This is a good movie but....

Rating: 6/10 (20 March 2006)

I read a review of this movie that said only ignorant people would not like this movie. I found more to like than to dislike in this movie, but this movie suffers from the same problem most religious movies do. When a "message" is sent by a movie more than a "story" only true believers are going to find the movie inspiring. Is this reviewer (i saw a quote on William Gibson's blog, I'm not sure who it was who wrote the review) really willing to say that if someone doesn't like this movie that person is ignorant? As I said I mostly liked this movie, but I must be borderline ignorant because the preachiness really annoyed me and distracted from what could have been a clearer statement of the idea that people voluntarily give up their freedom, when that freedom is what they should fight for. Conservatives should not be angered by this idea any more than liberals. The regime in this movie had conservative origins, but historically there have been as many emerging from the left. Remember that both communism and fascism spawned dictatorships, and when anyone closes down dialog (be that through fear of wire tapping or through calling someone who didn't like a movie ignorant, come on, its so subjective) because of a knee jerk response, is denying someone else their freedom. The tone of this movie is clearly anti-conservative, and while there is much to be feared from that front, the left can be just as divisive, just as restrictive, can follow the party line as mutely and fearfully. I'm not saying its wrong to question the current administration, because I think they've done and are doing some crazy things. I'm saying this is a good movie that could have been great if the story, which was compelling, had not turned into a diatribe against the republicans. Ironically this movie would have been able to make people question their assumptions more if it hadn't been so hateful toward republicans. That being said there were some amazing things in this movie. The TV parody of the chancellor with the Benny Hill music, V's first televised speech, the visual effect of the dominoes with the one left standing that surprised V, were all things I loved, but would have been more effective in the context of a story that was more a story about human tendencies than a story which functions as an ideological attack.