A dystopian future where the government spies on everyone, and everyone accepts it due to fears of terrorism. Clearly escapist fiction is really off the rails these days.

I’m a big fan of the original V for Vendetta comic series, so I’ve been looking forward to the movie for months, and caught it on its first showing in DC. Verdict: a great romp. There’s plenty here for people who loved the comic, and plenty here to piss them off; I can certainly see why Alan Moore distanced himself from the final product. (Although Moore doesn’t seem to understand that movies and comics are very different media with very different audiences; it’s hard to picture a movie that would make him happy.)

I’m going to try to avoid spoilers in the rest of this review, but if you want to go into the movie cold, it’s best to stop reading now. Suffice to say, it’s recommended.

Unfortunately, some of the best parts of the original series were jettisoned for the movie. V is much more mysterious in the comics; his abilities are never quite explained, and the movie version is both more powerful and more straightforward. Anyone who sees the movie and is intrigued about this angle on the character should read the book, immediately.

Evey is a bit older in the film than she is in the series, probably because Natalie Portman isn’t 14 anymore. She’s also in less dire straits in the film, which gives her a bit of moral purity that’s less clear in the series. On the other hand, what happens to her is one of the greatest story arcs in recent fiction, and it was stunning to see this faithfully adapted for the screen.

It’s a bit of a shame to see V drop the asexual aspect to his character—and it would have been even more interesting if they had changed this and had maintained Evey’s age as a Lolita. I suppose that this will never happen in an American film, certainly not a “comic book” film. But for once I’d like to see an adaptation where the hero doesn’t give away his secret identity to the love interest in the first reel. Maybe it’s okay for Superman, since he goes on to marry her, but one of the things that makes Batman interesting is his self-sacrifice. Anyone who doubts this really needs to read Son of the Demon.

This isn’t the best of all possible V movies, but it’s pretty damn good.