V for Vendetta

Rating: 6/10 (9 August 2006)

V for Vendetta creates a vision of the year 2020 in London: the British government is ruled by a fascist dictator, there is omnipresent surveillance and a strictly-enforced curfew for all citizens. The state television station spits fear-mongering propaganda that is fed to a TV in every household. Government goons break into houses to haul off homosexuals, Muslims, racial minorities and political dissenters, and lock them up in camps for medical testing. Who will stand up against the oppression? His name is V, and he wears a mask with the face of Guy Fawkes, the 17th century Briton who attempted to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament. V is a terrorist, and we meet him on the 400th anniversary of the night Guy Fawkes' plot was foiled  the night he plans to blow up the Old Bailey courtrooms.
Earlier in the night, V saves a young woman, Evey, after she unwisely attempts to break curfew and runs into a group of policemen intent on harming her. V forces her to join him, and they both watch as the Old Bailey explodes to the tune of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture broadcasting over the city loudspeakers. Days later, V seizes control of the state television station and vows to strike against the dictatorship again on the same night one year later, petitioning the oppressed public to march in support on that day. For the next 12 months, the film follows V as he trains Evey to become his partner in leading the revolt.
V for Vendetta is the latest film from the Wachowski brothers, who famously wrote and directed the the Matrix trilogy. Unfortunately for us, their newest effort is more similar to the second and third Matrix films than the first.