Watchmen: The Buzz starts now

[Katuluu]

Apple has the trailer posted and it is supposed to be attached to Batman this weekend. Still not sure how I feel about it, as it just feels "off" but still looks like it might be a respectable adaptation.

[And That]

To quote,

 

Do you have a newsletter?

[JoeHova]

Interesting. I saw that Moore has been quite upset with the idea of Watchmen being adapted for the screen. Coincidentally, I bought my 3rd or 4th copy of Watchmen just a couple days ago (I've let people borrow my others over the years and they've never come back) and was rereading it. Moore definitely put a lot of thought into that book, I can see why he'd be upset about it being condensed into a 2 hour (or even 3 hour) movie. OTOH, other classic novels have been made into classic movies (Grapes of Wrath, To Kill A Mockingbird, Schindler's List) that have enhanced the reputation of the book. Maybe that can happen this time too. The fact that it's directed by a hack is less than encouraging, but stranger things have happened. And at least the hack is from Green Bay http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

[brewers4eric]

It would be quite difficult to do justice to the graphic novel with a movie. My hope, also, is that it draws more attention to the book. I'm saving my copy for when my kids are mature enough to read it in 25 years. What's the next big screen adaption, "Astro City"?

[Fatter than Joey]

I'm saving my copy for when my kids are mature enough to read it in 25 years.

 

How old are your kids, -6? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[endaround]

I just don't see the purpose to making the movie. You can't put the whole history/critique of comics plus Alan Moore's politics in the movie. All you're left with is really the plot and the main plot isn't the greatest in the world, .ie. most James Bond movies have a similar really rich trusted guy wants to start WWIII plot. Now if they would have tried to update the story (ie Cheney instead of Nixon trying to get another term in office after Bush had a nervous breakdown following a 2nd terrorist attack) you might have something interesting but its sounds like it'll be a frame by frame copy as much as possible.

[razzzorsharp]

I saw the trailer last night and as a person who never heard of this story prior, I was not too excited.

[RobertR]

WATCHMEN? What's that? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Moore's quite right that WATCHMEN does stuff in its own medium that can't be replicated in movies. The mirrored page layouts of "Fearful Symmetry" for example. Or the comic within a comic which is different from a comic within a movie.

 

OTOH, Moore has been known to liberally borrow other people's creations for his own use. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen springs to mind. As does using Dorothy Gale, Wendy Darling, and Alice in a porno comic.

 

I've said it before but WATCHMEN without the 9 panel grid is like Shakespeare without iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets. That leads to two additional thoughts.

 

1. Ran and Throne of Blood are masterpieces.

2. Zach Snyder isn't Akira Kurosawa.

 

I'm curious what people unfamiliar with the material will make of the trailer. There's really not much that tells you what the story is actually about. There's a ton of sizzle though especially for a fan of the book. I just hope that there's the steak behind that sizzle.

 

In general, the look of the trailer is very faithful, although they've amped up certain elements. The Comedian taking a chunk out of the wall, Silk Spectre coming down through a collapsing ceiling, a lightning bolt behind Rorschach, and Nite Owl making a cool entrance are changes that are against certain conventions of the book.

 

OTOH, making Malin Ackerman look like sex on wheels is certainly keeping with the book. That costume is an improvement even.

 

Dr. Manhattan looks like a perfect translation. It's easy to see how that might not have worked, I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger painted blue was an idea at one point, but it looks great. Not to mention that Billy Crudup's detached look totally fits the character. The Comedian looks spot on too.

 

I notice a lot of non-primary colors, browns, greens, pinks, purples, etc. in the trailer. It's especially notable in the Vietnam sequence. Good, since that's keeping with the source material.

 

I hope we avoid a ton of Snyder's trademark slo mo, then sped up action sequences. Still, it's nice to see a superhero movie where you can actually see the fight scenes instead of it being edited to pieces and filmed in shakey cam or the camera going 100 mph twisting and turning constantly.

 

As far as surficial translation goes, I think we're off to a good start. Of course, if that's as far as it goes it will be a huge disappointment. I find something new in WATCHMEN every time I read it and a movie should aspire to that same level of depth and detail. Acting, dialogue, symbolism, etc. are all going to be crucial for this to be a success.

 

Robert

[Principessa21]

I was waiting for you to post RobertR!

 

I haven't read, only marginally familiar with the series, but...I thought the trailer looked fun so I'm excited.

[RobertR]

Anybody else checked out the WATCHMEN "motion comic" from ITunes?

 

I really don't know what to make of the thing which is a combination audio book and limited animation comic book. I do know that the narrator's attempts at Laurie's voice don't work. Other than that, I can't decide whether this is a neat little novelty, something worthwhile, or an idea that brings together the worst aspects of audio books, comic books, and animation.

 

Robert

[Invader3K]

I still have to read the actual graphic novel. As a kid who collected comics as best he could in the early and mid '90s, there weren't too many comic shops around in my town, and no one had a copy (since it had come out in the '80s). Maybe I'll just try and get it on Amazon or something.

[RobertR]

Obviously we're too far away to judge the movie. I have hopes and doubts. What can be said is that it's already working as a great advertisement for the trade paperback. It's all the way up to #2 on Amazon, that's among all books, and DC has ordered a big new print run, 200,000 copies. Getting more people to read the book is a good thing, IMO.

 

Edit: I'm seeing reports that the new printing is actually a quarter million copies. That's an outstanding number in today's comics industry.

 

Robert

[TheRealMattKain]

That's a good point. If the movie gets more people to read the graphic novel, then at least it's doing some good. That said, the trailer does little to excite me, and, to echo an earlier poster, if I wasn't a fan of the graphic novel, I would think that the movie looked like Hollywood throw-away junk. I have very mixed feelings about Zack Snyder's handling of the movie adaptation. I thought his DAWN OF THE DEAD remake was surprisingly fun, but felt that he was too over the top with 300 (which I guess the graphic novel is pretty OTT as well so maybe that's not a valid complaint).

 

Oh well, as long as Michael Bay doesn't try to do a movie adaptation of Top 10, I'll be able to sleep at night.

[TooLiveBrew]

Saw the trailer with The Dark Knight. Visually, it looks amazing. But then again, so did 300

 

I won't rush out to see it, but if it gets even moderately good reviews, I'd be curious to see it.

[RobertR]

You know earlier I mentioned a new printing of a quarter million. Apparently demand is so high that the new printing has been upped to a full One Million. Wow.

Robert

[bjkrautk]

You know earlier I mentioned a new printing of a quarter million. Apparently demand is so high that the new printing has been upped to a full One Million. Wow.

 

Robert

 

In a related story, I will be buying 0.000001% of that print run....at some point. I can't commit to reading the book before every big movie that comes out, but since the story seems self-contained, I'd like to give this one a chance. (...and I'm a Marvel Zombie.)

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

You know earlier I mentioned a new printing of a quarter million. Apparently demand is so high that the new printing has been upped to a full One Million. Wow.

 

Robert

I work at a bookstore in SoCal... it's hard to keep this thing on the shelves...

 

[bjkrautk]

I'm a man of my word. Wow! How are they going to make that into an under 4-hour movie?

 

(Sidenote: I totally see what the people critical of a certain TV series were talking about....and that's as spoiler-y as I'll get without being prodded into discussion.)

 

I think I need to see that trailer again, now that I've read the series that inspired it...and actually know who the characters are.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

I just don't see the purpose to making the movie. You can't put the whole history/critique of comics plus Alan Moore's politics in the movie. All you're left with is really the plot and the main plot isn't the greatest in the world, .ie. most James Bond movies have a similar really rich trusted guy wants to start WWIII plot. Now if they would have tried to update the story (ie Cheney instead of Nixon trying to get another term in office after Bush had a nervous breakdown following a 2nd terrorist attack) you might have something interesting but its sounds like it'll be a frame by frame copy as much as possible.

It is my hope that you're also left with something of the incredibly rich character psychology and resulting differences in moral philosophy which make it the greatest story ever told by someone not named Dostoevsky.

 

One of the several almost-was incarnations of this film would have included an updated setting. Personally, I'm glad that it seems they ultimately decided to stay as true as possible to the original. It's just too good to screw with.

 

I don't think of Snyder as a total hack, but I am sorry that Terry Gilliam isn't making this film (even if both he and Moore concur that it is unfilmable, I think he would have done the best job...I think it would have felt like Brazil). Aranofsky was supposed to direct it for a time as well, and I'm a big fan of his films (plus, that would almost certainly have meant a mind-blowing original score by Clint Mansell). Snyder obviously isn't remotely in either of those guys' leagues, but I really like the look of the trailer, and ultimately I think that the quality of the screenplay will have more to do with whether I like the film than the quality of the director. David Hayter (voice of Solid Snake) wrote the first two X-Men films, which were decent, but he also the Scorpian King, which...um...wasn't.

[RobertR]

I'm a man of my word. Wow! How are they going to make that into an under 4-hour movie?

 

(Sidenote: I totally see what the people critical of a certain TV series were talking about....and that's as spoiler-y as I'll get without being prodded into discussion.)

At least the makers of LOST are honest about what influenced them, unlike that certain other show.

 

One of these days we'll have to have a Watchmen chat with no holds barred spoilers. I never get tired to discussing that book as it's amazingly dense and layered. And I really think Dave Gibbons doesn't quite get his due. He's not my favorite renderer in the world, but the man has few peers as a flat out storyteller.

 

Robert

[TheRealMattKain]

There appears to now be some dispute over who has the rights to release a movie version of the Watchmen:

 

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20080818/121911997700.html

[endaround]

It is my hope that you're also left with something of the incredibly rich character psychology and resulting differences in moral philosophy which make it the greatest story ever told by someone not named Dostoevsky.

 

One of the several almost-was incarnations of this film would have included an updated setting. Personally, I'm glad that it seems they ultimately decided to stay as true as possible to the original. It's just too good to screw with.

 

I don't think of Snyder as a total hack, but I am sorry that Terry Gilliam isn't making this film (even if both he and Moore concur that it is unfilmable, I think he would have done the best job...I think it would have felt like Brazil). Aranofsky was supposed to direct it for a time as well, and I'm a big fan of his films (plus, that would almost certainly have meant a mind-blowing original score by Clint Mansell). Snyder obviously isn't remotely in either of those guys' leagues, but I really like the look of the trailer, and ultimately I think that the quality of the screenplay will have more to do with whether I like the film than the quality of the director. David Hayter (voice of Solid Snake) wrote the first two X-Men films, which were decent, but he also the Scorpian King, which...um...wasn't.

But are the characters that interesting divorced from the superhero archetypes they represent?

[RobertR]

I suppose now is as good a time as any to bump this back up. WB and Fox settled the lawsuit. Viral sites are starting to roll out. A second trailer came out in November. And we had high profile ads during the NFL playoffs the past two weekends, with the second one being much better.

 

I'm a little concerned that the advertising is more than a trifle misleading trying to sell WATCHMEN as much more action packed and straightforward than it actually is. (Or if it is, then Snyder is going to have a lot of scorn heading his way.) I think it did no favors to SWEENEY TODD to disguise the fact that it was a musical. Bait and switch might work opening weekend, but it's bad for word of mouth.

 

Robert

[razzzorsharp]

I don't think it will do well for a couple reasons. One, not many people have heard of this graphic novel outside the regular fanboys (me included). Two, the characters looks like ripoffs of characters they have seen before (Batman, Iceman, etc.) which we know if really untrue, especially if they do this as a character piece as it should. Three, people will now see this as another superhero movie that is trying to ride the coattails of the past successes. At some point people will have their fill of these kinds of movies.

 

I hope I am wrong on all accounts.

[RobertR]