People should not be afraid of their government, government should be afraid of their people.

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2006)

It is now August and I've seen em all. From An Inconvenient Truth to Da Vinci Code to Superman Returns to Miami Vice to Pirates of the Caribbean to Snakes on a Plane and to many more I've now seen all of the big movies and also some of the little ones that have come out from January to August of 06 and V for Vendetta is still the best I have seen all year.
Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta is essentially about a masked freedom fighter/terrorist named V (Hugo Weaving) who lives in Britain sometime not to soon from now. In around maybe 2020 I'd say. The country is run by a totalitarian/fascist government where everything and everyone is censored, controlled and watched according to the governments standards. V is the freedom fighter who rebels. Natalie Portman's character Evey is eventually dragged into V's rebellious/acts of terrorism that range from blowing up places to defying the government in every way possible and to his final act or rebellion which concludes the film. V sees what most people in this futuristic Britain don't that the government has used fear as the ultimate tool to gain total control of these people. V sees this and resents this. And further into the film we find out just really what the government did to turn Britain from a democratic country into a totalitarian/fascist country.
To say anymore could spoil it and to spoil this film would be a crime.
In a film that has many parallels to a lot of things in our world this totalitarian Britain might not be to far off for us. There is much to be found in the way of symbolism and allegories in this film.
The dialog in this film is awesome, one such example is a brilliant monologue where almost every other word starts with a V, that V gives in one of the first scenes of this movie. Many quotes from this movie will really make you think and will stay with you for a while because they speak true to how our society could become in the future, maybe even 20-30 years from now.
The acting by Natalie Portman is surprisingly good in this film considering she has been a bit off since Garden State in my opinion. Hugo Weaving although covered by a mask the entire film does a great job making you sympathize with this terrorist V as we see why he is like this. He also does a great job making V a poetic, intellectual, and passionate hero while still showing him as a ruthless and merciless killer. V is skilled in combat and the art of deception he is also a very very bright individual which makes him to be a great anti-hero.
The direction is also top notch here by James McTeigue. Every shot looks good and the explosions are all great especially the final scene which is captured beautifully. To say more about the final scene would give it away.
V For Vendetta has a lot to say about where it thinks society is going and my what a scary place the world will be if we are ever run by a government like the one in this movie. By a government who issues curfews, has only on TV station censored by them, who monitors families conversations, who's every bit of media has to be passed through them etc.
This movie is not just an action movie yet it's a social critique which has resounding similarities to the book 1984 by Orson Wells. In the end V For Vendetta comes out as a smart, dramatic action thriller that begs to ask the question is it considered terrorism if you know that what you are doing is right?