Feature for V For Vendetta

Guy Fawkes night will never be the same again - thanks to the minds behind 'The Matrix' and a cult comic book.

As sure as fans of Christmas dust down their copies of 'Elf', 'Scrooge' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' every December 25th - 'V For Vendetta' will forever be known as 'that Guy Fawkes movie' and pulled out of the DVD collection come November 5 in Britain.

Sadly this isn't due to the film being a classic piece of cinema - simply a convenient date.

Set against the futuristic landscape of a totalitarian Britain, 'VFV' tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (played by 'Star Wars' siren Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as 'V'. Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, 'V' ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about 'V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself - and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Sadly this idea is nothing new. If you think it sounds a bit like George Orwell's '1984' you wouldn't be far wrong.

The film is based on a comic book - or graphic novel as fans of the genre like to call it - by Alan Moore, called 'England Prevails'.

It's an impressive and charismatic affair with everything you would want from a conventional book - romance, political issues and a general distrust of 'The Man'. Even non-fans and newcomers to the illustrated novellas wouldn't fail to be drawn in - it's just a shame that the film doesn't carry that feeling and sentiment to the big screen. Natalie Portman wasn't familiar with the text before he signed up to star in the big screen version.

She confessed: "I was introduced to it when I was offered a part and was just blown away by it. I had not been familiar with the genre and had always just lumped it together with comic books and thought they were things for boys. But it's great literature and it's just beautiful art."

But she didn't just do it for the money. The stunning actress, who shaved her head for the role, says she saw something in the characters' struggle that hit home.

Natalie - who beat Scarlett Johansson and Bryce Dallas Howard to the role - revealed: "Coming from Israel it was very interesting for me to consider the mind-set of someone who goes from being non-violent to being drawn towards using violence to express her political beliefs.

"Maybe my character is being manipulated, maybe she's finding her true self, and maybe she's just developing pragmatism over idealism. There's so many ways and levels of interpretation on it.

She added: "I appreciated that sort of complicated view as it was something I had been thinking about a lot. What would make someone want to do this sort of thing?"

The cast member who has the hardest job on-screen is Hugo Weaving - who plays 'V'. The actor, who is widely considered to be Australian but was in fact born in Nigeria, shot to fame in 1994 as 'Tick' aka Mitzi Del Bra in camp dramedy 'The Adventures Of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert'. He's worked with the team behind 'V For Vendetta' before, on 'The Matrix' trilogy. He was the original choice for the role but wasn't available so the part was handed to British actor James Purefoy. But when Purefoy's involvement ended, Weaving had no problem stepping into another revolutionary's cape and mask.

He revealed: "I was down to make the Australian drama ' Eucalyptus' with Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, but then that folded and four weeks into the 'V' shoot I was very surprised to get the call saying, 'We've actually sort of parted ways with James Purefoy'.

"It was to do with animating the mask and they didn't think it was working. They just wanted it to be animated and it's difficult because it's a very fixed mask. You can't see my eyes or mouth."

As it turns out, it's a situation that played in his favour.Weaving admits: "It was an advantage to have had little time to prepare for this film. Maybe to have had three or four weeks mucking around with the mask with lights and just seeing what works and what doesn't would've been ideal but either way, when you start everyone knows where you're at."

'V For Vendetta' has divided critics and fans. Some love it. Some think it's a pale interpretation of the original text. Many people were expecting more action - considering the past history of the creators, the Wachowski Brothers - while others were expecting it the political drama to dig deeper into the Orwellian overtones.

No one can deny that 'V For Vendetta' is a great looking film, in fact, in some places it's genuinely jaw-dropping stuff. That's the good news.The bad news is that it's a drawn-out affair with no real substance that leaves the viewer not caring whether the anti-heroes at the heart of the story live or die.

Portman clearly tried her best with a script that thinks it's far more clever than it is, but her British accent is far from convincing and detracts from her credibility. The brilliant Weaving is wasted on what amounts to nothing more than a voice-over job, while policeman Stephen Rea just looks constantly bewildered.

Although the film is being marketed as 'from the creators of The Matrix', the action sequences - which the trailer for the film leads you to believe are plentiful - are few and far between, although they are impressive.