Premise: The movie is set in Great Britain in the near future. Under the guise of several terrorist acts, a totalitarian government is elected to Parliament under Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt) to save the country from these terrorists. The only problem is the people must give up a lot of their freedoms for being safe. The government eventually becomes cruel, corrupt, and oppressive to the people. Driven by a personal vendetta, a mysterious individual William Rookwood(this part is incorrect, the vigilante named “V” uses this false name at one point in the movie, but it comes out later that this person was killed as well)… (Hugo Weaving) comes to the forefront to take up the cause of freedom. He wears a mask of Guy Fawkes to cover his face, and changes his name to only V. V’s mission is to kill all the doctors who had tortured him at the detention center, and bring back justice to the country.
On November 5, in the process of blowing up his first building, V rescues a young woman, Evey (Natalie Portman), from the secret police. V takes over the TV station and broadcasts a message to the country condemning the oppressors in Parliament. V invites all the people to join him in one year on Guy Fawkes Night to see him complete what Guy Fawkes couldn’t, blow up Parliament. (Courtesy Internet Movie Database)
Analysis:I kept thinking to myself, “why the heck does this seem so familiar… I don’t mean the action, I meant the feel of the movie… the sets, the lighting… and then I saw the credits… LOL… the Wachowski brothers wrote and directed one of my all-time favorite movies “The Matrix“!
Overall, this movie had the dark, edgy grit to make you both grimace and stay riveted at the same time… it keep you enthralled with both its action and its intellectual substance. Some of “V’s” dialogue is some of the most profound and beautiful lines I have ever hear in a movie, poignant yet somehow ubiquitous at the same time.. hard to describe unfortunately.
I found it a bit unsettling that, knowing Hugo Weaving was playing “V”, but never seeing his face, that I kept thinking that a futuristic British society was being saved by Agent Smith, but perhaps it would have been even worse if I COULD see his face, so we’ll leave that alone.
Natalie Portman plays a timid character in this role for the first 2/3 of the movie, however because of her involvement with “V”, she is able to reign in her fears and begin to take a stance against the oppressive totalitarian government, (a microcosm of “V’s” interaction with the masses of Britain).
Overall, a darn good movie. The only drawback that I could see was that the movie itself got pretty “heady” for the middle part, (Between the 5th of November year 1 and the 5th of November year 2). I was beginning to lose interest in the movie a bit towards the middle, but after seeing a particular fight scene in the sewers of the Underground below Britain towards the end of the movie, which of itself was stunning and VERY reminiscent of “The Matrix, I would recommend watching the movie and staying engaged to the very end 
Best Quote(s):
Evey Hammond: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I’m not questioning your powers of observation I’m merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.
Evey Hammond: Oh. Right.
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Evey Hammond: [voiceover] Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot… But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I’ve witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I’ve seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them… but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it… ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love… And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man… A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget.
Official Trailer:
IMDB Website: Click here
