V For Vendetta
(dir. James McTeigue)
Another film mining the genius of Alan Moore. And yet again, it misses the mark and makes you want to read the comic again (or should - if you haven't read it already, it's still worth a look).
This isn't as bad as the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Hellblazer (haven't got round to From Hell yet). Despite a wandering Brit accent, Natalie Portman is basically ok throughout, and Hugo Weaving does a pretty interesting job behind V's mask - thankfully they resist the urge to take it off, Judge Dredd style. As it's copied from a drawing, this is actually one of the better things about the adaptation - it really looks like him.
The main problem is the muddled updating of what was basically a very time-specific attack on Thatcher's Britain. Ian Hurt works as a ranting British fascist, but it somehow seems too easy in a pantomime villain way - the evil dictators we've ended up with in real life smile a lot more.
Having a terrorist as the hero of a mainstream film is obviously going to be "shocking" for the Fox-watching demographic in the states, but the morality is still fairly clear-cut here - he's fighting an evil totalitarian Britain that's anti-gay, anti-Muslim, even anti-film, so it's not too much of a stretch to get us on his side.
The trailer makes it look like it's going to ramp up the Wachiowski-style action, but there's actually not that much - it's a much more static outing than the Matrix (although the philosphy floats closely to that level of debate at times).
Having had a quick scan of the comic again, I'm not sure it's one of my favourite Moore works any more - loved it at the time, but was never that into the art for some reason, and he's done so much that's better since - and admits as much in the accompanying essay. Watchmen's still the obvious work of unparalleled class, but his recent stuff for ABC has been great too - Top Ten, Promethea and Tom Strong especially.
It's also worth noting that Moore's been hardcore about his insistence that his name isn't anywhere on the film. Check his wiki entry for a lowdown on the on-going feud. He doesn't even get paid for having his work bastardised.
8th Mar 2006 - Tumblr
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