V For Vendetta

This movie was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t read the original graphic novel (available in your local comic shop or booksellers and WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT) until I saw the trailer, but the story is relatively easy to comprehend…it’s all about one man’s quest for power and another man’s quest to defeat him. Despite the seemingly obvious political connections behind movies like this and like Good Night and Good Luck, I’m absolutely fascinated by them. The connection is fairly obvious, but they both show it to different degrees and in different environments. It’s about people creating and maintaining a state of crisis so as to maintain power. Hell, it’s what’s so fascinating about the politics of the Star Wars saga. It’s just all so beautiful.

It’s also what happens when something is taken to it’s logical (no matter how radical) extreme and clearly demonstrates the danger of extremism in any and all forms. Unfortunately for conservatives we are the easiest targets because ultra-conservatism has been demonstrated throughout history multiple times. I’ve been thinking that you could very easily make a film like this about an ultra-liberal, but maybe I’m thinking about an even more generic version…where instead of targeting gays and Muslims, you target white Christians.

Hugo Weaving is absolutely fantastic as Codename V as is Natalie Portman in her portrayal of Evey. My favorite effect was in the final fight scene where V’s knife cuts were enhanced by CGI and created this awesome trailing effect…almost as if the scene was a hand drawn comic…<wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know-what-I-mean, know-what-I-mean>.

Leave a Reply