V for Vendetta is another dystopian near-future sci-fi brought to the silver-screen by Matrix creative team, Andy and Larry Wachowski. Their screenplay, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, imagines London in the grip of fascist dictatorship. Paralysed by their fear of government oppression, few dare make a stand and those who do are 'black-bagged' and disposed of. But when a masked vigilante, dressed as Guy Fawkes and known only as 'V' (Weaving), destroys the Old Bailey, the fog of apathy begins to lift. Almost against her wishes, Evey (Portman), the orphaned daughter of political activists, becomes embroiled in V's plan to emulate his 17 th century predecessor by blowing up Parliament. As the film progresses Evey learns from V a lesson he intends to teach the rest of the country: people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.

The Matrix showed how to achieve box-office success with a film that was not only action-packed but intellectually involving as well. Although V for Vendetta was likely intended to walk that path, it stumbles with almost every step. In the current political climate, the issues thrown up by the film ought to be interesting and provocative. Instead, they are unsophisticated and badly realised. The film's message is beaten into the audience with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Rather than challenging us to think about the state of our world, V's crusade is little more than a tired rehash of Orwellian predictions. There needs to be something new and engaging about a film before audiences will accept that it has more substance than the standard Hollywood action-movie.

Unfortunately, that much bland soap-boxing distracts from what might have made the film more exciting. The characters spend so much time spoon-feeding the audience every detail of the plot that very little screen-time remains for the fight scenes and special effects. In fact, the film relies so heavily on dialogue that a large chunk of the ending is dealt with in voice-over. V's last stand is about as thrilling as the action gets but even that poaches the slow motion 'bullet-time' effect from The Matrix. Apart from the all-too-short spectacle of Stephen Fry receiving a particularly brutal beating, there is simply nothing new here.

Though the cast does its best with the script, the Wachowski brothers' gave them very little to work with. Their efforts to produce believably English characters are woeful and the dialogue is leaden, clich�d and forced. V's tongue-twistingly alliterative introduction provides the first indication that the script is a dud and there is not much improvement later on.

Too much of the film makes no sense and too many questions are left unanswered and under-developed. This would be forgivable in a high-budget action-flick but in film described by its director as a "political thriller" such plot-holes are scrappy and disappointing. The balance between hi-octane thriller and political commentary is never found and the inevitable result is that neither action nor message are particularly interesting.

FEATURE | INTERVIEW