An original combination of standard tricks.

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2006)

In either plot, theme, or execution there is nothing in 'V' that has not been done before. Some parts of it are ridiculous, and some parts of it are just plain awful. I went to see it a second time just to be sure about this. I wasn't wrong. It isn't deep, the characters don't feel real and the futuristic setting is incomplete. The targets that are attacked are easy ones, and no real risks seem to be taken.
However,(and perhaps this is as a reflection of our times) tame as it is, 'V for Vendetta' feels genuinely subversive. After a wobbly start, two hours zipped by and left me feeling like if I didn't talk to somebody about it right away I'd burst. There is a couple of messages in it, yes. Have we heard them before? Hell yes! But watching the film I realised that I haven't heard them in a while; which might be why it felt so original. I think people are going to love or hate this film for a very long time. I think it's absurd, and I find it flawed..

but I absolutely adored it.