initial impression of "V for Vendetta"

[firecat]

Very clever of Hugo Weaving to get away from his face's being typecast as "Mr. Smith" by doing his next role entirely behind a mask.

I overall liked the movie although I thought it tried to do a bit too much. That is, I felt covered with a lot of loose ends afterward. And I didn't like the ending - I understand that they had to do something for the entertainment of all those people who showed up (as kyubi said to me afterward), but it's not like the whole thing was the building's fault.

And of course there were plot holes large enough to drive tube cars through, but that's typical of the genre.

I am suspicious of action movies that purport to contain political messages, because I think watching an action movie is cathartic and bleeds off anger, and so doesn't reinforce the urge a person might have to actually take political action. So despite all the political trappings of this movie, I have to recommend it as entertainment only.

Oh yeah - as far as I recall, it doesn't pass the Bechdel Ginger Benchmark. [sigh]

Comments

Except for this postscript. ;-)

[kshandra]

No, it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test. I don't feel it's lacking as a film as a result - but again, I have more familiarity with the original material than it seems you do.

Re: Except for this postscript. ;-)

[firecat]

I like a lot of movies that don't pass the benchmark, but it's important to me to keep aware of which ones do and which don't, if only to track a tiny portion of my own sexist conditioning.

I'm going to read the original soon. I didn't want to read it before seeing the movie, because when I do that, I spend most of my time being annoyed at the movie for not being like the novel.

Re: Except for this postscript. ;-)

[kshandra]

I understand both your points here. It's actually been long enough since I read the comics that I only had vague impressions going into the movie.