I remember watching this movie when i was 16 years old..right about the same time the movie was released! And i could not understand head or tail of it! And now 5 years later..i decided to revisit this Wachowski Brothers product with hope that i would be blown away! And was i blown away or what!! Back then, i did not even know that the Protagonist of the movie was played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith of Matrix) and i must say, he is such a brilliant brilliant actor!
The Year is 2038, Britain has become a totalitarian society, run by fascist leaders. Just when everyone thought that the country had gone to the dogs, enter "V" , a freedom fighter with a stormy past, vowed to remind the people what it means to live for a cause!
A Guy Fawkes mask, 16 inch knives, Zorro like clothes, an addicting persona, some extremely cool martial arts moves, "V" is out to eradicate the vermin of the society. At first glance, you would expect a cheesy plot, with cheesier situations, typical to most super hero movies.. But this film, works because and only because, it tries not to be something it is not.
The film sets the Gunpowder Plot as V's inspiration, and having escaped a cruel past filled with torture and imprisonment, V spends 20 years preparing to take his vengeance on his enemies. A Vendetta.
But the most striking or important part of the film is the fact that we are not told anything about V as an individual, but rather the film dives into V being an embodiment of an idea! How deep is that huh? V does not have a identity or a face. All we get is an extremely convincing body language as when V speaks. Hugo Weaving's deep and sophisticated voice lends character and strength to the man behind the mask.
The Wachowskis gave us the path breaking Matrix Series and they do justice to "V" with both soul and spirit! The action sequences are nothing less than Jaw Dropping! Believe me, there is nothing sexier than "V" using his deadly knives to gracefully kill his oppressors! The final battle is so EPIC!
Natalie Portman as Evey somehow stumbles into V's life as she is saved by him during an attempted rape by the "Finger men" (secret police). As fate would have it, she is drawn into the enigmatic world of V and learns to face her fears with V as her mentor! No i'm not talking about a Karate Kid style training session!!
There are just so many things about the movie that i loved!! I just loved V's alliterative speech when he introduces himself to Evey, and you must see it too!! (Sorry there are no embeddable videos on YouTube for that scene!)
Be it the hard hitting flashback scenes, or the subtle emotions of "V", or the eventual relationship that Evey develops with a Man who has no face, or the buildup to the climax, V for Vendetta strikes on all chords for me! There are many who would classify this as an action movie and would shy it away! NO! Spare 2 hours and i assure you that you will not be disappointed!
In short, the movie is a masterpiece, extremely inspiring and at the end of it all, the movie by itself is more than a Guy Fawkes Mask, it is an idea.
As "V" would say it, Ideas are bullet-proof! "V for Vendetta" is solid bullet-proof!!
P.S: Watch the trailer, and you will want to see it instantly!!
