Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante (Hugo Weaving) known only as "V." Profoundly complex, V is at once literary, flamboyant, tender and intellectual, a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance. He is also bitter, revenge-seeking, lonely and violent, driven by a personal vendetta. In his quest to free the people of England from the corruption and cruelty that have poisoned their government, V condemns the tyrannical nature of their appointed leaders and invites his fellow citizens to join him in the shadows of Parliament on November the 5th – Guy Fawkes Day.

On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in a tunnel beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He and his co-conspirators had engineered the treasonous “Gunpowder Plot” in response to the tyranny of their government under James I. Fawkes and his fellow saboteurs were hanged, drawn and quartered, and their plan to take down their government never came to pass. In the spirit of that rebellion, in remembrance of that day, V vows to carry out the plot that Fawkes was executed for attempting on November 5th in 1605: he will blow up Parliament. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious past, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to ignite a revolution, bringing freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

The movie is a powerful and amazing look at modern society where governments take more control and the people find themselves residing in fear of the things they created to protect themselves. It is also a powerful look at the human character that refuses to any longer reside in fear and stands up and shouts to the sky this is wrong. The concept is similar to a what if kind of story arc where Nazi Germany had won World War II and the world had been forced to become a fascist state where its illegal to be homosexual or anything out of the normal, where curfews are enforced and the government is in complete control. That’s a powerful story and a powerful concept because it hits home, every single day we become more and more under the thumb of our governments from fear of terrorism or decease or war and there are those who would use this fear to give themselves power but are there still people like Fawkes out there to oppose it. Sure the film is set in fantastic settings with a hero with almost superhero like powers but the story grabs you, it draws you in, it sucks you in taking you to world where the fight might not be so far fetched and where you too might want to stand up and fight back.

While V is the story, while he is the concept, the Guy Fawkes, the idea that could change the world its Evey who is humanity who must pick up the pieces after they have fallen and make a better society. So while half the story is the concept of Guy Fawkes and standing for what is just and what is right the other half is about humanity and those who must somehow make the world a better place after the Guy Fawkes and the V’s have passed away and all that is left is their ideals. Evey is this in every way, she faced every tragedy that happened to the people and never stood up, she lost her mother, her father, her brother and never stood up instead just trying to go on like nothing had ever happened even though it had affected her greatly. It takes V to wake her from her stupor and finally begin to fight back. The movie is an action packed emotional roller coaster, in which you could spend hours debating all the politics and the symbolism of the movie all the while enjoying a fantastic film that is put together magnificently and that keeps you glued to you seat wondering what will happen next.

I believe Natalie Portman to be one of the finest young actors in all Hollywood, she has proven it with her variety of roles. She captures Evey in everyway from the scared and frightened citizen, to the defiant and fearless hero in the end. She captures with tears, she captures it with emotion and facial expressions, she even does a fair job at the British accent. It is easy to believe her as Evey and that is what you want out of an actor, you want them to convince you they are someone else and somewhere else and she does it with ease. Hugo Weaving was obviously chosen for his voice because you never see his face and so all he can give his character is his voice and what a voice it is. He has several speeches that you and I would probably take months to get down from the enunciating to the veracity in which he speaks. I for one almost wanted to see the face behind the mask, to see the lips moving as they spoke of freedoms and justice but that’s not the idea of the character, the character is the idea or the ideal and there is no need to see him. I can’t imagine a better casting job then Portman and Weaving as each filled their roles perfectly one as the idea and the other as humanity who must grasp the idea. The movie blew me away, it knocked my socks off and left me wanting more. I cannot heap enough praise and love on the movie and you must run out and see it for yourselves.

Grade: A