V for Vendetta: The graphic novel, the movie, the legacy
V FOR VENDETTA: Ideas are bulletproof.
While the WATCHMEN movie is getting a hell of a lot of press for the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, we mustn't forget that there has been much more from the comics legend. Another of Alan Moore's fantastic pieces of graphic fiction, namely V For Vendetta, also came to our screens back in 2005.
Even though Moore disowned the project (As he has also done with the WATCHMEN film), that movie adaptation was actually remarkably faithful to the source material, as well as being a very strong film in its own right.
Starring Natalie Portman as Evey and Hugo Weaving (as well as James Purefoy for some of the role) as the titular V, the film is as bleak and stark as the graphic novel that inspired it, and the Watchowski Brothers had a relapse into directing things well, making the V For Vendetta movie something that is worth watching repeatedly. The dark, twisted vision of an England gone even or wrong is surprisingly believable, and a strong cast handles the script will dignity and respect.
The themes of revolution against a government that is woefully out of touch with its public is something that resonated with comics fans when the graphic novel was originally published a s strips and a limited series between 1982 and 1988. The conviction of V and the evolution of the Evey character are gripping reading, and the onscreen partnership of Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman served the characters well. Some fans of the graphic novel took issue with Portman's casting in the role, but she faces the role head on, giving us an Evey that is initially vulnerable, then eventually strong and defiant.
- V For Vendetta, Watchmen, DC COMICS graphic novels available online
DC Comics Graphic Novels including Bizzarro, Flash, Crisis On Infinite/Multiple Earths, Golden Age, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hitman, Justice League adventures, JLA, JSA, Kingdom, Starman, Superfriends, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, DC Vertigo, 1 - V for Vendetta on the IMDB
Directed by James McTeigue. With Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea. A shadowy freedom fighter known only as - V for Vendetta - Wikipedia
V for Vendetta and Watchmen are perfect companion pieces for one another. They represent an era when comic had started to get serious and started to garner a little respect as an art form in their own right. The books also work together as two aspects of the same world. Where Watchmen is the dark underbelly of an alternate America, V For Vendetta is the story of an England that has grown tired of its ignorant government and makes the voice of the people heard with a display of unity and defiance that is both shocking and solemn.
A masterpiece of the graphic storytelling art form, with superb and atmospheric art by David Lloyd, V for Vendetta is an incredible, gripping and utterly compelling story that attempts to wake up the apathetic masses top the realities of a Big Brother state. In this regard, V for Vendetta is utterly peerless.
