"V for Vendetta" is a darkly lit piece and presents a likewise dark view of our present day society. Oh, it claims to be set in a futuristic England but the attempted parallels to our current situation are unmistakable. First time director James McTeigue, the former assistant on the Matrix franchise, does a decent job with the material presented to him by the Wachowski brothers who have made a handsome living off of all of their Matrix endeavors. This one is better written than the Matrix movies but that isn't saying all that much.

The story concerns an avenging warrior, V, played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith in the Matrix movies) pitted against a corrupt despotic regime. V is a little bit Zorro with his swordsmanship and mask, and a little bit Matrixy with his somewhat supernatural powers. For a while he almost even morphs into The Phantom of the Opera, one of many times during the movie the viewer comes out of the story and has to be lured back in.

Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt) plays the head evildoer and his performance is more caricature than substance. Usually a top-notch actor, Hurt finds himself in a constant rage that is tiring to watch. Evey (Natalie Portman) is the designated hot babe who is thrust into alignment with V. She's okay. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"V for Vendetta" is an action film disguised in pseudo heavy meaning that is as subtle as getting hit by a flatiron across the face. The saving grace for the film is the last twenty or so minutes. The story doesn't get any better but there are some very well choreographed fight and riot scenes to look at. That's about as good as it gets here. A week after you see it you'll remember almost none of it but that's not necessarily an entirely bad thing.