I saw V is for Vendetta yesterday. I would give it a C at best. Strange, isn't it, how movie previews sometimes do not reflect the actual movie? The previews were exciting and the movie was populated by people who helped make the Matrix trilogy. How could it go so wrong?
The movie itself dragged on for an interminably long 2 hours and 15 minutes. Most movies come with a message (hidden or not so hidden) and this one did, too. The message: Don't trust the government. The government manipulates it's citizens using fright tactics, forcing citizens to turn to the government in their supposed hour of need. How true this may be isn't the point. The point is that the medicine wasn't delivered well, and the bitter aftertaste remained.
Additionally, I'm all for the stereotypical Tormented Hero. But this particular hero does his own share of tormenting the innocent when (warning: spoiler here) he tortures the heroine for a very long period of time (Days? Weeks? Months? We're not sure) just to make the point that she needs to live without fear. This remedy to fear seems to be a little extreme, at best. And yet the heroine, in typical Stockholm Syndrome fashion, proceeds to forgive and fall in love with the guy, giving him a glowing eulogy at the end with no attempt at apologies of any sort from the director.
One can almost imagine the director sitting by the fire with a good cigar and a glass of port afterwards, discussing the theoretical benefits of a case of torture with some of the intelligentsia. "Ah, tortured, was he?" he verifies with a colleague sitting nearby. "Good, good. Bet he found it very beneficial, didn't he? Beats a week at the spa any time!"
What is perhaps most amazing of all is that the movie (which is as dysfunctional as the Clinton household) still remains vacuously dull throughout most of it, with the director lovingly focusing on the torture (with sadistic glee) for too large a portion of it.
Although some of the martial arts scenes are good, and there are some scenes in there which are memorable; save your money for a martial arts movie, instead.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
I'm not an action movie kind of guy so I had planned on skipping it since I saw the first preview. I saw "Good Night and Good Luck" this weekend. Am I the only person to see many parallels between McCarthy's war on communists and Bush's war on terror? McCarthy even said something to the effect that you are either against it or you are one of them. Sound familiar?
Ed, no doubt there are some similarities. The problem is sorting out which is truth and which is falsehood when it comes to fears. I would worry more about protecting our own shores before I'd take it overseas anymore (for the most part) unless there was a direct and believable threat (i.e. country w/ nukes threatening to use them on the US). Then I would strike hard and fast. I do believe the Bird Flu to be a very real, possible danger but that's because I have a famous scientist in my family. Many people think that that is another bugaboo of the Bush Administration, but I'm inclined to take it very seriously.
Mike, OK, yeah... I liked the Matrix trilogy. For the most part, though the last one was the least good of the three.
You just saved me my week's allowance. Thanks for the heads up. I just watched a Jackie Chan movie on Atlanta's TV channel recently. Good stuff. Now I'll go rent "Shrek" again.
Ed--if you let Hollywood determine your politics or your theology (from Duh Vinci to the Passion) you're almost hopelessly up the furthest, shallowest creek. Think outside the box (office), man.
BDS&M,,,not my hobby of choice
BTW,,I am with you on the "Matrix Trilogy" does that make us "Geek Chicks"?
I hate that!!! It looks good and who doesn't love Natalie Portman?
We saw V for Vendetta. I really liked it. I know there was a "message" there, but that's not what I cared about. I liked John Hurt as the dictator, and I was intrigued by the masked "hero" in a comic book sort of way. The addition of romance between them was silly, I agree with you there. And, Natalie Portman is a beautiful young lady, but she looks much better with her hair, as most of us do :)
Part way through the flick, the projector broke and we had to wait about ten minutes for it to get fixed. We got free movie passes out of it.
Regarding protection of our own shores: Okay, well I'm gonna have to move to South Carolina now, since Oklahoma doesn't have a shore to protect unless you want to count the Red River and those crazy Texans that are always swimming over to leave their Whole Other Country.
It did look like a good movie.
ps. Don't trust Jamie Dawns opinion because she hates Joe Vs the Volcano!
Or for root beer....
Torture is so in...
I had a feeling it wasn't going to be nearly as good as the previews. Now I can save my time and money and go see Capote and Boys of Baraka.
Thanks for the review. I won't be seeing it I'm sure. Well, maybe on an airplane since it's free...
Saur,
Never heard of the movie but I loved Kung Fu. That bald monk dude was great "Grasshopper when you can snatch the pebble from my hand you can pop some popcorn." Great stuff.
Back again. Since I read your post this morning, I've read two (count 'em, 2) violent reviews of the movie you mention. One was in The New Yorker. And My First Wife told me she heard it was "awful!"
And I'm going to rent "Shrek 2," too.
Damn it! I loved The Matrix movies and was really hoping this one would be good.
I'd rather see "Capote" or "Good Night and Good Luck" myself... never have been into real off the wall stuff, except for the Star Wars movies.
side note: Yay! I finally made it in here... I've been blocked by *bl-ogre* for days!
i am holding out for beltway hustle, the new movie which combines misadventures of the Clinton family and the slapstick kung fu of kung fu hustle. the cigarette never leaves Hillary's lips, even the most vicious fight scenes.
Thanks for the review, i will now save my moolah!
Post a Comment