Comic Vendetta

Rating: Null/10 (16 March 2006)

It's an absolutely amazing movie.
Based on a DC/Vertigo comic book, V for Vendetta is about futuristic England that has come under ultra conservative totalitarian rule of a Nazi-like government. In comes codename "V", the terrorist/hero (interesting combination, one of the highlights of the movie) who seeks to revolt by overthrowing the government on the heavily symbolic Guy Fawkes day.
In comes Evey Hammond, an everyday girl who stumbles into V and hears his view on government, and the rest of it... is... about... vengeance.
The line that V utters in the trailer "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people" pretty much sums up the theme of the movie. As citizens, do we endorse terrorism? We do not, but watching V for Vendetta, one cannot escape positioning V as the true hero of the film. In some unexplainable way, we see the world through his mask, and almost sympathetically, let terrorism justify itself.
It is an amazing film. Natalie Portman delivers a strong performance as a good girl turned activist, and the Chancellor of England (John Hurt) despite having most of his scenes displayed through another screen, fires bullet rounds of his government propaganda with devastatingly powerful speeches and dialogue. Stephen Rea's character, as Chief Inspector Finch, is perhaps the character that we follow the most closely. He is like us, an audience, witnessing the events unfold, and whether his mind changes is one of the key story lines of the story.
Soundly cut, aptly photographed, and psychotically pleasing to the eye, V for Vendetta is a rare hit for March. It was supposed to be released August/September last year, but was postponed due to the terrorist bombings in London last year (which has some resemblance to the film).
The only downside to the film is perhaps the terrorism itself as well. The film leans too heavily to the terrorist camp, and fires every cylinder there is to let it's pro-freedom ideals take flight. It is too obvious, the stand the movie is taking. Ironically, the movie can easily be described as a propaganda to expose propaganda.
Overall, V for Vendetta is realistically futuristic, elegantly scripted, and politically charged, all achieved without forsaking the comic-book atmosphere. The film is almost what one can imagine as the complete comic book adaptation.
It's nice to have a surprise this early in the year.
Rating: 8/10