V for Very Silly

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2006)

It's not an overstatement to say this movie is based on a very paranoid, far-left view of any government that has an antiterrorism strategy. It seems directly intended as a polemic against the Bush and Blair governments, but it's not especially coherent. The government persecutes both homosexuals AND any hint of Muslim sympathy? That's just silly, but it's borne out of this post-9/11 delusion in certain quarters that the world is ruled by Christian fundamentalists and Jewish warmongers. The society presented in this film shows no sign of the stress or tangible fear of living under a totalitarian government - you'd think the random kidnappings and murders would create some sort of palpable horror in these people, who look pretty normal. It's ludicrous to assume that they'd vote for this government out of fear. For all of V's lofty rhetoric, he's really not a freedom fighter so much as a crafty anarchist (there's even a nice reference to the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" thrown in). Basically, this movie is how a small but vocal segment of the West sees their own societies - under constant surveillance, all news invented, with nefarious behind the scenes activities on par with the fascists of WWII, yet utterly normal from the outside. It's based on the frustration these deluded activists feel that they can't convince their fellow citizens of the great conspiracy. It's a shame that John Hurt went from the great but failed dissident in the movie version of "1984" to this sad clone adapted for the 21st century.