D for Disappointment

This is sort of late, but Darcy's recent post made me want to write about V for Vendetta, a film that bugged the Hell out of me. Now, I never ask film adaptations to be direct and without changes (though Sin City was as close as any film had ever got. Only noticable difference is that Jessica Alba never showed off her cans). I never think of myself as a "purist" (a disgusting word in my opinion). It's just that the film adaptation of V for Vendetta was good but took away everything that made the original so good. I have no problem with change, but the biggest one was making V a person rather than being more human than human (at the risk of whipping out that cliche. I guess I'll just list my major problems with the film, but cause I like my paragraphs in point form, the simple man's paragraph.

* V is a nice guy in the film. No! Nonononono! V is an enigma. That's how I know him. He often speaks and explains his actions via cryptic quotes from books, plays, film and songs. That moment in the beginning when V appears in an extremely theatrical manner and explains who himself to Evey is essentially how V should be acting throughout the film. He doesn't think like a human. He is above that. He's not emotionless and he can be gentle, but the way he sees humans is the way that humans might see a dog or an insect. He doesn't think he's better than them and he doesn't patronize them (can a man really patronize a dog?) but he wants to help them. If he explained himself fully and bluntly (like he does in the film) then man wouldn't really understand him. He's got to help humanity embrace the proper way of life (anarchy, not to be confused with chaos) with subtlety, which unveils itself as a grand master plan. That brings us too...

* V's masterplan in the film doesn't work for me. Sure he's going to destroy the old order and he knows the ultimate sacrifice he'll have to make, but he seems to trust that mankind will do good afterwards. In the comic, V's masterplan is much more complex and sensible. It makes little sense at first but as we begin to see the big picture, we see how brilliant and masterful V's plan (and Alan Moore and David Lloyd's story) is. He's ten steps in front of everyone and he has no problems letting people know that.

* The film has no Fate. In the original, the masses depended on Fate to make them feel more at ease. Fate is a computer that would tell the people (via radio) the news the need to know and even tells you what the weather will be to the minute. Because of Fate everyone feels comfortable and safe. But what people don't know is that while Fate exists, it has no radio voice. That voice is provided by Lewis Prothero (who appears in the film as sort of a British Bill O'Reilly) and he does a good job and has a voice that exudes confidence and in turn, gives the people confidence in there government. But when V strikes and drives Prothero mad, then there must be a new voice for Fate. The new voice quivers and stutters a bit. It's a new voice and it lacks confidence. And now the people lack confidence, if just a little. But in the film we never get the feeling that people love their government or that people are afraid to speak or act. I don't think Fate HAD to be in the movie (despite being a very important plot point in the comic), but I would like to see examples of the judgment and actions of the people changing over the course of the year.

I guess I have many more problems that I could go on and on about (V and Evey don't fall in love and their relationship is so much more complex than that), but my feeling is that V is a good movie that just pales in comparison to the original, and watching the movie after reading the book is a frustrating experience. There are two moments that perfectly capture the feel of the original: the surprisingly gentle scene in which V kills Delia (they take one notable liberty, but the feel is still there) and the scene in which Evey is captured, tortured and everything that happens until her "freedom" (though, the latter is undercut by an apology). Plus the sets and art direction does a good job keeping everything drab and grey (that's England for you).

So if you see the movie, don't read the book first. It will ruin it for you.

In other news, here are some comic book movies I'm looking forward too:

Superman Returns: Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor? Brilliant. I like Gene Hackman, but his Lex Luthor was really more like the character of Funky Flashman (a huckster who is a thinly veiled spoof of Stan Lee) only more sinister. Gene Hackman certainly had a perfectly evil Luthor and rather clever, but the Luthor I love is less goofy and plays mind games with people for fun (like destroying a poor waitresses life by offering her everything she could ever want). It's not just that he's a criminal, but the man hates Superman with a passion and wishes him the worst kinds of harm. While Superman is the perfect fantastical superhuman, Luthor is almost the perfect human (except physically). He's a master of many sciences, a captain of industry, a criminal overlord and his strategies are beyond reproach. But while Superman is the ideal human of an optimistic world, Luthor is more like the cynical evil of the cruel real world. In short Superman is Christ and Luthor is the Antichrist. Or Satan. I haven't decided yet. Kevin Spacey seems like a perfect choice for someone so sly, subtle and intense and is reason enough to check it out. Sure, it just looks like it will be good but come on. Kevin Spacey!

We3: It's like Homeward Bound... except that the animals are lethal killing machines. The government has kidnapped three household pets and have rewired there brains and put them into large mechanical suits and turned them into a most unusual SWAT team. The team consist of Bandit (the dog/the heavy), Pirate (the rabbit/demolitions), and Tinker (the cat/stealth assassin). They have already completed a few missions and have trained to be a team and can even talk to each other. But when the government orders the project decommissioned, the scientist who made it all possible refuses to let her animals die frees them. Is the world ready for housepets with army-devastating firepower? And what weird weapons will the government use to stop them.

From the mad mind of Grant Morrison comes one of his least bizarre works, though the premise still retains his trademark innovation. The mini-series that the film was basd on perfect for a movie in that it was of perfect length for a movie (three short issues) and had amazing action scenes and bloody violence, yet was poignant and touching with the animals being really likable. Yes, they can talk, but when you read how they talk they are clearly still animals. Bandit just wants love, to be recognized as a "gud dog" and to find a home. Tinker wants nothing more than to be left alone but follows the others around anyway (despite hating almost anything that isn't him) beacause they need each other to survive. And Pirate just wants safety and a nice patch of grass. Equal parts horribly violent and touching, if done correctly We3 could be the most unusual action film of all time.

30 Days of Night: The premise of this action/horror flick is that vampires are among us, but they never really get the chance to let loose and go on killing sprees for fear of being discovered. But one vampire hears of a small town in Alaska that has no alcohol, is completely isolated and has 30 days of night. Then he calls some friends and decides that it's time for a vacation.

A fun little comic, this was originally pitched as a movie but no studio took it. It was then made into a comic, which got Steve Niles a lot of attention and since then Steve has been considered the #1 horror comics writer working at the moment. Though only big for three years, he has proven quite prolific and his attention is putting the comic based on a screenplay on the big screen. In all honesty, even as a comic this is a popcorn movie, albeit a fun one. If the writer tries to make it like an 70-80's John Carpenter movie (like say, Assault on Precinct 13 in Alaska with vampires) then it should be good.

300: Based on the 5 issue mini-series by Frank Miller (Sin City), this is the story of the battle of Termopylae and the 300 spartans who were forced to fight a much larger army. Rather than trying to just be your average "historical" (the quotation marks not that I use the term loosely)epic like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, the film will be more of a personal story of one of the soldier forced to fighted against insurmountable odds. I never read the book but the are is amazing and every time I go to strange the $40 hardcover is staring me in the face saying "BUY ME!" Frank Miller isn't as involved with this film like he was with Sin City, but Frank is definately looking forward to it. And so am I.