Remember, remember...

"...the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why gunpowder treason, should ever be forgot."

Those were the opening lines by Natalie Portman who played the female lead role in the recent graphic novel adaptation, V for Vendetta.

It has been a while since I've been to the cinema and I thought I'd treat myself to a good movie for my 31st birthday at the Odeon Cinema down in Leicester Square. Believe me, paying £12.50 for a movie is definitely bloody expensive.  It better be worth it.  Surprisingly, it was.

Anyway, back to the movie.  I will be honest with you.  The first time I heard of V for Vendetta late last year, I thought it was going to be a remake of the popular 80s series, V (for Victory) starring Marc Singer, Jane Badler, Michael Ironside and Robert Englund (a.k.a. Freddy Krueger).  I was even more pleased when I found out Natalie Portman was involved; I thought she was going to play "Diana", leader of the race of carnivorous lizard-like aliens.

Instead, she plays Evey Hammond, a young lass (with an inconsistent British accent) who almost got fingered was assaulted by a group of "fingermen" (undercover police) while breaking curfew.  Her knight in shining armour came in the form of a man dressed completely in black and wore a hat and a mask.  Although the mask strongly resembled a very pale and cheerful Antonio Banderas, it wasn't Zorro, but it was V, played by Hugo "Agent Smith" Weaving.

If you think that sounds a bit looney, you just have to listen how V introduces himself to Evey:

"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you...

...and you may call me V."

Now I'm sure Evey must have a lot of gratitude for her saviour, but after an introduction like that, I'm surprised she didn't even try to run away from the madman.  Oops, I think I've already given away too much here.

I must admit, I haven't heard of Alan Moore nor David Lloyd; the former wrote the novel and the latter created the illustrations.  So I'm afraid I can't comment much on their work.  But the movie itself was very entertaining.  I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and would certainly need to see it again (possibly even a third time) to get all the jokes.  The action sequences were well choreographed and the storyline was well-written, but you would already expect that since it was written by the Wachowski Brothers (the guys who wrote and directed The Matrix).

I came out from the cinema thinking where this country is headed for when our Government wants to invade every aspect of our private lives for the sake of safety. I mean, if you're a fan of The X-Files series, you would know how it depicted the U.S. Government as concealers of the truth; the conspiracy behind everything that is abnormal and unknown.  Perhaps the same political message is embedded within the movie.  Like I said, I will need to watch it again to catch what I possibly missed.

Portman's acting was very good throughout the movie, although I seem to be fixated on her accent; was it Cockney?  Also, her head seemed a bit out of proportion after being shaved.  It's a good thing that she's cute.

Weaving was excellent too, although it was very difficult to appreciate him with that mask on all the time.  Yes, the camera never reveals his face.  So it was much of a "voice work" for Weaving, with the occasional nods and head-turns.

A few things to look out for:

• V's two-minute introduction of V-dialogue to Evey.
• Portman's head being shaved.
• Really cool slow-mo fight scenes.
• The fantastic destruction of a very famous landmark in London.

Significant info - V wears a Guy Fawkes mask, the English soldier who tried to blow up the Parliament back in 1605.  He was captured and executed.  He is remembered with Guy Fawkes Night on November 5, usually with massive fireworks display all over the country.

What can I say? I really enjoyed this movie. I'm inclined to get a copy of the graphic novel from Amazon. And with that, I give it 8 out of 10.

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