V for VendettaRating: * * * 1/2Type: Action/Sci-fiLength: 132 minutesMPAA: RCast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, John Hurt, Stephen Fry, Stephen ReaDirector: James McTeiguePlaying: Crossroads 20, Carmike Park Place 16

V for Vendetta, based on the Alan Moore graphic novel of the same name, is not entirely a film, in the strictest sense. Focusing on themes of oppression from political, religious and scientific organizations, this movie is largely a piece on society, about our responsibilities as people to not allow those which we elect to control our way of life.

Set in an England of the future, the film tracks the exploits of Codename V, Hugo Weaving, and his at first reluctant accomplice Evey Hammond, played by Natalie Portman.

As Evey becomes caught in the wake of one man’s quest for vengeance, she and the rest of England are forced to question the validity of their ruling bodies, and V is confronted with the realization that underneath his ever-present mask, he is still just a man. These understandings come at no small price, as we are subjected to deadly government experiments on homosexuals, police shooting innocent civilians and the world as a whole beginning to riot underneath the weight of such changes.

Needless to say, this is not your average DC super hero film, there are no easy answers and there is no tangible enemy. It is all about the connections and reactions of people in the face of an invisible and all-knowing threat to freedom itself.

As such, this movie is as much a political film as anything else, and in this respect the movie succeeds in making the character of V humanized as both the man behind the mask and the idea in front of it. This emotional revelation of the film’s lead creates a relationship between him and Evey that is equal parts classical, in respect to the traditional ideal of super hero film romance, and awkward due to the script’s execution of their romance.

The issues with the film’s romantic elements lie in the lack of adherence to the source material, as in the original work there is no overt relationship of love between V and Evey, V in the novel is no longer a man, he is just an idea, thus the groundwork laid for their involvement feels forced, and the acting suffers equally for it. While no film is a novel, and should not be judged as such, the principles of artistic licensing can’t be leaned on as an excuse for bad storytelling, and it’s a shame to see it hurt such top class actors like Weaving and Portman.

By the film’s end, there is no single element to take away from the experience, one part political opus, one part traditionalist super hero film, and a solid look at how to synchronize the two art forms. V for Vendetta screams a certain kind of class that makes the price of admission worthwhile, and at the very least socially topical.