A couple of reviews I’m reading keep comparing V, unfavorably, to The Matrix. They’re upset that it isn’t as cool, either in storyline (?), action, or effects.
Well, I hate to break it to the learned film critics of the webverse, but… well… V for Vendetta isn’t going to be The Matrix, ‘cause that was already made. Different director, different actors, different storyline. The question mark above was because, well, why do they expect/want the same storyline? How many Matrixes can there be? It’s not like The Matrix was even the first one (it was, like, the 50th depending on how you count things… it’s at least directly descended from Ghost in the Shell, Dark City, and most of the things William Gibson’s written, if nothing else).
Anyway, even the positive reviews say the second half isn’t as strong as the first. Then again, most of them seem to have no concept of the novel. Then again (again), should they? I imagine that a large amount of the viewing populace that goes to see V won’t have read the book, and will probably think similarly as the MSNBC reviewer, who thought of Valerie as a “detour,” even though I consider that story to be one of the most important parts of V.
(Tangent: Roger Ebert appears to think that Spider-Man 2 was an intriguing movie. Not that it wasn’t better than the first, by far, but… intriguing? Nah.)
I suppose at this point I’m not expecting a faithful adaptation. I just want a good one. (I just found out about a change that I’m really not happy with, but we’ll see how that goes.)
I’ll end on a quasi-related note (a cookie to those who guess the relation). The new FCC chairman has actually proven that, yes, someone can suck more than Michael Powell and has leveled about $4 million in fines against various television stations, including a record breaking $3.6 million fine against CBS affiliates that aired an episode of Without a Trace that implied a teenaged sexual orgy. NY Times Article is here.
Right.
Well, I hate to break it to the learned film critics of the webverse, but… well… V for Vendetta isn’t going to be The Matrix, ‘cause that was already made. Different director, different actors, different storyline. The question mark above was because, well, why do they expect/want the same storyline? How many Matrixes can there be? It’s not like The Matrix was even the first one (it was, like, the 50th depending on how you count things… it’s at least directly descended from Ghost in the Shell, Dark City, and most of the things William Gibson’s written, if nothing else).
Anyway, even the positive reviews say the second half isn’t as strong as the first. Then again, most of them seem to have no concept of the novel. Then again (again), should they? I imagine that a large amount of the viewing populace that goes to see V won’t have read the book, and will probably think similarly as the MSNBC reviewer, who thought of Valerie as a “detour,” even though I consider that story to be one of the most important parts of V.
(Tangent: Roger Ebert appears to think that Spider-Man 2 was an intriguing movie. Not that it wasn’t better than the first, by far, but… intriguing? Nah.)
I suppose at this point I’m not expecting a faithful adaptation. I just want a good one. (I just found out about a change that I’m really not happy with, but we’ll see how that goes.)
I’ll end on a quasi-related note (a cookie to those who guess the relation). The new FCC chairman has actually proven that, yes, someone can suck more than Michael Powell and has leveled about $4 million in fines against various television stations, including a record breaking $3.6 million fine against CBS affiliates that aired an episode of Without a Trace that implied a teenaged sexual orgy. NY Times Article is here.
Right.
Comment?