If you ever saw Alan Moore in the street, you might walk in the other direction. But for over thirty years. Moore has been taking his unique curmudgeonly style to all kinds of popular heroes, crafting marquis stories like “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” For Superman. He’s also created quirky superheroes for Marvel like Captain Britain. He helped to reinvigorate, along with Frank Miller, The Batman in “The Killing Joke.”
His greatest works though are his original takes on the superhero genre and his maxi-format sagas like Watchmen, V For Vendetta, and From Hell. He helped reinvigorate Swamp Thing for DC. He has won countless awards over the years and is loved by plenty of comic book fans world-wide. The guy just doesn’t like his work being adapted for the screen. He has always insisted that his stories should exist only in the medium that they were first presented in. Considering the lukewarm response to his very few adaptations, fans are seemingly inclined to agree.
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Alan Moore took several old school literary heroes, teamed them up to face Moriarty in the Steampunk era League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It’s easy to see why Moore can’t stand what Hollywood does to his work and why he demands to be removed from just about everything the industry does with his stories. It’s also the movie that made Sean Connery quit acting. The whole concept of a “British JLA” doesn’t work when you toss Tom Sawyer into the mix.
The movie was not received nearly as well as it should’ve been. It was Avengers before Avengers, the Justice League before Justice League. While it wasn’t going to offshoot into Alan Quartermain Of Nemo solo movies, LXG was certainly an early proto-shared universe type of film; a precursor to what superhero movies lead to nowadays.
Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
Once Mark Hamill expressed interest in reprising the Joker for The Killing Joke, Dan support to see this get made shot through the roof. Kevin Conroy wanted in as well, offering to reprise his role as Batman. In the original story, the Joker aims to show Commissioner Gordon that madness only requires a little push and one bad day. All of the original story elements are there - Barbara Gordon, Batgirl gets shot and paralyzed. Joker kidnaps Gordon and Batman has to save him and at his friend’s behest use every fiber of his being not do anything drastic and catch him by the book.
While there was some criticism flung at added material that showed an interesting relationship between Bruce and Barbara, anytime you get Hamill and Conroy back doing what they do best, it’s always worth a watch.
From Hell (2001)
Johnny Depp sipping on Absinthe and huffing on opium in Victorian England hunting down Jack The Ripper in a movie from the Hughes Brothers (The Book Of Eli)? That should be enough to get moviegoers to the theaters. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The adaptation of Moore’s From Hell was not anywhere near as successful as fans were hoping it would be. More than any of Moore’s adaptations this film originally suffered from the time of its release - October of 2001, right when most of the world needed feel good happy movies, comes a movie about the very real nightmare of one of the world’s greatest unsolved serial killings.
Even watching the film today, besides the gruff Abberline being replaced by what Moore himself referred to as an “absinthe-swilling dandy,” the movie seemed more a continuation of Depp’s character from Sleepy Hollow and less like the character Moore had crafted.
Constantine (2005)
With all of the hubbub about the glorious Year Of Keanu and Marvel trying to snag him, DC already got him - he brought Alan Moore’s Constantine to life in the 2005 big screen adaptation. While he was created by Moore during his run on Swamp Thing, the movie was based off Garth Ennis’ “Dangerous Habits” story arc. While Keanu Reeves is fairly teflon, this film didn’t garner enough hype to do well at the box office.
More didn’t speak out terribly about the film - the critics did that for him. However, the character and the idea of what he can be has always been embraced by fans. Reeves himself, as recently as this year stated he wouldn’t mind playing the Hellblazer again.
Watchmen (2009)
An out of shape Batman, an even worse vigilante not above murdering people. A Superman who couldn’t care less about us, and the world’s smartest man orchestrating the end of the world. The Doomsday Clock is drastically counting down in Alan Moore’s dystopian superhero epic, Watchmen. The story was once listed among Time Magazine’s “100 Greatest Novels Of All Time.” When a story so beloved is announced as being adapted, anticipation reaches a fever pitch long before the movie is actually released.
Zack Snyder’s film is almost as close as you can get to the tone of Moore’s story. Despite criticisms that he virtually copied the story instead of adapting, how else would you adapt a story like this?! With scenes like the death of The Comedian (“it’s all a joke”), Rorschach’s prison break, and the birth of Dr. Manhattan (“I feel fear for the last time”) as standout scenes, it might not be The Watchmen film that fans thought they wanted, but it was and still is one of the best comic book movies ever.
V For Vendetta (2005)
After the phenomenal success of The Matrix movies, the Wachowskis were able to punch their ticket and do whatever they wanted. They opted to produce their Assistant Director, James McTeigue’s debut film, V For Vendetta. The adaptation of Moore’s folk tale of anarchist revolution. No matter how well this film did or the kind of symbol it has become, Alan Moore requested that he not be credited for his work or paid the royalties (that’s conviction!).
The cast was top-notch, featuring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. Weaving is the titular V, attempting a full-scale revolt through terrorist means. As Evey, Portman gives a very different performance, showcasing just how much of a powerhouse actress she really is, and no that’s not just because she shaved her head for the role.
