Well I just finished re-reading the Watchmen mini-series. I haven’t read it since High School. It was central to my senior term paper (something about comic books being literature)—which I’m sure if I reread now… would just make me nausea. But anyway…with the movie fast approaching I thought it was time to refresh my memory of it.
For those not aware, the original Watchmen (published in 1986) 12 issue mini-series ( I just have the trade paperback) is considered the Citizen Kane or Sgt. Peppers of comic books. I can’t really make an argument that would refute that accurate perception. The Dark Knight Returns (also published in 1986) is normally considered the second most important graphic novel of all time but if I was making a list…The Dark Knight Returns would be number one…but that’s probably because of the Batman factor more than anything else. But ultimately one can’t go wrong with either choice.
Without getting sidetracked, the purpose of this post is in regard to the Watchmen movie that comes out next spring. You can view the trailer, here. My biggest question with the movie is this…how is it going to be perceived by the mainstream movie-going public?
Let me clarify and state that I think most Watchmen fans, fellow fan boys and other comic book geeks are probably going to be satisfied (at the very least) with the movie. Zack Snyder, the director, looks like he—first and foremost—gets the graphic novel—not only with the look but the tone as well. So I’m encouraged by that.
But this is what I’m unsure about. There’s no doubt that Snyder has quite a following after the success of 300 and because of that I believe a lot of those fans are going to be wanting the same hyper (and let’s face it—erotic) action showcased in 300. But here’s the rub—that kind of stylized action is not in the graphic novel. In fact there’s not a lot of action in the graphic novel at all. There’s really just a lot of standing around and talking—which I’m not complaining about—because it works very well in the comic series. I’m just not sure how Snyder is going to translate that to the big screen. And if he does a faithful adaptation…I further wonder how the 300 junkies are going to respond to the film. But maybe more so than that…how is the average movie-goer, who expect a certain amount of action from their comic book flicks—are also going to respond to the (potential) lack of action in the story. Like I said...there’s plenty of drama…I’m just not sure how Snyder is going to mesh the action and drama together.
I think it’s going to be a tough task. And that’s not even trying to understand how Snyder is going to work in the Cold War themes that dominate the story. (And boy do they dominate. Ironically enough I was reading the story while the Russia-Georgia conflict was (is) going on…and I’ll tell you what…the atmosphere is created so successfully in the narrative…that I kind of started to freak out one night while watching CNN).
For those not aware, the original Watchmen (published in 1986) 12 issue mini-series ( I just have the trade paperback) is considered the Citizen Kane or Sgt. Peppers of comic books. I can’t really make an argument that would refute that accurate perception. The Dark Knight Returns (also published in 1986) is normally considered the second most important graphic novel of all time but if I was making a list…The Dark Knight Returns would be number one…but that’s probably because of the Batman factor more than anything else. But ultimately one can’t go wrong with either choice.
Without getting sidetracked, the purpose of this post is in regard to the Watchmen movie that comes out next spring. You can view the trailer, here. My biggest question with the movie is this…how is it going to be perceived by the mainstream movie-going public?
Let me clarify and state that I think most Watchmen fans, fellow fan boys and other comic book geeks are probably going to be satisfied (at the very least) with the movie. Zack Snyder, the director, looks like he—first and foremost—gets the graphic novel—not only with the look but the tone as well. So I’m encouraged by that.
But this is what I’m unsure about. There’s no doubt that Snyder has quite a following after the success of 300 and because of that I believe a lot of those fans are going to be wanting the same hyper (and let’s face it—erotic) action showcased in 300. But here’s the rub—that kind of stylized action is not in the graphic novel. In fact there’s not a lot of action in the graphic novel at all. There’s really just a lot of standing around and talking—which I’m not complaining about—because it works very well in the comic series. I’m just not sure how Snyder is going to translate that to the big screen. And if he does a faithful adaptation…I further wonder how the 300 junkies are going to respond to the film. But maybe more so than that…how is the average movie-goer, who expect a certain amount of action from their comic book flicks—are also going to respond to the (potential) lack of action in the story. Like I said...there’s plenty of drama…I’m just not sure how Snyder is going to mesh the action and drama together.
I think it’s going to be a tough task. And that’s not even trying to understand how Snyder is going to work in the Cold War themes that dominate the story. (And boy do they dominate. Ironically enough I was reading the story while the Russia-Georgia conflict was (is) going on…and I’ll tell you what…the atmosphere is created so successfully in the narrative…that I kind of started to freak out one night while watching CNN).
I would say at this point that I’m more apprehensive than excited with the impeding film.
But we’ll see.
1 comment:
i read an interview w/snyder. he seems to have his shit together. i have no idea how people are going to like it, though.
when we were in the theater for the dark knight opening weekend there were some high school/college age kids behind us who seemed to have some comics knowledge, but had no idea that the watchmen movie was based on a comic from the 80s. if he makes it well, snyder will probably leave most moviegoers confused.
i really can't wait for it to come out. we (powells) sold out of copies of the graphic novel for a little while after the dark knight came out.
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