"Barb Wire": Novelisation [Paperback]

A question is going to be asked. Why did you order this book and why did you read it? Because I liked the Barb Wire movie, that's why. Here's where I show my ignorance; I've never seen or read the comic series, the history of which was a convoluted one indeed, let's make it somewhat simple though. [[Barb Wire only lasted nine issues from Dark Horse, plus several guest shots in other hero's comics. While other characters from her comic ended up having their own comics, none of these can be found in either the movie or this novelization. However, having seen the movie first, and I went into it blind, not being a fan of either the comics or of Pamela Anderson, and I enjoyed most of what was a bit of mind candy. I read novelizations to see how a novel based on a movie's original script would differ from the finished film project. In "Barb Wire"'s case I think most will find this a fairly good alternate future/adventure novel that will have more depth than the movie.

For those who don't know, in an alternate future the congress has decided that they want to be partisan (who woulda thunk they could be such a thing?), and not liking the way that the president is taking the country, decide to throw a coup d'état. The president decides to fight back, and a civil war starts, and he may be losing, or at least that's the impression that I get from the novel's text. However Steel Harbor is a national neutral zone, however it has not escaped unscathed as the city is a wreck, there are mental mutants crawling around in the shadows willing to kill and destroy, the cops are corrupt, and there are ganglords ruling the streets. Thriving in this cesspool is a nightclub called the Hammerhead, and it's run and owned by Barb Wire (nee Barbara Kopetski), a tough, bad-assed, stacked blond, who moonlights as a bounty hunter & mercenary, and events are conspiring to put Barb Wire between the hammer and the anvil.

In another part of what's left of the United States the sadistic little neo-nazi turd, Colonel Victor Pryzer is torturing a women to get some information about the whereabouts of escaped scientist Dr. Corrina ("Corra D") Devonshire, with something, or several somethings, of great importance to the new Congressional government. Pryzer's torture proves fruitful as he finds out that Devonshire is on her way to Steel Harbor to try to smuggle herself into Canada.

On the other side, Devonshire and her bodyguard, Axel Hood, who is Barb Wire's ex-squeeze, and who once dumped her, is not only already in Steel Harbor, but finds that he needs Barb Wire to help him get Devonshire across the border to Canada. The problem is that during a firefight some time back, Axel had abandoned her, and this betrayal was compounded by her brother's total blindness a year later. Both of these things have ended up changing Barbara into the hard-hearted Barb Wire, and she has no interest in reverting back to the idealistic and partisan Barbara Kopetski, or of renewing or repairing any relationship with Axel. Unfortunately, Axel can't take no for an answer, and then things start getting rough for Barb Wire when Pryzer starts stomping through Steel Harbor leaving havoc in his wake.

Barrett does a good job with this novelization, his prose is simple and direct, and yet while he is a better writer than his material, he never gives the impression that he's slumming. Barrett takes some very thin material, and does a good job of filling out the characters, giving them some feeling and background, making some of these characters more rounded than they were in the movie, either because of Barrett's skill, or because he cribbed some details from the comics themselves; Corrina Devonshire especially gets a more rounded treatment from Barrett. On the negative side, being what it is; this novelization suffers from a flaw that is seen in many novelizations. That is, unless you've read the comic, or have seen the movie, you will never really know what most, including Barb Wire herself, actually look like. While most of the movie may not even have been cast while Barrett was doing the initial writing, it does detract from the book.

Whatever, the movie often comes across as an adaptation of Barrett's novelization rather than the other way around. To give us background that he couldn't include in the novel proper, he inserts micro interviews, articles, textbook excerpts, and remembrances in between chapters that give even more background on this world's history and its characters. And lastly, Barrett thankfully pretty much abandons the whole stripper motif that was a major distraction in the movie, and he tones down the whole ripped-off from "Casablanca" plotline similarities, but keeps some of the superwoman stunts that were in the movie.

This novelization won't change your world, but it's a solid piece of work-for-hire that shouldn't insult the intelligence of the fans of this now abandoned, by Dark Horse, universe, or of fans of the movie.

I give this novelization four stars because, considering how thin the plot and characterization were in the movie, Barrett has done yeoman's job of giving us a more than competent futuristic action novel, and you don't have had to see the movie or read the comics to read "Barb Wire". While in the end "Barb Wire" is pretty non-essential for non-fans, movie fans, Barb Wire fans, and Neal Barrett, Jr. fans may want to give this novel a looksee.

As a note to readers, the copy that I got from this site has a completely different cover than the one pictured here.

I have reviewed these other movie novelizations for this site:

The Condemned (WWE)
The Frighteners: A Novel
Hitman: Enemy Within
Ju-On
Ju-On Volume 2
Mutant Chronicles
Rabid

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see the review  4.0 out of 5 stars