Victory from the Underground

V for Vendetta (4/5 stars)

I came into this movie with pretty high expectations: I expected a film with great action and an important message about totalitarian societies. The film provides neither but it still works well.

The story is about the masked hero V (played/voiced by Hugo Weaving), set out to take down the dystopian society of the not-so-distant future United Kingdom. On November 5th, he destroys an important landmark, and vows to demolish the Parliament building exactly a year later, on the anniversary of when dissenter Guy Fawkes attempted to do the same thing hundreds of years ago. On the way he saves Evey (Natalie Portman) from police attempting to attack her, and brings her along for the ride.

What I did not like about the film is that the action and technical elements of the film were actually fairly weak in comparison to what I was expecting, and the message the movie portrays is fairly flimsy. Not enough is said about what is bad about a totalitarian government, not enough (I can't reveal too much about this because it reveals a plot twist that kind of made me cringe) is revealed about how the character Evey changes her mind and aligns herself with V, and finally the explanation of how he eventually gains support of the people is rather unbelievable.

That being said, this isn't supposed to be a masterpiece, it's a summer-ish popcorn movie, and it's still enjoyable to watch. The lack of action gives for more concentration on plot which (despite the weak points I mentioned above) keeps the movie interesting throughout. The performances by Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman (except for the tendency to slip into different English accents at different points in the movie) as the two main characters, as well as the entire supporting cast are very well done. Also one portion of the movie's message gets it right on, the explanation for how a democratic society can turn totalitarian virtually overnight is rather frightening and completely plausible in today's climate.

I'd definitely recommend it, just don't go in expecting something you're not likely to find or else you may be disappointed.