V for Vendetta

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So, I finally got to see V For Vendetta. Finally. I love the graphic novel to tiny pieces, but then went and missed the film when it was in cinemas. And now it is out on DVD, and I’ve seen it-

-it drives me crazy because they had so many brilliant ideas, but in following up those brilliant ideas they managed to miss the rest of the story and why couldn’t they have found a way to make their intepretation of the story and the actual story coexist? Because I loved the stuff like the millions of people in V masks, and Evie’s line about V being everyone, and even the out-of-nowhere stuff like Evie’s brother- why couldn’t they have got that in and still kept the (er, the shortened version) of the story that had the full explanation of Larkhill and Rosemary and Helen and what Evie became by the end?

Um. Yes. Anyway.

What I didn’t like (let’s get that out of the way first)
-Natalie Portman. I’m sorry, Natalie, but you’re not Evie! And you can’t do anger. Which is weird. S’not like you ruined the movie or anything, but…I wish someone else had played Evie. Someone with the right hair colour, for a start.

(Incidentally, I was rather irriated when in the Making Of, people were talking about the novel and said ‘Evie was more a cypher in the novel…we made her more independent…’ OH YOU DID NOT. (I liked her in the novel. She was a heckofa lot more 3D than she was in the movie.)

-The fact lurking in the back of my mind that actually they got V’s character pretty much wrong towards the end (it has to do with The Love Story) and I just didn’t notice

-The fact that they didn’t keep a good percentage of the novel…I know it’s next to impossible to get in all the stuff I wanted to see, like Rosemary and Fate and all that, but what happened to the original ending? The one that knocked me out when I read it?

-Why did they change Susan’s name to Sutler, or whatever it was? Chances are they figured Susan perhaps wasn’t the best name for a psychopathic dictator, but…still. If I was Alan Moore I might have turned the DVD off at that point. However, I am not Alan Moore.

What I loved:
-The St Mary’s story/subplot- I imagine lots of people hate it (I’m just going to look for reviews from other people, especially fans, soon as I’ve posted this) but I actually quite liked it. Well…it nearly made me cry, you see. (I have this thing about kids in danger- if something in a movie makes me cry, chances are it’ll be that.)

-The Valerie Scene- okay, so this also came close to making me cry. I loved loved loved it. (ooh, and I loved that she popped up at the end, as well.) I didn’t like that they changed the dialogue of her letter, even if they only changed it a bit, but…still. They couldn’t have gotten that scene wrong, really- I still reckon it’s one of the most heartbreaking in all recent literature

-The little girl with the glasses- Oh my god, they shot her! *horrified* I recognized her from the book- I didn’t want her to get shot! That’s so unfair! (But obviously quite effective.)

-STEPHEN FRY! Dear god, this is the only time I will ever be seriously attracted to Stephen Fry, I imagine. But I loved his character to pieces. I knew he was in it, but I thought he’d just be a cameo- and he turned out to actually have a big role.

(In the book, his character sleeps with Evie. Er. Not in the movie.)

-The Bit With The Dominos. I want to watch it again. And again and again and again.

I will leave you now- I’m going to read cleolinda‘s V In 15 Minutes, and then find some reviews…see if anyone agrees with me. ;)