V for Vendetta

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 2006)

Based on Alan Moore's excellent graphic novel, V for Vendetta is set in a post-nuclear world, where Britain is run by a fascist government which sets limitations upon the freedom of it's peoples in true Nineteen Eighty Four style. A man named V (Hugo Weaving), uses terrorist tactics to try to show the people of Britain how they have fallen into passive acceptance of this regime, starting by destroying the Old Bailey, then publicly announcing that in exactly one year he will destroy the Houses of Parliament. Along the way he meets Evey (Natalie Portman), a young woman who he believes can help him achieve his goals.
V for Vendetta has turned up at an interesting time. Indeed, with the news mostly concerned with terrorists and dubious politics, it seems apt that a supposed blockbuster film should come along and try to get us to think about exactly what the hell is going on with our world. People have associated the film with Iraq, North Korea, and Nazi Germany, despite the fact that it was written during Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister. Alan Moore himself has disassociated himself with the film because he believes it has been twisted from its original intentions, but it seems right to do this  if people are going to get a message across, it needs to be relevant to the day and age that the message is concerned with.
The real focus is V  is he a terrorist or a freedom fighter? It depends on the perspective taken. From Adam Sutler's (John Hurt) government's view, he is a terrorist, but he soon opens peoples' eyes to become their freedom fighter. But the methods he uses are dubious  destroying famous landmarks, packing an underground train with explosives (particularly relevant for Britain now) and strapping explosives to himself. This is clearly a film that wants us to think.
And it does. In fact, audiences have been deceived by trailers that show V for Vendetta to be an action film. In reality, there are less than ten minutes of action throughout its two hour run time, but this doesn't matter as the rest of the film has been carefully structured to keep the audience interested without the need for slo-mo violence. The key to its appeal is the characters, and here the actors all stand out. Natalie Portman is the right kind of actress to portray Evey (although her English accent suffers, sometimes horrifically, but it is a reasonable attempt), and shows her vulnerabilities very well. Stephen Rea's detective is a world-weary man, frustrated by V's ability to avoid capture, again carried off with aplomb. The star is of course Hugo Weaving as V who, being masked all the way through the film (he never reveals his face, emphasizing his existence as an idea rather than a person), has to rely on physical and vocal actions to portray emotion, which he does extremely capably. His voice is perfect for V  understanding and passionate, yet with a slight hint of craziness.
There are some faults  Britain loses the grimy feel that was given to us in the graphic novel, instead looking plain and perhaps too much like today's London. Secondly, sometimes the film feels too heavy handed in its message, coming across as clumsily preachy. Also, V's introduction is, from the script's point of view, extremely heavy handed and could potentially put viewers off the film. Stick with it though, and underneath the blockbuster you'll find a film that is both daring us to challenge our way of thinking, and also managing to entertain.
Rated: 8/10
More reviews at: http://www.thelazylounge.net