I've never been particularly partial to movies with a cliched ending and this holds doubly true for tales where the "Good Guy" always prevails. Movies like Swordfish, Boondock Saints and The Godfather appeal to the viewer to look beyond the simplistic morality tale of the black and white to a landscape covered in shades of grey.
Is it so easy to villify Vito Corleone as he refuses to kill men who raped a mortician's daughter and instead insists upon "carrying out justice" by maiming them as they maimed the young lady? What about Michael Corleone as he seeks vengeance for his father's murder and to kill a corrupt cop and a drug-running mob boss in the process? What about Connor and Murphy MacManus as they kill a criminalistic and murderous mob boss?
The real question boils down to this: "Is it so easy to place absolute justice in one definitive category and disqualify vigilantes and those who feel that the system in place is falling short of justice, if not failing outright?" Can vigilanteism be so easily villified in a world where courts have allowed the OJ debacle and others like it to play out.
Posted by Vengeful Cynic at February 1, 2004 10:49 PM | TrackBack