V for Vendetta (Stormy Pinkness)

“Remember, remember the fifth of November.” I heard this line too many times throughout the movie V for Vendetta, in my opinion. V for Vendetta is the story of a revolutionary following in the steps of Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes was an Englishman who decided that there needed to be a change in the government. To bring about this change, he decided that he should blow up Parliament. His attempt was unsuccessful, and V feels the need to finish what was started centuries ago. This revolutionary saves and recruits a young woman to help him for his cause. I am very glad that they retold the story of Guy Fawkes accurately, something I look for often as a historian, but that one line did not need to be said as many times as it was throughout the film.
Overall, the movie was well-made, had some good action sequences, and acting that exceeded my expectations. This is especially true on the part of Natalie Portman, who has been tarnished in my mind ever since the debacle that was the more recent Star Wars series. Hugo Weaving plays the lead character, named V. He is a revolutionary who is constantly masked and never seems to give simple answers. As someone who is constantly masked, Hugo Weaving had to rely on his voice and body language to convey what he was attempting to get across. This he does accomplish. However, after seeing that mask about five freaking million times during the movie, I wanted to break it.
Natalie Portman plays a young woman who is saved by the character V from being jacked up by supposed “lawmen”. This begins her journey to self-discovery and her relationship with the mask-wearing rebel known as V. She did a good job conveying that her character had questions about the futuristic society she lived in, but was not sure whether she wanted to pursue the answers to those questions. However, after public display by V, she is forced to pursue those answers. The one problem I had with her character was that she seemed to trust V too quickly. Yes, he saved her, but in the kind of society she lived in, I would have been suspicious that he was just another form of the law that could potentially get her into a lot of trouble, given the corruption of the law that was occurring at that time. Another thing that bugged me about her trusting V is that she never saw his face; he was always wearing that mask, which more than once reminded me of a chubby cherub from medieval paintings. However, this fault lies with the story itself and not with the acting. Well done, Natalie! You are starting to win back my esteem.
The one major problem that I had with this movie was the feeling that I was constantly missing something. Not only did I feel this way, which was annoying, but I could not put my finger on it, which was even more annoying. I almost felt like the movie was telling me that it would explain itself to me when I was older. I do not know why I felt this way, but it was a feeling that I could not shake for the entirety of the movie.
Overall, this was a well-made movie, with a good job done by its actors. The set design was interesting. The costume of V was a tad too strange for my taste, and if his hair got any longer it would look like it was Morticia Adams behind that mask. I have heard some people say they loved this movie and also some people say that they hated it. I did not like it or hate it. This was simply not my type of movie. There is no better way to explain it.
Now it is time for the ratings portion of this review. Because of the vagueness of my regard for this movie I have rated this on two different scales. The first is how well the movie was done, which received a 10 from me. However, on a scale that rates my enjoyment I gave it a -5. I hope you all remember the fifth of November.