V for Vendetta

[rowyn]

Lut and I saw the film "V for Vendetta" on Sunday. I'd already heard that Alan Moore had trashed the script, and it got a mediocre review in the local paper. So I didn't have high hopes for it. Still, we like action films and gave it a shot.

As we left the theatre, I said to Lut, "Well, it was better than I expected it to be."

I started to write up a review of the film, and found it morphing into a critical analysis of both the film and the graphic novel. Then I realized something: yes, I'd like to write a critical analysis of the film and the graphic novel. But that's not what I really want to tell you.

What I want to tell you is: "V for Vendetta" is the best comic book I've ever read, and I've read thousands of comic books. It's over twenty years old and it's still in print, with good reason.

Go see the mediocre film if you must. It's an okay movie; not as good as the first Matrix film but better than its sequels.

But please, please, read the graphic novel. It's a remarkable work on so many levels, a true gem of its field. Thoughtful, hard-edged, tightly plotted and masterfully crafted from beginning to end.

I'll give you all a couple of weeks to read it. Maybe then I'll post my critical analysis. ;)

Comments

[rowyn]

Leaders are in power only because of the people who follow. Sometimes they gain that power through deception, through prejudices, through misplaced faith, or other mechanisms. Sure, fear can go a long way, but someone has to be around to create that fear, to cooperate with the leader, et cetera.

This is one of the central points of the graphic novel, in fact. :) I'll toss an email your way on the subject, rather than putting spoilers in here. I figure I can afford to throw some spoilers at you in the interests of convincing you to read it -- after all, it's not like you were going to read it if I didn't.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it a central part of the movie, though? I haven't actually SEEN the movie, but I hardly get to see the movies I want to anymore, let alone the ones I might feel a need to "for general principle". I.e., is there a difference between the movie in book, in terms of message?

(And why did Alan Moore trash the script, I wonder? Maybe I should look that up sometime.)

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Whoops! This was not meant to be anonymous. Such are the perils of me being lazy and just using the "reply to this comment" button from my email.