V for Vendetta

Okay, they are suckering me again. I really wasn’t planning to see V for Vendetta in the theatre because they have yet to do a great job on any Alan Moore comic book on the big screen. Plus, I know that they cannot possibly get all the richness or detail that Moore wrote into a 2 hour film.

That being said, so far the previews and reviews I’ve read from those who have seen rough cuts indicate that the filmmakers have done a pretty good job of keeping to the spirit of the work. The images I have seen show a stark, militarized England. It looks like, just as in the comic, V will be both a terrorist and a liberator. It looks like Evey goes through roughly the same psychological torture/indoctrination.

One worry I still have is that, in the comic book, the story isn’t really about V. He’s a mythic figure, and you never see “his” face, so the tale is told through the eyes of those who are affected by V’s actions. Being a big-budget movie, I’m fearful they will lose that perspective and tell it more like a straight “super-hero” story, which is not what V for Vendetta is. It is a vital part of the story that, when she has a chance, Evey chooses not to see the face behind the mask.

In the end, the central theme of the comic is about whether the ends can justify the means. The government has justified its totalitarian rule and zero-tolerance policy toward criminals and different races because it has produced stability and virtually non-existent crime. V uses terrorism and anarchy to justify breaking the hold the government has over the people and torture to bring Evey around to his side, no matter the cost in lives in doing so.

Of course, critics and people unfamiliar with the work will assume the filmmakers are making a statement about Bush’s presidency. The original work was published in the early 1980s.

By the way, here is a great site with loads of information on the comic.
V for Vendetta