V For Vendetta is a film that is going to be kicked around by the pundits and the press ad nauseum. A film where the protagonist is a poncey terrorist whom all but the most silly right wingnuts will most likely find themselves siding with. I've already got a snootful of it just flipping through a couple of blogs. Claims of Bush-bashing abound, while the Leftys are quick to remind them that the protagonist V is for Vigilante a freedom fighter in a fictitious Great Britain ruled by an Orwellian fascist police state where the only all American thing to do is rebel - much like the colonists did a few centuries ago. Alas there are those who maintain V is for Villain period. I have one point to make about this, but it works better as part of my grand and profound final wrap up. In the mean time let's agree that this is fiction that for better or worse, reflect certain realities both in this country and the one in which the story takes place. Still, I am left to decide whether or not V for Vendetta is an entertaining film?

In my opinion yes it is - though it hits a few saggy spots characterized by a little too much talk as well as a shortage of the kind of playful irony that a film like this really needs - the kind of thing that made Fight Club a superior film. V is still a fun creation from the mind of graphic novelist Alan Moore (reportedly still bitter over Hollywood's bungling of his League of Extraordinary Gentleman and the critical drubbing it received.) What's Moore, he V For Vehemently insisted on having his name removed from the credits of Vendetta after reading the screen adaptation penned by the Wachowski Brothers of the Matrix fame. No word yet on his reaction to first-time director James McTeigue's finished product - but it's a damn sight better than the McLeague.

McTeigue certainly did a good job with the look of the film. V is more or less a cross between Batman, The Phantom of the Opera and even Zorro with his swishy swordplay and penchant for end-of-the-alphabet one-letter calling cards. Not unlike both Batman and The Phantom, V resides in an subterranean cavern beneath the streets of London known as the Shadow Gallery. Oh and there's the mask - a likeness of martyred 17th century would-be British terrorist Guy Fawkes. We first meet V when he appears from the shadows to rescue damsel in distress Evey (Natalie Portman) who is about to be raped and imprisoned for curfew violation by a trio of new-age cops called Fingermen - or something to that effect. V dispatches the horny henchman with startling alacrity owing to his expert way with various blades.

Evey is certainly taken aback by this masked man who dares stand-up to the absolute authority so feared by the populace who have been systematically cleansed of all political, ethnic, sexual, and religious deviations from the accepted norm. The Big Brother fascist focal point of the state is a Hitler-esque figure played by John Hurt, who regularly issues well-spun politic-speak broadcasts from an office that bears an unmistakable resemblance to the third Reich - quasi swastica and all. His ruthless and egomaniacal dictatorship is feared even by the uppermost members of his ministry, including a particularly nervous Stephen Rea.

I've heard complaints that the film's narrative is too obtuse and confusing, but given the political paradigm painted by the Matrix Brothers, I thought it was very compelling and easy enough to follow, as clues are meted out as the film progressed. Through the use of flashbacks and scenes re-enacted as the police attempt to discover the identity of the masked cop-killer, we learn about a state plot gone awry. A ghastly experiment where dispensible human subjects were exposed to various amounts of radiation in an attempt to see if there might be a way to create a superhuman species - Manchurian candidates who may yield a breed of super humans to be exploited by the state for military purposes. There were few who survived even for a short period and we see footage of their unclothed bodies being dumped into mass graves - images exactly like those of Auschwitz et. al. Occasionally we see snippets of televised reports of total anarchy in America, plague-ravaged third world countries, circumstances (whether real or fabricated) that make the relatively safe haven of Britain's fascist regime look pretty attractive.

V, (played by Hugo Weaving - Agent Smith in the Matrix) as it turns out was one of the Guinea pigs in the radiation experiment, in fact the only one to survive. Though he would be horribly disfigured he managed to destroy the testing facility and escape and has since been on a crusade to track down and exact vengeance upon his tormentors. With an ultimate goal to finish what his hero Fawkes had once set out to do - blow up parliament and Big Ben in the bargain.

During all of this Evey has remained hidden in the Shadow Gallery for her own protection, and has become an unwitting accomplice. When she at last decides to strike out on her own she is captured and imprisoned and left to suffer in inhumane conditions. Shorn bald she resembles Sinead O' Connor. Her performance is credible as are almost everyone involved. Both Stephen's Rea and Fry acquit themselves well as does John Hurt as Adam Sutler - (the first two and last 4 letters of the name are the same as you know who - Adam Sandler. (just kidding) It is a bit of a problem for Weaving to carry off his lengthy orations behind a mask, but the whole film isn't so much about acting as it is about creating and maintaining tone.

V for Vendetta is a film that you can either pick apart or just leave it alone and enjoy as a whole, as an experience, an emotion. The ending is a satisfying spectacle that borrows a bit of it's look from the second Matrix film. If the film is reckless in terms of it's politics, I guess you could argue the fact that by blowing up Britain's most recognizable symbols of national identity while the wounds of 9/11 are far from healed is a bit indelicate. There's also the issue of the London subway bombings that actually happened as preparations were being made for a similar bombing scene. Few films have been so steeped in events so similar to it's own plot as to have an effect on when the film is released, how it should be marketed and ultimately how it will be received. Regardless the fascinating coincidence, 37 people lost their lives - allowing in a bright crack or reality's light to pervade the darkness and lend shades beyond the black and white that the film intends. Judged strictly by it's own merits, V for Vendetta is quite a good film - but it purposely overlooks the issue of ends justifying means, and also gives us (a nation of people who have been victimized by terrorism) a bit of a spooky glimpse into how seductive terrorism can be when you're absolutely certain that what you're doing is for the best. Even more profound words come from the most unlikely of sources, Sponge Bob Squarepants. In his immortal words: "F is for Friends who do stuff together, U is for U and me. N is for Nukes found all the world over that may spell the E N D.
Good night and good luck.