Well I watched the movie last night around 11pm; it went off around 1:30 or so lol. I didn't realize it was that long.
First off, I cannot stress enough how much I wanted to hate this movie. Everything I had read about the movie when it first came out (and started controversy) screamed over rated comic movie. But, there was more to this feeling. The movie was embraced by the far left and shunned by the right for obvious reasons. Like Munich, critics claimed the movie glorified terrorism by putting a human face on it. Is terrorism ever right? Well, I suppose it can be. I'm sure that during the 1770's George Washington, Paul Revere, and Thomas Jefferson were also considered to be "terrorists" by the British government. But there is a difference between our herelded freedom fighters and, say, Bin Laden and his kind. Washington didn't kill or torture innocent people to make a point. And that's where V comes in...
Despite my preconceived notions, I must say that this is an amazing movie. It comes on rather annoying - when V began spurting out big words I started to have visions of Matrix Reloaded - but once the movie gets going it doesn't stop. I was most impressed with the visuals of the movie. From the political flags to V's outfit to the dead, 1984-esque tone of Lone, everything looked great. The acting wasn't bad, although Portman's delivery seemed off in many instances.
My biggest problem with the movie was the preachy moments. They seemed far too generic and cliche. Someone goes into a rant about the evils of society, cue dramatic music, etc. But overall this is a great movie that opens up interesting debate and discussion.
The story of the movie was quite amazing, and it's very clear why this movie stirred up so much attention. Throughout the movie I was constantly reminded of current events, as well as some of the conspiracy theories that have arisen to explain them. The 911 conspiracy "inside job" crowd pisses me off to no end, and I can see why they gravitated toward this movie. A totalitarian regime that rules the masses by manufacturing fear and propagating it in the media. A regime that killed thousands of its own people and blamed it on terrorists in order to win election. Sound familiar?
V combats this regime through practices that we would call terrorism. The destruction of federal property for instance. But is this an act of terrorism in line with Bin Laden, who also has a knack for knocking down buildings, or the freedom fighters of the American Revolution? In the movie, it seemed like V never killed innocent people; blowing up Old Ben at midnight when no one was there seems barbaric, but innocent blood wasn't spilled; or was it? As someone who never read the graphic novel, I cannot properly answer this. Did V kill innocent people in his pursuit to fight for his ideas? And if so, if he did kill hundreds of janitors or security guards with this act, does that put him closer to Bin Laden or Washington? It would seem to slant him towards Bin Laden in my opinion.
Also, was V's...action toward Evy (I'm trying not to spoil anything) justified? Was it right for him to force her into such a situation just to make a point and ensure she didn't rat him out? I'd love to get people's thoughts on that.
Overall this is a very good movie. Very few movies stir up emtion in me now of days, but this one did. I felt empowered, like I could change the world or something. Of course, today I'll be back to watching TV while drinking Gatorade, but I digress: perhaps I'll change the world later.
