Writer Alan Moore may have disowned it, but I'm sure fans of the DC/Vertigo graphic novel will want to judge the V For Vendetta movie adaptation themselves. I read the book about four years ago and immediately saw massive potential for a gripping, imaginative and intelligent movie version.Unfortunately, as you might expect, V For Vendetta is quite sporadic in quality. There are some great moments sprinkled throughout, but there is also a lot of talkative padding. The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix trilogy) wrote the screenplay, and while they do a competent job in removing some of the book's needless subplots and develop an interest new slant in the form of a governmental viral massacre, they also add new elements that just detract from proceedings.
At times V For Vendetta is quite cliched and frustrating in its depiction of Britain. It would have been preferably to have a director who understands the British psyche, as some scenes (particularly in Act I) are quite clunky and embarassing to watch. The constant uttering of "cunt" and "bollocks" is the sole way the writers signal the characters are British at times! Stephen Rea even pronounces "lever" (leever) as the Americanized "levva"!
The mid-section is also far too talkative, with endless scenes of Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt) shouting at his henchmen from a viewscreen and a police investigation that resembles a bad ITV detective drama. The movie also suffers whenever V (Hugo Weaving) and Natalie Portma are off-screen, primarily because the supporting cast are so underwritten - except for a startlingly good Stephen Fry!
Overall, there are moments in V For Vendetta that almost sink the show. Fans of Alan Moore's fabulous book will be watching between cringes for the first 30 minutes and will surely get a little restless half-way through. But, thankfully, Act III fires with all cylinders and the plot (including the new strands created by the Wachowski's) come together nicely, and the finale -- whilst deviating from the novel -- packs enough of a punch to have made the experience worthwhile.
So, not the blistering success it could have been, but neither is it a massive disappointment. I can only speak as someone who has read the book, but I found V For Vendetta a decent enough adaptation of difficult source material. No matter how you look at it, it's quite brave for a film to be destroying London landmark less than a year after the London underground bombings of 7 July 2005...
