Just got back from seeing “V For Vendetta” in IMAX. $11.50 per ticket. Normally, I would gag to pay that much to see a movie. Having said that, I normally don’t like movies nearly as much as I liked this one. I realized tonight that I’d much rather pay $11.50 for a decent, entertaining movie that doesn’t insult my intelligence than pay $8 for one that does.

I haven’t read the graphic novel but I did check out this site that details the main differences. Interestingly, they say both mediums play to their strengths. For example, I was worried that I’d get sick of the mask half-way through the movie but I didn’t; in fact, I think the mask was the most brilliant part. In Greek tragedy, the main character wears a tragic mask so you’ve got to see a dude like Oedipus with this horrific expression throughout the whole thing. It’s strange how a monoexpression can sometimes be more powerful than the whole range of emotions.

I’ve also got to hand it to the Wachowski brothers. No one else can really transmit that comic-bookiness to film like they can. The X-Men films, for all their competence, feel like movies about comic book characters. “The Matrix” and “V For Vendetta” feel like visual comic books, which is really cool.

Overall though, I wasn’t completely convinced by the story. It reminded me a lot of Frank Miller’s “Give Me Liberty” which I read in college. There’s something about these stories—they’re either too heavy-handed, or maybe it’s that I just can’t seem to suspend my belief all the way. Not sure.

I also thought there was a strong determinist streak to the movie which I always appreciate. It’s too late to go into a tirade on what determinism means (after all, there’s a decent Wikipedia article on the subject) but let me just say that determinism does not imply that all actions are futile or inherently meaningless. It is not a tool of the ruling class to keep the bourgeoise in their place. It most certainly is not anti-science and against inductive logic. [From that second link, I get a kick out of the line that the point of science is to distinguish between coincidence and events that are causally connected---the author apparently doesn't know that causality is one of the cornerstones for determinism, but whatever.]

Determinism suggests a person is a sum of their experiences. In every unique situation, your decisions are based on some prior set of experiences, which were influenced by a prior set of experiences, which were influence by a prior set of experiences, ad infinitum. To use “V For Vendetta” as an example, Evey becomes the natural successor to V not because she wants to, but because that’s what everything in her life leads up to. This might seem silly on first glance and it’s too late for me to stay up arguing with myself over the issue, but if you have ever said “Things happen for a reason,” and actually meant it, there’s at least a hint of determinist philosophy in your bones.

Anyway, it’s too late for me to blab any more. Bed beckons.

Current Mood - Tired |