From the creators of The Matrix trilogy comes V for Vendetta, an arresting and uncompromising vision of the future based on the powerfully subversive graphic novel. Natalie Portman stars as Evey, a working-class girl who must determine if her hero has become the very menace he's fighting against. Hugo Weaving plays V - a bold, charismatic freedom fighter driven to exact revenge on those who disfigured him. And Stephen Rea portrays the detective leading a desperate quest to capture V before he ignites a revolution. The stakes rise. The tension electrifies. The action explodes. Whose side are you on? In V's world, there is no middle ground.
 
"A compelling, rousing and at times strangely moving entertainment."  Glenn Kenny, Premiere
"Entertaining and solidly crafted."  John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
"Spectacular and exhilarating."  Michael Wolff, Vanity Fair
"Truly an outstanding movie. The acting was phenomenal, the screenplay was brilliant, and the concept was executed perfectly."  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Richly satisfying entertainment the way movies are at their best, when they prod you to think."  Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
"As the revolutionary V, Weaving is mostly marvelous..."  Sight and Sound
"...visually exhilarating, provocative and disturbing...an action thriller that also stimulates thought."  USA Today
 


Editor's Note

V FOR VENDETTA: From DC comics and the Wachowski Brothers (THE MATRIX) comes this tale of revolution in an England of the future, one gone fearful and fascist; anyone different, from homosexuals to free thinking artists, is "black bagged" and subjected to torture and inhumane medical experiments. Hugo Weaving stars as V, the mysterious knife-carrying masked avenger who has lightning reflexes, lots of explosives, and intentions to blow up Parliament. He's also on a vendetta against the evil powermongers who made him the lonely monster he is. Natalie Portman is the innocent waif who saves him and winds up hiding out in his nifty secret lair, which is filled with forbidden books, art, and a jukebox that plays Cat Power and Julie London's "Cry Me a River." Meanwhile, there's a hangdog police inspector (Stephen Rea) picking up their trail, and a plethora of evil British government types regularly bullied into action by the intensely odious "Grand Chancellor" (John Hurt). Director James McTiegue keeps all these events unfolding at a hypnotically rhythmic pace, like the burning of a long, unstoppable fuse. Some may balk at the film's seemingly pro-explosive, pro-terrorist stance, but to look deeper is to realize the film merely provides a funhouse mirror of our actual messed-up world, something that is true of all the best science fiction. V certainly fits that category, especially with Natalie Portman in the lead, as lovely and riveting an actress as a beleaguered nation could ever hope for.