I confess I walked into GV Great World City without a clue what this movie was about. I only knew it starred the very delectable Natalie Portman and that was reason enough to give it a shot. A said she wanted to watch a "mushy movie" but 2 cowboys breaking each others' back wasn't our cup of tea :/
Well my verdict about V is that you'll either love it or hate it. I loved it, A fell asleep for certain stretches =)). But she didn't hate it. Well she did fall in love with Julie London's sultry rendition of Cry Me a River though, which was playing on an old jukebox in the movie.
Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V is a story of a young woman named Evey (Portman) who is rescued from near rape and death by a masked vigilante known only as V. Suave, charismatic and highly-skilled in the art of combat (especially with flying daggers), V urges his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself - and emerges as his unlikely ally in his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.
Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, The Matrix) plays V, a terrorist extraodinaire behind a Guy Fawkes mask. Never mind that the Shakespeare-quoting, rose-carrying V comes dangerously close to Phantom of the Opera corniness. I think he made quite a few female hearts in the cinema flutter. Well A's certainly did.
The source material for the show is a 1989 graphic novel illustrated by David Lloyd and written by Alan Moore. In this 2006 update, England is a police state ruled by Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt), a Nazi-like dictator who strips citizens of their civil rights and religious freedoms in exchange for protection from biological weapons of mass destruction.
On her first meeting with V, who saves her from Sutler's 'police', Evey is taken to a rooftop for some fireworks. Like a orchestral conductor, V directs Evey to watch as the Old Bailey blows up and lights the night sky, all to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. It is V who rigged the bombs, in honor of Guy Fawkes, the Catholic bozo who tried but failed to blow up Parliament House on 5th Nov 1605. And then got publicly hung for his efforts. V is however determined not to fail, vowing that next year, on 5th Nov 2020, Parliament will be history.
V then brings Evey to his secret lair where she soon begins her journey to discovering his sad and painful past which has pushed him on this personal vendetta against Sutler and his cronies. In the process, Evey gets 'arrested' and shaved bald (Portman sacrificed her own hair for this role) but still manages to look as sexy as Demi Moore in GI Jane =P
Portman puts in a stellar performance, and she really is the heart and soul of the movie. Queen Amidala aside, from The Professional to Closer, this is one of her better performances. Here her portrayal of a tortured and confused Evey, with a past of her own, really tells us why she is one of the best actresses in this generation. And a smart Harvard cookie to boot.
Nay-sayers will say the show is trying too hard to wake up a politically-apathetic generation but falls flat on its face by trying to weave in a Phantom-resque love story.
I say the guy in the Guy Fawkes mask rawkz! =))