A Verdict on Visionary Vindicating Violence

Or "V for Vendetta," the longer review.

First, if you are in love with the source material, you are going to get your heart broken. This isn't Alan Moore's and David Lloyd's flawed gem of a graphic novel about a modern-day Guy Fawkes running around a hyper-Thatcheresque London. No, this is more akin to Peter Jackson's version of the "Lord of the Rings" novels. Distilled to its essence, the story remains but the order is switched around, re-written, updated, polished. For someone who has read (meaning devoured and picked apart) the Moore/Lloyd work which was first published nearly two decades ago, it came as a shock to see characters acting differently, back plots and resolutions dropped, and subplots introduced. Bits and pieces of the original script from the novel float in and out, and observant viewers will get the nods given to the graphic novel laced throughout the film. If there's a way you can do it, put aside the original work before you see the film. It'll work out better in the long run.

Okay, that overture out of the way, it's time to get to the symphony (an in-joke left for you to discover). "V for Vendetta" is likely the bravest thing you'll see come out of Hollywood in a while. It's a film (if you haven't figured it out from the trailers) about a terrorist in a future fascist London who is bent on destroying the system. First by going after the people responsible for his past suffering, and then the whole she-bang itself. It's more of a study of fascism and power than an action film. V (the terrorist, placed by Hugo Weaving, who goes faceless throughout the film) isn't Batman or Wolverine. He relies far more on guile than guns, although he does pack a mighty nasty set of knives. With his Guy Fawkes mask in a perpetual smirk, he becomes a murderous ghost of Christmas Past, killing anyone part of the ruling class.

Which all leads to Natalie Portman as Evey, the young girl V rescues from plainclothes policemen who were about to rape her for violating curfew. V for Vigilante? Nothing so simple. Evey becomes the conduit for us to enter V's world. We learn about his plan, which is far larger than it first appears, and how the killing of a few party officials isn't the end, but merely the beginning of a much larger destruction. Evey's also the audience's voice, questioning how murder and mayhem can be good, if ever. Is there a point where violence works, and when, and can we live with the consequences? Can a society pacified by government-sponsored fear can aroused to take a stand? Is V justified in taking his revenge, once we learn the back stories of both his creation and the government that twisted him into being? And what if V is right, that there is a time when violence is the only solution left for a society rules by cruel masters? Speaking of which, V doesn't stop to console a fearful Britain. In one of the film's best moments, V hijacks the TV signal and speaks directly to the British people, giving them the hard truth that to find the true culprits of today's woes, they only need to look in the mirror. To paraphrase the man, it hurts because it's true.

There's nods and pokes at where we are now as a society. Hate-based pundits, fear-based newscasts to keep the populace cowering, government surveillance, heated political rhetoric labeling anyone against the system as a terrorist. It's achingly familiar, done to make the absurd (a man in a mask running around causing havoc, avoiding capture) a little more real. And compared to a mess of other graphic novel/comic book films out there, V for Vendetta has the bravery to not be about just the action, but to explore the ideas behind them.

"V for Vendetta" is a fable about living in fear, living in a society where anything is done for absolute control, and the power of standing up and saying "no." And V understands what other superhero/graphic novel-made movies don't: Heroes exist as part of the time they live in. And the smart ones play their cards to bow out at the right time. V lasts as long in any given room and with any given character he's supposed to, and his finale is masterfully played.

"V for Vendetta" is about finding a point past fear, and being liberated from a life of terror. It's a violent film, violent in ideas and actions, and it is as fearless as its lead character. It's slow and awkward in places, and there's at least one "wait a minute" moment involving the British Mail system, but on the whole it's worth your time in the audience and afterward, thinking about how (as Stephen Rea's police investigator character deciphers) the chain reaction of events in the film was arranged years in advance by V. It'll get you thinking about how the words "freedom fighter" and "terrorist" are easily interchanged. And yes, it'll get you thinking about war, terrorism and freedom. It's not an simple film, but a necessary one, an allegory for mad times. It is a film about an idea, which V tells us can't be killed.

And you should go see it.