V for Vendetta was a disappointment upon its initial theatrical release. Having had five months to reconsider that diagnosis, viewing the film again on DVD has led me to realize that it’s not just disappointing: It’s downright terrible.

Marketed as an “uncompromising vision of the future,” V for Vendetta was itself a terribly compromised translation of a graphic novel. The original comic (which began its run in 1981 and finished up in 1988) is considered a classic of the genre, with writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd creating a grim British dystopia. Having (barely) survived a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, this version of Britain is in the grips of a totalitarian, fascist state that cares only for maintaining the order it has created.