for an anarchist has come to save us from ourselves. His name is V (Hugo Weaving) and he has not forgotten "freedom" and it is not just a word to him.
This is an excellent movie. It hits hard the problems of today. As we find ourselves being robbed of our civil liberties by a pack of sniveling fear-mongers. As we find ourselves in a world where our religion has quickly become the only thing that matters, and crimes committed by those that claim to be heads of religion are allowed to get away with horrid crimes. As we find that the line between "hero" and "villain" is quite easy to cross, if it exists at all.
Hugo Weaving deserves an Oscar nomination at least. He won't get it, but someones got to admit that it's pretty damn hard to act and show emotion and charisma inside a mask. He is a formidable presence as the charming and devilish anarchist V. Natalie Portman isn't quite as good, but she's still very convincing as the vulnerable, but not too vulnerable Evey.
As one of my earlier comments might have indicated, I was grimly satisfied at the inclusion of a pedophile priest. SOMEONE had to include it in a movie sometime.
The effects are spectacular and the dialog is too. I enjoyed the brutal hard hitting fight sequences quite a bit.
It will be snubbed all around, but V for Vendetta is an amazing movie with numerous references to our own situation with George W. Bush, the 1930s syphilis testings, the the Nazi rise to power and the Holocaust (all four of which could occur over and over again).
Who knew one of the most important messages could come in a comic book movie? V for Vendetta gets an A.