"Remember, remember the Fifth of November"
Alan Moore is one of the most celebrated writers in comics. It only makes sense to tap his excellent selection of works as source materials for movies. V for Vendetta was not the first of the Alan Moore movies, From Hell (2001) is if I remember correctly. V for Vendetta would mark an important event, Alan Moore distancing himself from the movies that are based on his graphic novels.
This distancing from V for Vendetta is not because of the quality of the movie, but because of his personal stand that is not important to argue, because Mr. Moore has every right to distance himself if it pleases him. The movie version of V for Vendetta maintains the primary theme of Government control over its people. “V” being a modern day Guy Fawkes is still the symbol of hope in the movie.
As strong as the movie is, it is still a watered down version of the Graphic Novel. Because a movie is visual, the "5 senses" which are important in the book, are lost in the movie. The loss of the 5 senses is one of the major layers dropped in this adaptation. A lot of the poetic aspects of the book are lost, such as the “V” word name of each chapter. Alan Moore creates a very poetic tale and is less poetic in movie form. The movie is filmed excellently, great fights and great drama. This may seem odd me saying that the movie is a brighter version of the grim Noirish book. The movie is still quite dark, but overall has a more positive and lighter spin then the book.
As a movie, I watch V for Vendetta once a year on the 5 of Novemeber, because I do enjoy it. As an adaption, it is good, but far from perfect.
Cheers
-Silkcuts