Kurt Loder reviews V for Vendetta

Kurt Loder tells MTV.com visitors that V for Vendetta "will kick your ass":

The movie is enriched beyond the call of genre by the performances of Natalie Portman and Sinéad Cusack (as a doctor with a hideous secret in her past), and especially by Hugo Weaving (he was Agent Smith in the "Matrix" movies), who gives what must be the most expressive man-in-a-mask performance in screen history — we never see his face, but thanks to Weaving's subtle mastery of vocal and physical inflections, we're never in doubt about what he feels.

What most distinguishes "V for Vendetta," though, especially from the "Matrix" movies, is its overwhelming emotional power. The movie's themes of liberty and the necessity of armed resistance to totalitarian control are thrillingly depicted, and they're perfectly complemented by Dario Marianelli's vibrant score, which is punctuated with musical quotes ranging from Beethoven and Handel to Cat Power and the Rolling Stones. It's a great movie, and it builds to a spectacular, near-operatic climax that may leave you weeping at the end, if only in simple consumer gratitude.

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