V for Vendetta - Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea, Rupert Graves, and supporting cast all deliver brilliant performances, but the real star is the Wachowski brother’s script. It’s nothing short of a third millennia Gulliver’s Travels allegorical commentary on present day geopolitics, so brilliantly directed and edited that the nuanced performances are riveting even in multiple viewings. The Wachowskis take aim at U.S. President George W. Bush’s Iraq war, with direct references to collateral damage, rendition, terrorism, and biological weapons. The regime also targets Islam and homosexuality and arbitrarily censors books and music which could serve as symbols of opposition. It characterizes state actions as righteous, founded in faith (Christianity), etc., continuously rewriting history to suit current public relations needs, reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 and the former Soviet Union. John Hurt’s High Chancellor Adam Sutler and ‘fingermen’ are amalgams of Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, etc. and their respective secret police forces, but most of the flashpoint references are drawn from the conflict in Iraq. Early in the film, V introduces himself to Evey (and the audience) with following soliloquy:
Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a 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.
Wikipedia contributors have done a terrific job documenting the film and the comic book it was based on. Sheer entertainment on every level - it’s a must see film.
More extensive lists:
The Libertarian Law and Economics of Batman
Libertarian Movies (an excellent list - Brazil, The Castle, Braveheart, …)