I’m surprised. For some reason I thought there was negative buzz surrounding this, but it’s starting to be shown to journalists and the first two I’ve read LOVE it!
David Poland from Movie City News writes in his Hot Button column:
There’s more, much more, to both reviews, but not too many spoilers that I caught. I hate spoilers so I kind of skimmed. If anyone’s read the graphic novels PLEASE BOX YOUR SPOILERS, if any. I only know the basic outline and I don’t want to know any more.
The Wachowski, um, siblings, aren’t credited with directing, and it’s not their story, but they did write the screenplay. The director, James McTeigue, hasn’t directed anything before this but was an Assistant Director on all 3 Matrix films. I wonder where he left off and the Wachowskis began. It’d be unfair if they got credit that he deserves alone, but people will wonder.
I went from thinking “This doesn’t look very interesting” to it being the first movie of 2006 that I CAN’T WAIT to see!
If you’re this excited already, Equipoise, do yourself a favor and read the trade paperback by Moore and Lloyd before the movie comes out. You won’t spoil the movie for yourself, so much as provide yourself with a basis for comparison. Alan Moore is probably the greatest writer in the history of comics, and I’d honestly rank him alongside the finest fiction writers of the last 50 years, if not further back. V For Vendetta is one of my two favorite works of his (the other being the genre-redefining Watchmen), and it’s such a powerful read, it’ll make your hands shake uncontrollably.
I think V has aged better than Watchmen due to its subject matter, eerily relevant in 21st Century America just as much so as it was in 1980s England, when Moore and Lloyd collaborated on it. And while I’m not expecting the movie to be a direct adaptation of the book (like how Sin City was lifted panel for panel, shot for shot, from Frank Miller’s comics), I think it will be the best big-screen adaptation of an Alan Moore story yet (comparing it to From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Constantine, of course).
Here’s hoping…thus far, film adaptations of Alan Moore’s work have had the Hollywood formula ground into them, making them something completely different and lacking Moore’s touch. Maybe they finally learned their lesson.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou, I do plan to pick up the trade paperback. After I see the movie.
I haven’t seen League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but if they didn’t make a good movie, I can understand him being upset. However, good movies have been made that were very different from the source material, and frankly, I’m a movie buff. If the movie’s good, I don’t CARE how far away it is from the source material it is. If the movie’s good, I don’t CARE what Alan Moore thinks of it, or his fans. Now I realize where the negative buzz came from: Alan Moore and his fans. Forgive me if I make sure your negative buzz gets relegated to the background while I anticipate this movie.
I don’t listen to either David Poland or Jeffrey Wells when making a final decision as to whether or not to see a film. Both have liked movies I disliked, and disliked movies I liked, but when both of them pretty much agree that a movie is good, and they both say this one is great, that perks my ears as something I will almost certainly want to see. Besides, I’m a Natalie Portman fan. It just didn’t look interesting (I thought it was yet another superhero movie) until I read what they had to say and what it was actually about.
You’re right, but movies that have no chance of Awards buzz are often held back so they don’t get caught up in the 4th quarter hoopla. It’s also possible they held it back to work more on the special effects. Whatever. The Matrix, one of my all-time favorite films, was released March 31 (1999), so for me the release date means nothing. Just last year, Dear Frankie, In My Country, Millions, The Upside of Anger, Melinda And Melinda and The Ballad of Jack and Rose, all very good movies, were released in March. A cursory search yieled Panic Room, Raising Victor Vargas, A Price Above Rubies, The Ladykillers, Dogville, A Walk On The Moon, The Mayor of Sunset Strip, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, all movies I enjoyed, as being released during March. A more in-depth search would come up with more. For every craptacular dumping movie you find (and I agree they do exist), I could find a good one worth seeing, so yeah, the release date means nothing to me.
Definitely not the case here. Moore’s story and characters had depth. The movie took the barest trace of the concept and turned it into a shallow piece of muck. (Eg, in the graphic novel, Allan Quatermain is deeply flawed – a shell of his former self – weak, addicted, and selfish. He whines constantly when Mina requires him to stand up straight and serve his country once more, and his opium addiction leads to disaster more than once. In the movie, he’s ACTION MAN! and totally in charge, and Mina is there to display her boobies, instead of being the leadership of the team.) Also, they inserted Tom freaking Sawyer into the story because they thought that American audiences needed an American hero to hold their attention and there was a troubling lack of American heros in a story featuring a collection of literary characters from Victorian England banding together to serve Her Majesty’s interests. “Ooh! A semi-literate American run-away will fit right in to this ultra-secret shadow agency.” :smack:
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I heard, that they dumbed it down. That’s why I didn’t go see it because the concept seemed interesting.
It doesn’t look like they’ve dumbed down V For Vendetta though. I’ll find out. I’m looking forward to both the movie and the book. It’s just that, after all the whining surrounding The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (especially Prisoner of Azkaban), I’ve learned to take fan reactions to dicking around with the source material with a grain of salt.
I think the difference is that with Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, the nitpickers are impractically obsessed with any minor deviations in very good adaptations.
The unease that Alan Moore’s fans express is more like the misgivings that Tolkien fans would have if someone had shot the infamous LoTR script which included changes like “Lembas bread” being changed to “food concentrate” to make it more readily comprehensible to modern viewers.
I’m looking forward to V for Vendetta, too. So far, it looks promising.
Just like I’m looking forward to A Scanner Darkly, even though Hollywood’s track record with regard to Dick adaptations has been absolutely dismal: Six adaptations-- five trivial and virtually worthless movies, and one great movie that works well in spite of barely resembling the original novel and entirely omitting its most interesting ideas.
Come on, lucky seven! Let this be the one that substantially resembles the brilliant and provocative work it was based on.
I get what you mean. We’ll see how it all works out, and for me, that means, do I like the movie? If I do like the movie, then that ups my anticipation for the source material. If I don’t like the movie, I’ll still be interested in the source material. Either way, I’ll win. If it’s a really good movie it will bring more people to the source material.
I’m looking forward to A Scanner Darkly too. Since it’s a Richard Linklater film, I’m certain it will be good. The advance word from people who have seen it is outstanding.