You Can Not Kiss an Idea

Movie Review
V for Vendetta
Directed by James McTeigue

Based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta tells the story of one masked vigilante called simply by the codename 'V' (Hugo Weaving). Set in the bleak fictional future of Great Britain, V vows vendetta against the repressive British government and started wreaking havoc not only by the destructions of key governmental buildings but also by instilling ideas of freedom inside the minds of the citizens of Great Britain. Along the way, V met a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman), who reluctantly becomes entangled in V's conflict with the British government. Unknown to both of them, their past has a lot in common than they realized at first.

V for Vendetta has a lot of good things going on about it. First and foremost, the story is excellent. Alan Moore is quite known for graphic novel with stories that have a lot of moral gray areas and intricate plot details. For those who are in the graphic-novel-loving crowd should be familiar with Moore's Watchmen (which is also coming out for the big screen sometimes in 2009), and the story there follows the same style of intricate plots and twisted morality. Although heavy with political themes, the story of V manages to relate to the ordinary people. This is thanks to the character Evey and the background of her story.

The excellent story is supported by excellent screenplay written by Andy and Larry Wachowski (of the Matrix Trilogy fame). Coupled with the cinematography, the story and characters are excellently portrayed, calling forth the right kind of emotion for each scene from the audience. Even though it is the Wachowski brothers, don't expect Matrix-like action. They do the story justice by cutting down on the special effects and creating a screenplay that best describes each scene. They save the special effects for the last parts of the story, and even that is not grossly overdosed like what you find in the Matrix trilogy.

Performances by the actors and actresses are probably one of the strongest aspects of the movie (second only to the excellent story), with Natalie Portman perfectly portraying the character of Evey. She delivers a great and convincing performance in this movie (something which couldn't be said of her role as Princess Amidala in the Star Wars movies). However, the spotlight is definitely on V, played by Hugo Weaving. Probably the most extraordinary aspect of his performance is that Weaving manages to perfectly deliver the characters and personality of V without showing his face, since the character wears a Guy Fawkes mask all throughout the movie. A truly outstanding feat, considering that Weaving has to use other means to convey V's emotions aside from facial expressions.

I couldn't write enough praise when it comes to the story of V for Vendetta, something that could be said of the graphic novel Watchmen as well. Yes, you can't touch an idea, but ideas are probably one of the strongest moving forces in human lives. So is this movie. Highly recommended, for those who has a penchant for excellent and complex story. I suspect that those with quite a liberal point of view could find a thing or two to like about this movie as well.