What is this world coming to?
The denial of evolution, the banning of homosexuality, the use of fear by governments to control airports, train stations, the media – all clear and distinct denials of humanity, each one bringing us so much closer to a world of mechanical animals.
What is this world coming to?
The answer to the question can be found in “V for Vendetta,” the latest film to come from the team that made “The Matrix,” led by the writing of the Wachowski Brothers and the directing of James McTeigue.
Based on the DC comic, the film takes place 20 years in the future in Britain, when America’s wars have devastated the planet and the top nations have emerged in closed-caged fascist states.
Fighting against the iron fist of the British regime is V (played by Hugo Weaving, most notably known for his role as Agent Smith in “The Matrix”), a masked terrorist who bears the scars of the government’s wrath and stops at nothing to seek vengeance.
Caught up in the mess is Natalie Portman’s character Evey Hammond, who finds herself increasingly repulsed by the control the government has over her life and the lives of her friends.
Filled with drama and philosophical intrigue, the film packs a powerful punch of a political proposition when it favors the use of terrorism to fight a gunpoint government. In essence, it’s a continuation of the story of Guy Fawkes, a British commoner who tried to blow up Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605.
Overall, the film has a sound message and elements that attract the eye and the free-thinking mind. More complicated than an action movie and more thoughtful than simple liberal banter, this movie has all the elements of good drama – conflict, mystery and above all, revenge.
Though the film smacks of Matrix-esque ideals and values, it breaks away from the “chosen one” blueprint and gives the stage to the people as a whole, with one central character leading the way.
Yes, it’s a repetition of the man-against-government conflict, but it has a more relevant feel to it when the government in question isn’t comprised of tentacle-toting robots and a kung fu computer program.
As is to be expected from the Wachowski Brothers, the images become a bit artsy at times, and the plot has points of questionable feasibility. For example, there’s a scene in which one of the main characters is actually hazed. Beyond that, the violence of the film is amplified and stylized with plenty of choreographed twirling and computerized special effects. Don’t worry, there’s no bullet-dodging.
Despite the fact that it does fall short of expectations at points and sometimes even reality, “Vendetta” delivers a clear view of a world under tyranny, in which art, music, and homosexuality are all illegal.
The film sets out to send a message, and it does just that.
I was sitting in class the other day when I saw a button on a girl’s bag. It said, “Think. It’s not illegal yet.”
What is this world coming to?
Colin Lacy can be reached at [email protected].
