Vigilante Justice: The New Movie Theme?

For the past several years, most of the thriller/action/horror movies have been mindless attacks on the visual and audible senses.  No inner debate over right and wrong necessary.  Just simple bloodletting. Think about it, how many “SAW”s have been out already, six… seven?  Goodness sakes.  The first one was quite interesting because it provided some sort of unexpected meaning to scenes of torture and cruelty… but after that, there is nothing left but mindless bloodletting.

However, recently, directors and screenwriters have moved away from pure gore to vigilante justice.  Take these 3 movies for instance:

1. The Last House on the Left: A family on vacation meets danger when the daughter is sexually molested by a group of bandits.  When the bandits are forced to take refuge in this family’s house, the parents take revenge by torturing and killing the murderers.
2. Gamer: A death row inmate tries to win freedom by participating in a real world killing game where outside players can control the human killing machines through computer chips installed in the brain.  Through the process, he attacks and tries to kill the Game’s creator when finding out that the creator threatened the lives of his wife and daughter.
3. Law Abiding Citizen: Because a district attorney rather win with a lenient sentence than try a murderer and lose the case, the man who’s wife and daughter had been brutally murdered by this person goes on a killing rampage, killing everyone associated with the case, in order to impress on the DA what it means to bring about “justice”.

For all these films, the audience (or at least me) is torn apart by the moral of the story.  Should we feel disgust towards the person who murders and destroys in order to protect their loved ones?  Or should we applaud these vigilantes for their bravery when they exterminate the bad guys?  Or should we feel horror at the very thought that by condonig what these main characters do, we might actually be condoning murder?

I can’t answer these questions because I don’t know what we’re supposed to feel.  I guess that’s part of the reason people are so drawn to these types of movies… because it puts our very question of right and wrong in the spotlight.

What do you think?  Is seeking justice allowed as long as the end goal is morally sound?

•3 Best Action Movies of 2008

The totally-in-your-face-action-packed movies:

#3. The Bank Job. Jason Statham—one of a handful of men that can actually pull off an obvious receding hairline—is Terry, the leader of a pack of thieves.  Based on a true story of a London bank heist in 1971, the storyline begins with a beautiful and seductive Martine telling Terry about an easy bank job, which would guarantee a good life for all those involved.  Only caveat is that if they get caught, they are screwed for life.  But, no worries, she insures him, this would be easy.  Two steps removed, a MI-5 uses Martine and this job as a means to steal and destroy some pornographic pictures of a royal.  These pictures were kept in a safety deposit box at a special bank.  What makes this bank special?  Its clients.  Many high-powered people kept their dirty little secrets there and because of the robbery become extremely uncomfortable with the idea that their “valuables” could be exposed.  The film doesn’t stop with the success of the bank job.  No, the 111 min. production goes on to depict a terrifying cat and mouse game between the scary wealthy-high-powered-mostly-criminal men and Terry’s crew.  What I enjoyed most about this movie, aside from the interesting plotline, was the adrenaline pumping scenes.  You can pretty much crop out Jason Statham from this movie and paste him into any of the other ones—Crank, The Transporter series, The Italian Job—and get the same thrill.  With Jason Statham, it’s a guaranteed action-packed extravaganza!

#2. Iron Man. Oh Robert Downey, Jr., how I love you!  A great actor to begin with, Mr. Downey, Jr. succumbed to drugs and fell off the radar.  But now, he’s back in full swing demonstrating great versatility*.  After watching him display his nonchalant swagger as the young and brilliant billionaire Tony Stark, I was blushing like a young bride.  His character reminds me of the many men I’ve encountered in my professional life—smart and full of machismo.  Don’t get too arrogant, all you playboys out there!  It’s not really a compliment.  Though very appealing at first encounter, this type of character quickly becomes tiresome and boring.  Thankfully, Robert Downey, Jr. provides some depth to this playboy stereotype and keeps the audience intrigued.  Aside from great acting, I love this movie simply because I personally love comic book-based movies.   I know, very biased.  But trust me, not all movies in this genre can get on my top lists.  I watched every Batman, X-men, Daredevil, Elektra, Incredible Hulk movies (less Ghost Rider) out there.  75% of those movies made me regret ever paying full price for 1.5 hours of torture, but the other 25% of the time, the movies have revived my love for comic book heroes and villains.  Iron Man is definitely in the latter group.  The plot, as expected for these types of movies, goes like this: young billionaire develops impressive high-tech missiles, which he shamelessly sells to the highest bidder regardless of possible national security issues.  During a demonstration in Afghanistan, he is captured and forced to recreate the missile for “evil” people.  Meanwhile, he befriends a scientist, who saved his life by sticking a gigantic battery-looking thing to his chest to keep the left-over shrapnel from destroying his heart.  Luckily for him, his friend helps him create an armored suit and he escapes.  Upon returning to his residence, he realizes that people are working behind his back to sell his technology to insurgents abroad, thus he uses his newfound super powers to save the world!  Go Robert Downey, Jr…. I mean, Iron Man!

*Just watch him in Iron Man and compare his character to that in Tropic Thunder and you will see just how multitalented this guy is…

#1. The Dark Knight. (No surprise here.)  What made me pronounce The Dark Knight as the winner of 2008′s best action film?  It’s not the millions of dollars and hours spent in order to produce this film or the dark storyline characterizing this new series of Batman movies.  No.  It’s all about the acting.  Forget Batman (Christian Bale), or Harvey Dent / Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) or Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy).  This film centered around the Joker, or more importantly, the late Heath Ledger.  No one can deny the talent Heath Ledger possessed.  His extraordinary performance as the Joker was both exciting and disturbing.  Unlike previous portrayals of a similar villain—Jack Nicolson’s Joker in Batman (1989) and Jim Carrey’s Riddler in Batman Forever (1995)—Heath Ledger brings with him not just the villain’s inexplicable desire to play games coupled with a dark sense of humor but also his pure unrelenting need to create chaos and destruction.  The smeared makeup on his face mirrors his views on morality—muddy and frightening.  A walking oxymoron, the Joker is a madman with a clear aim, a general of spontaneity with a beautifully played-out strategy and a hater of rules with a desire to install a regime of chaos.  In a way, he represents the duality of life—this constant tug-of-war between right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, conscious and subconscious.  Though the movie itself felt rushed, especially with Aaron Eckhart’s character, the genius acting of Heath Ledger as the Joker made the movie unforgettable.