V for Vendetta

You know the film has gone far astray when writer Alan Moore, a self-confessed anarchist, criticizes the film's politics | Andrew Coffin

In Alan Moore's graphic novel, V for Vendetta, the Guy Fawkes--masked protagonist is introduced in a section titled, "The Villain." In the big-screen adaptation of Mr. Moore's work, no such moral ambiguity exists. Originally conceived as an extreme, anarchistic response to an extreme, fascist government in the near future, V for Vendetta has been translated, with a terrorist hero at its center, into a vicious, thinly veiled attack on American conservatives and Christians.

Said hero in V for Vendetta (rated R for strong violence and some language) acts on this premise: "Blowing up a building can change the world." V, as he's known, is a lone outsider hidden behind an impassive mask in a not-too-distant future London. The United States has disintegrated and England is under the dictatorial rule of a conservative and religious madman. Nazi symbolism abounds, but unmistakable reference points suggest a deeply distorted 21st-century America more than 20th-century Germany.