It's never enough for you fans, is it?
Watchmen
Directed by Zack Snyder
Warner Bros. Pictures
By Srdjan Milosavljevic
For years I have been puzzled by the anguished cries made by comic book fans once they learn that their bible will be made into film. Upon the initial announcement, everyone rejoices. Excited fan boys and girls crowd Internet chat rooms and blogs talking about possible cast members, villains, plot lines, or directors.
For a while it almost feels as if magic, not information, is exchanged through the Internet. All it takes to ruin that feeling is a single quote — and it doesn’t even have to be attributed to anyone. A five year-old in Nantucket could post “Clint Howard in talks to play Batman”, which would send ripples through the Internet and tremors across the world that even the biggest earthquake couldn’t equal. Fans will start boycotting the studio. Some will burn effigies of anyone or anything that bears the offending name. Ron Howard will be on fire, Clint Howard, Clint Eastwood, Terrence Howard — even fictional characters like Mo Howard and Howard the Duck will be burnt. (Although “Howard The Duck” has been in a constant state of burning since that disaster came out.)
I’m a different story completely, however. I never read the comics. I enjoy reading novels and watching movies. Were a movie to come out based on my book (yes upon reading it, I would take ownership of it), I would be excited and a little scared, but not mortified. Because no matter how badly they muck it up, I will still have my novel to read. Plus, even if it’s shit, there are probably three more Sherlock Holmes’ in the works. I very recently learned that this is not the case with comics fans.
After leafing through Watchmen (which I did not read; I wanted to not know what happens for 2 hours and 40 minutes), I noticed the specificity of the vision that the Yeti-like writer Alan Moore had put down on paper. Looking through it made me nervous. “This was a long one”, I thought. “This is visually stunning. This will not be made for under 100 million dollars. This will not be attempted again.” Then I looked at the poster for Watchmen under which three pale gentlemen were getting into a heated debate over the actual size of Dr. Manhattan’s penis, and I remembered thinking, “Zack Snyder, good luck.”
"It's not like I've measured it."
I saw the movie in IMAX, the way it should be seen — and it was spectacular. Being a big fan of the 50s and an American history buff, I found that part of Watchmen to be very well thought-out, supporting as many realities as a movie such as this could. Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, and Richard Nixon are some of the more recognizable faces of the era that were represented in this film. Noticing that some of the “aged” jokes did not land, I really think that people should see it again and pay closer attention. In fact, everyone ought to have a return viewing of Watchmen for a whole plethora of reasons.
The performances were excellent. Who thought the pedophile from Little Children could be such a bad ass? Who knew the pedophile from Hard Candy could be so awesome? Hmm. Perhaps I should leave this train of thought.
The characters conflicted, the story was nonlinear, the women were gorgeous, and the bad guys were indistinguishable from the good; one could argue that the difference was non-existent.
Watchmen’s story is intertwined with history and it gives you a very credible but simultaneously fantastic what-if scenario, reminiscent of the one in Dr. Strangelove. Don’t get me wrong: this is not Strangelove, not even close. But it has a similar feel, and when a superhero movie can do that, it’s alright by me.
For this review, I decided not to go into specifics about the characters, their motivations, or their brutal/innocent natures. I will leave that to discover for yourself. The Dark Knight was something else — I did not think another comic-book movie of that calibre would come out… ever. And yet, it did, not even a year later. Back to Internet rumours, I am kind of worried about Sherlock Holmes and what Guy Ritchie may do to him. Hope you comic book guys are content for now…
P.S. – I heard they got Fabio to play THOR.
You’ve gotta be kidding about Fabio and Thor-
I’m glad you made note of the idea that the good guys were indistinguishable from the bad guys. That’s really important if you ask me.
I agree entirely. This is the most faithful adaption I have ever seen (though admittedly, its more faithful to Dave Gibbons than Alan Moore). A lot of the criticism of the film from rabid fanboys based on the trailers has just been wrong. “Why isn’t Captain Metropolis in it?” –He is. “Why isn’t there insinuation Hooded Justice is gay.” –There is. “Why are they playing a lame cover of Hallelujah” –That’s the Leonard Cohen version. The original.
I wouldn’t begrudge the comments except for the ranting that this shows ZAK SYDER IS TEH HACK AND IS HE TEH TERRIBEL DIRECTOR. He has done a damn fine job and its really cool (its not perfect, he does a bad job with Ozy). And of course the you-know-what has been replaced, but I think this version is even better.
Watchmen was a really good adaptation of a comic that is really hard to adapt for the big screen. I agree that Veidt was handled, so, so badly…but other than that I have no major complaints about the film. Lots of stuff was cut out but lots of stuff had to be cut out, and the cuts are relatively smooth. And the ending is better; more logical.
Bah, if only Veidt was done properly. So missed the mark on him; and I don’t see how that could be, when they so HIT the mark on pretty much every other character.
p.s. Fabio is NOT playing Thor. Not even Hollywood could be that stupid.