Harkening back to a time when H.G. Wells used a science fiction setting to comment on British imperialism in War of the Worlds, a tradition that Star Trek and others continued, V for Vendetta targets modern events in the USA and disguises them in the cloak of a Great Britain turned fascist in the near future. And while it may get a bit slow in the middle, is about as subtle as a sledge hammer with its message, and strains credibility at times, the movie generally hangs together pretty well all the way through the fairly predictable climax.
In the Great Britain of approximately 2030, a fascist dictator (John Hurt) rules the country with an iron hand. Anyone not Christian, heterosexual and 100 percent English is suspect and subject to unceremoniously disappearing. In this world we meet Evey (Natalie Portman), a young woman on her way to visit a friend after curfew. She is set upon by some of the government’s street thugs used for curfew enforcement and is on the verge of loosing her virtue when a masked vigilante (Hugo Weaving) comes to her rescue. Dressed all in black with knives as weapons and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask (Guy Fawkes is considered England’s most notorious traitor. On November 5, 1605, he and other conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament with 36 kegs of gunpowder. He was hung, drawn and quartered for his efforts. Ouch!), he initially strikes Evey as a bit of a nut. After a soliloquy that must have used fully a quarter of all the "V" words in the English language dictionary, the man known only as V takes Evey to a roof where he shows her his latest masterpiece, the bombing destruction of London’s central criminal court building. Evey is naturally a little intrigued.
V’s reign of terror is far from over. Having destroyed the court building on the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ attempted bombing, V takes over the British Television Network emergency channel and broadcasts an invitation for all good British citizens to meet him one year later at the Houses of Parliament for the ultimate culmination of Fawkes’ "Gunpowder Plot." As he makes his escape from the TV station he once again encounters Evey who maces a police officer so he can escape. Unconscious and now considered a traitor, Evey is spirited away by V to his hideout. What follows is a year in which V continues to work on his plot for justice and vengeance while Evey draws closer to him and learns a great deal about herself.
Loosely eased on a comic book from the first half of the 1980s by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, the movie script was penned by the Wachowski brothers of The Matrix trilogy fame. In the post 9/11 environment of the United States, some of V for Vendetta’s themes may make certain people uncomfortable. V is a terrorist. There is no arguing this. But when is terror justified? That seems to be a central question of the movie. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. When governments suspend essential liberties in the name of making society safer, is terror okay? What if the governmental party actually engineered the fear that brought them to absolute power? V for Vendetta tries to offer some answers in a far-from-subtle manner. If you leave this movie wondering what the film makers wanted you to get from it, you were not paying attention.
Ably directed by James McTeigue, Natalie Portman reminds us that she actually can act after three Star Wars films, though her English accent kept slipping in and out of character. Hugo Weaving, heard but never actually seen, nicely conveys the mixture of patriot, martyr and madman that equally make up the character of V. All the supporting cast members are equally top notch. Veteran British actor John Hurt turns in an especially terrific performance as the processed and driven supreme chancellor of Britain.
Though a futuristic, science-fiction film, V for Vendetta is not especially heavy on special effects. Like classic British science-fiction movies, V for Vendetta takes a slightly slower pace and develops mood and character at the expense of constant action. This is definitely not a movie for the ADD generation. The sets are broody and atmospheric. There is little bright about the Britain of the future. This perfectly sets the tone for the events and environment the story takes place in.
While it is perhaps lacking in subtlety and not paced at what most American movie goers are accustomed to, V for Vendetta nonetheless is a very good film that addresses some interesting issues we all face today. Now if we can just avoid V for Vendetta: Reloaded and V for Vendetta: Revolutions, I think we’ll be in good shape.
