V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta opens on Friday (St. Patrick's Day rather than the more appropriate Guy Fawkes Day), so that means it's time to crank up the publicity machine. Right on schedule, The New York Times puts a profile on Alan Moore and his disassociation from the film and from Hollywood in general on the front page of its Sunday Arts section. Moore wrote the comics series (with art by David Lloyd) on which the movie is based. The article offers a pretty good summation of Moore's contentions relationship with the film industry, with which he reportedly wants no contact whatsoever. It's actually pretty funny to see the movie people's reaction to all this. They can't fathom it as anything other than a marketing ploy--he must want more money, because why on earth would someone not want to be in the movies?

Moore saw a copy of V for Vendetta's script, which he has ridiculed, and he's wanted to cut all his ties to it for about a year. For a while, based on that, I had low expectations for the film and planned to avoid it, as well. But I have to admit that some of the things I've seen more recently have left me intrigued. David Lloyd has come out very strongly for it, and it's been getting some good buzz in previews. James Wolcott gave it a rave last month (but as I mentioned over at Howling Curmudgeons, Wolcott was a strong proponent of Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, too). And, although I'm fully aware that you can cut a bad movie into a good trailer or commercial, the previews are awfully compelling. I'm going to try to approach it on its own terms. Instead of judging it on how close it parallels the comics, I'll decide how it works as a movie. When it comes down to it, the comics already exist, and a good or bad movie doesn't have to have any bearing on them. A bad V for Vendetta doesn't do anything to lessen the Moore/Lloyd series. But let's just hope for a good V movie.