A for Effort

Fio and husband watched V for Vendetta last night, a B-movie in which a Dr. Who/X-Man type guy with a Phantom of the Opera mask, a Zorro cape, and Blade knives takes down a corrupt theocracy ruling Britain of the future. Think Cromwell, think Hitler, think spittle, bad teeth and a scraggly beard.

It's very British in that it doesn't quite hang together for this American reviewer. Reminds Fio of a black-and-white Brit film of years past when a cathedral got destroyed as aliens invaded.

The story's over the top--preposterous, in fact--and doubles back on itself far too often. The characters are blatant stereotypes. V himself is very Shakespearean, a latter-day Hamlet who can't stop talking and analyzing and philosophizing in a mellifluous, ultimately boring, voice. And he ends up like Hamlet--beautifully dead from a duel which he wins. There's an Everyman witness to the whole scenario, of course, a long-suffering police inspector. He survives, just as we do.

V for Vendetta is somewhat silly, with lots of blood which you know is fake and elements of sadism which are flimsily justified, but I liked the bright colors and the acting, and all in all, it's spellbinding. Better than Iron Man.