V for Vendetta...and Viewing Movies

NOTE: For the abridged version of this entry, please scroll down.

Recently I have noticed something different in the way I see movies. One thing I have always known is that I have more patience and optimism for a movie than the average moviegoer. By this I mean that I have generally been willing to sit through a slow-moving film in order to see if it will be paid off in the end or not. But that’s besides the point I’m trying to make here. Lately my whole frame of mind for watching movies has changed. This all came to me as quite an epiphany as I watched V for Vendetta on Friday. As I sat there, I found myself automatically drawing up parallels between the movie before me and the great cinematic mastery of Kurosawa. As I sat there, I found myself far more interested in the cinematography and lighting of the film than almost anything else. The experience was both exciting and somewhat annoying at the same time. As I sat there, I felt like Neo in the end of The Matrix after he gets up from being shot by Agent Smith. He looks around and sees the world around him in a new and clearer way. Neo rocks.

So yeah, the difference in my viewing became most clear when it ended and we all met up outside to discuss what we thought of it. It seemed to be the general consensus that the movie was “freakin awesome!”, but all I could say was “it was pretty visual…beautifully shot.” So here’s my review of the film, if I may. It was visually stunning. You could definitely see how well it was adapted from the visual media of comic books. In terms of the plot and such, I gotta say it didn’t really do much for me. The movie gave me very conflicted feelings. In some parts, it seemed like they tried to compress a lot of information within a short time, but at the same time, the movie as a whole felt pretty empty. A lot of things were left unanswered and the characters were kinda static, now that I think about it. Also, if you’re expecting non-stop action, just know that you’ve pretty much seen it all in the previews. I think the film’s been getting a lot of attention and hype for several reasons:

1. It’s being sold as the first movie from the makers of The Matrix since The Matrix, even though all they really did was write the screenplay. They had nothing to do with the directing. You won’t hear that in the previews because everyone knows who the Wachowski Brothers are, but no one cares about first-time director James McTeigue.
2. People seem to have this tendency of relating the issues in the film with current world events and calling it “controversial” for doing so. As everyone knows, anything that’s called “controversial” will sell like Oreos.

So go out there and see it for yourself and choose to agree or disagree with me and/or the critics out there. If you’re a long time reader here, you should know my feeling towards critics. If you are not, then please do so. Personally, I am now intrigued to read the graphic novel. I’m curious to see how much they left out and how much they added into the film.

ABRIDGED VERSION: V for Vendetta was alright. I see movies differently now.

If you have seen the movie, please share your views by leaving me a comment or two.



...mankind united with infinitely greater purpose in pursuit of war than he ever did in pursuit of peace