The vigilant valor and violence revealed by the vigilante in “V for Vendetta” vicariously vows to validate the very verocity of various movie fanatics and conveys an undertone that is viable and virtuous. See the movie and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

The fascist British government has employed a strict code of conduct for civilians and enforces it with an iron fist. Cameras and loudspeakers line the streets, watching and commanding. Diversity and tolerance wane and those who defy are erased. Lies and deceit have corrupted high-ranking officials and the media are in the pocket of those in control.

A lone hero sets out to right all the wrongs and expose the truth to those it exploits. The peculiar masked man in the most recent comic book-to-big screen transition is known only as “V.”

The futuristic film incorporates a rich sense of British history into the plot. Using the face and inspiration of little known Englishman and martyr Guy Fawkes, “V for Vendetta” is an almost rational depiction of how corruption in the media and government can spark the most vicious of backlashes.

V, played by Hugo Weaving, is an intelligent and cultured anarchist who feeds off of Fawkes’ inspiration and political motivation. A scheming recluse whose life’s work has culminated into one evening, V is an avenger-type protagonist who fights not for himself, but for others like him. Throughout, V also shows glimpses of the common man he is underneath, which downplays the superhero role, but further justifies those ideals. However, the mask may be a little eccentric, but what superhero’s isn’t?

Natalie Portman plays his uneasy understudy, Evey Hammond, whom V has an incredible impression on. Far from her atrocity in the recent “Star Wars” films, Portman portrays a gentle, almost peasant woman, whose life is forever altered by the radical and sometimes extreme acts of V. Hammond’s transition from captive to conspirator is an uneven one as Portman, at one point, resembles the tough and bald headed GI Jane.

V for Vendetta is an excellent adaptation of the early 1980s graphic novels by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The Batman meets Robin Hood story is fun and exciting while retaining a smart and stylish allure that makes this film more than just a violent and bloody hail of bullets and bad guys. See this movie and you might not just be wildly entertained, you may actually learn something.

Josh Huggett can be reached at [email protected].