Alan Moore is a pretty big name in the world of comics (and as an author generally, since he’s moved away from writing comics in more recent years), and you might not even have to be a big reader of the medium to know that. His earliest published work goes back to the late 1970s, with his most iconic work, as an author of comic books, being in the 1980s. That’s the decade that saw the publication of various works of his that later got movie adaptations, but it did take until the 21st century before any of those adaptations got released, since Moore’s work is oftentimes challenging to adapt, or otherwise a little bleaker and more intense than what you’d find in most mid-to-high budget movies.
The film adaptations to date have generally differed from the source material in various ways, so Alan Moore has inevitably distanced himself from them (to put it mildly). Since one of those movies, V for Vendetta, got a wide release 20 years ago (its premiere came a little earlier), it feels like a good time to go over those movie adaptations and rank them, at least of the ones that got a theatrical release. Also, Swamp Thing (1982) doesn’t quite count, so it’s not ranked here, in case you’re wondering. It’s based on a character that Moore wrote for, but the period of Swamp Thing he wrote came just after the movie’s release, so it can’t have actually been based on Moore’s work, nor even influenced by it (he didn’t create the character, but did – post-1982 – arguably re-define/strengthen him).
As an adaptation, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) is pretty loose, and the same can be said for most of the movies soon to be mentioned, too. Vol. 1 of the series was published throughout 1999 and 2000, and it’s the story found within those six issues that kind of inspired the 2003 movie. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) just took ingredients and characters from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1 and did its own thing with them, and if you want to be charitable, that’s in line with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the comic, since the comic series takes pre-established fictional characters and stories and throws them into a blender.
The blended results, if you’re into comic books, are fascinating, at least in terms of Volume 1 and then Volume 2 of the series (the second volume is brutal in its deconstructive qualities, a little like another of Moore’s stories about a team of “heroes”). The movie, though, is more noteworthy for lots of behind-the-scenes drama, including the fact that it motivated Sean Connery to retire from acting, with the legendary actor not appearing in another live-action role for the remainder of his life. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a messy movie, not without some mildly entertaining sequences, but it’s clear it was always going to be difficult to get right, and the sprawling and strange story found in the original comic was not really all that well captured or replicated on the big screen.
5
‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ (2016)
Batman: The Killing Joke is an animated movie that got a limited theatrical release in 2016, so it’s worth counting here, even if it’s not really on the same scale as all the other movies based on Alan Moore’s work. It’s also the only animated feature film based on an Alan Moore story to date, adapting the one-shot graphic novel of the same name; one that famously (or notoriously?) went deep into unpacking the Joker, functioning as something of a new spin on the character’s origin story.
The comic came out in 1988, and potentially worked in tandem with Batman (1989) to really make the Joker unstoppable within pop culture (that Batman film wasn’t an adaptation, but it did feature a legendary and memorable Jack Nicholson performance where he played the Joker). So, if you’re sick of the Joker nowadays, you can probably partially thank/blame Batman: The Killing Joke. As for the film, it’s not great, having some of the source material’s flaws while adding a few new missteps of its own. You’re better off just sticking with the source material, which really won’t waste much of your time, either, owing to its brevity and overall punchiness.
4
‘From Hell’ (2001)
Adapting From Hell was a pretty wild thing to take on, and even more bizarrely, it was the first theatrically released feature film to be based on something Alan Moore wrote. The graphic novel, if you compile all the volumes in one, nears 600 pages, so naturally, a bit gets cut from the film… but not as much as you might expect. The graphic novel is generally more grounded than most of Moore’s previous comic works, in terms of not being superhero-related, and also being light on fantastical/sci-fi elements, yet not entirely devoid of them. Those parts of From Hell, the graphic novel, might be the most interesting and haunting, but much of that stuff is downplayed in the film.
It’s a fairly intense and sometimes visually striking movie about Jack the Ripper, and though a more faithful (and perhaps weirder) adaptation of From Hell would likely be better, this one’s honestly not too bad.
As for what’s the same? Both forms of From Hell are about Jack the Ripper, dramatizing one theory surrounding who was behind the notorious murders that the (officially still) unknown perpetrator committed. And both graphic novel and film are gruesome and troubling, just a little less so on both counts regarding the movie (but it’s not too sanitized, or at least not as sanitized as you might expect). From Hell (2001) adds a dynamic between two characters that doesn’t really work, and some of the casting is questionable, because Johnny Depp was an odd pick for Frederick Abberline. At least some of the supporting cast members turn in good performances, like Ian Holm and Robbie Coltrane. It’s a fairly intense and sometimes visually striking movie about Jack the Ripper, and though a more faithful (and perhaps weirder) adaptation of From Hell would likely be better, this one’s honestly not too bad. The ambition to adapt it in any way, really, can ultimately be admired.
3
‘Constantine’ (2005)
Even compared to the other film adaptations here, Constantine is only very loosely based on Alan Moore’s work, if at all. But it’s not like the aforementioned Swamp Thing, since the character of John Constantine was created by Moore, initially actually first appearing as a supporting character in an issue of Swamp Thing published in 1985. Later in the decade, Constantine got his own run of comics, called Hellblazer, and it’s Hellblazer that Constantine (2005) is based on. So even if it’s based on a comic series Alan Moore isn’t directly tied to, John Constantine exists because of Moore.
So, that makes Constantine (2005) worth mentioning here. It’s become something of a cult film, if not quite a cult classic (maybe in the eyes of some), and it does admittedly offer an interesting spin on comic book/superhero cinema, since there’s a heavy element of demonic possession-related horror here. Keanu Reeves does his thing in the lead role, being well-utilized, and the rest of the cast members all do pretty well, generally. Constantine’s visuals and overall feel prove more compelling than the just-okay story being told here, but there are certainly things to like here, and those who don’t like the other movie adaptations related to Moore’s work might find themselves cutting this one a little Moore (heh) slack, since it’s further removed than most from the comics that are unambiguously Alan Moore’s.
2
‘V for Vendetta’ (2005)
As an adaptation, V for Vendetta largely gets things right. The original comic book series was a dystopian one about a neo-fascist political party that rules over the United Kingdom as a police state, and what happens when a mysterious figure known only as V inspires revolution against said party. The comic is a good deal more complex and also a little more interesting, but the film does a good job of getting the basics down.
Also, V for Vendetta (2005) is largely restrained in terms of not adding too much extra action or potentially distracting spectacle to things. It sticks to the dystopian kind of thing that the source material did, mostly being a thriller/drama film with brief bursts of stylized action (perhaps slightly inevitable when the Wachowskis, not long after their Matrix movies, were behind the writing of this adaptation while serving as co-producers; James McTeigue directed it, though). And for what it is, V for Vendetta is pretty good, and occasionally – or at least for a few sequences – pretty great.
1
‘Watchmen’ (2009)
To address not the elephant in the room, but the elephant not in the room (and also, it’s not an elephant, but a squid), Watchmen (2009) omits and alters a fairly memorable section of Watchmen, the comic book limited series originally published throughout 1986 and 1987. Other than that, though, and a slight drawing out of certain action sequences (presumably for the purpose of making things feel a bit more spectacular), Watchmen (2009) largely gets things right, as an adaptation. It is, surprisingly, also faithful… again, for the most part.
It’s got a reputation for not being faithful, and some criticize Zack Snyder for missing the point of the comic, but those critiques aren’t really fair. Snyder’s film does get it, because this still feels like a brutal and effective deconstruction of certain superhero/comic book conventions, only really excising one dramatic sequence of the comic and committing the fairly forgivable sin of making the film version slightly more action-packed. This is a largely great comic book movie, and even if it’s not the slam-dunk that the source material was (that one does earn its reputation as one of the best – and most important – comic book stories ever), it’s closer to it in style and effect than many give it credit for.
Watchmen
- Release Date
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March 6, 2009
- Runtime
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163 minutes
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