The Movie "The Man" Didn't Want Me To See

I took myself to the movies this weekend and watched V For Vendetta. I read Alan Moore's comic when it was first released (has it really been almost 20 years?) so I didn't remember too many details from the original source material.

As a result, the only baggage I carried with me into the theater was the recent huffaloo raised by Mr. Moore. The New York Times reported that Mr. Moore doesn't like the movie very much and, in fact, doesn't like any of the movies made from his work. The rancor between Mr. Moore, DC Comics, and Hollywood has developed to the point where he is not credited in the movie (the only reference to the comic is the fact that it was "Illustrated by David Lloyd"). The basic point he makes is: the story was his until the comic company and other media twisted it into something it was not. He wants nothing more to do with the process. Although I think the media has been inordinately kind to Mr. Moore by keeping his work in print and in the public eye for over twenty years, and I think that he is naive if he thinks movie makers will not change the story to fit the demands of the medium and the marketplace, I can understand his sense of ownership. Having seen what those bastards did to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I too would be overcome by fear and loathing for the deep capacity of movie makers to really screw things up.

Did they screw things up with V? I don't think so. I will not get into many plot details here, so as not to spoil it for you. I will say that the movie definitely watered-down the exteme viewpoints dramatized in the comic and humanized the radical V to a greater extent than I recall from the original story. There are a few Matrix-like fight scenes but they were not overdone and they did not occur too often. Hugo Weaving (who played Elrond in the Lord of the Rings movies and Agent Smith in the Matrix movies) does an amazing job playing a tortured human being who wears a mask with but one expression at all times. Natalie Portman does an excellent job too, although her British accent is not that great. And I am always happy to see Stephen Fry in a movie. Now if we could just get him to play a role in House....

If you'd like a more in-depth analysis of the movie and its relationship with the original source material, then I refere you to the excellent commentary on the Howling Curmudgeons web site.