As Smug as the Titular V's Mask

Rating: 4/10 (19 March 2006)

Thoroughly mediocre, V for Vendetta fails on all three levels. For some, it's a movie adaptation of a graphic novel, for others it's a political allegory, and for the rest of us it's an action flick. But in none of these areas does the film deliver $6's worth. The political commentary is bland and heavy-handed. Comparisons to the current GoP regime in America are plentiful and not in the least subtle. Its anti-establishment message could only offend if you hate sexy lesbians, and will only inspire if you think 9/11 was the result of an intricate government conspiracy.
As an action movie, V for Vendetta is awfully bland, featuring hardly enough action to fill 2+ hours. The climactic fight scene is rather brief and feels derivative of Equilibrium or maybe the latest Prince of Persia video game. Moreover, Natalie Portman's character is largely irrelevant to the plot and very nearly could have been omitted if not for the unnecessary love interest.
Most infuriatingly is the obvious hand of the Wachowski brothers as writers. V's vociferously verbose alliteration (you see what I did there?) and obnoxious tendency to quote any book more than a few centuries old brought me to tired yawns very quickly. As the Wachowskis pat themselves on the back for yet another brilliant movie that borrows heavily from Dumas, Orwell, etc, etc, I see their faces curled in the same infuriating smirk as the protagonist's mask.