Watchmen Movie Trailer Is Out 266
I forgot to mention the other bit of exciting comic book movie news this week: DaSpudMan noted that the Watchmen trailer is out — from the Director of 300, which spawns mixed feelings at our office. But it looks pretty good.
Trailer Music... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the less than inspiring costumes may be intentional, as if to suggest that the costumed heroes are operating at one level, while Dr. Manhattan is operating at another level entirely. Another plane of existence, in fact.
Re:Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh man, I've not waited so eagerly for a film since, ooh, Matrix Reloaded, or Phantom Menace... or possibly Scanner, Darkly.
This is not a good sign.
Why, oh why, are all the films of Alan Moore stories made to date been so lame? (Let's see, Constantine - total turkey; V for Vendetta - probably the least bad so far, scrupulously faithful to surface texture whilst completely missing the point; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - almost as bad as Constantine;... From Hell - well I've not seen that, but as us cricket fans would say, it returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorer.
I know he's got his name pulled for reasons of principle, but really if it were purely down to "how good a film is it?" that would also be a good move.
If anyone out there's only seen the crappy films but not read the books, do yourself a favour and pick them up. Start with Watchmen. It's one of those works that seems to get more relevant every year.
Personally, I'm waiting for "D.R. And Quinch" or "Halo Jones" to be filmed =)
A March release date (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you missed the point. Spoilers ahoy.
Ozy isn't uttering forth a monologue; he's distracting everybody. He's already won. Further, he's not trying to show them how smart he is, daring them to outthink him, Riddler-style; he's giving himself up for judgement. He wouldn't have stopped any of the heroes had they decided to go reveal the plan; you'll note that he lets Rorshach go. Further, he seeks absolution from Dr. Manhattan.
In other words, the entire point of that scene is to send up the comic book trope.
Re:300 wasn't that bad... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (Score:3, Insightful)
I have to agree.
You see, the other costumed heroes were just that - some had improved capabilities (like Ozymandias), and some had neat devices (like Nite Owl), but in the end they were all people whose costume was primarily aimed at concealing their identities.
Dr. Manhattan was different... since he was no longer entirely human he was no longer affected by human norms and values (watch how his clothing becomes sketchier from his early days to the "present").
I thought it was a pretty cool way of showing how much he'd diverged from his original self without blabbing it out loud.
Re:Looks good (Score:3, Insightful)
I want the spirit to be kept true to, not the actual pages.
Then you are among the few.
Most fans would rather have movies based on books and comics copied page for page to the screen than making it according to the spirit.
Or whatever spirit means to the director, producers, studio execs, toy makers and actors.
Read the EW article [ew.com] - it should help you see how much of the book has been copied verbatim and how much of it was adapted while being "true to the spirit".
Oh... and the smiley is there. Comedian is wearing it in the Vietnam. Minus the bloodstain of course.
And it appears in the end - on the date of the movie. This one is with the bloodstain.
Only comic to have won the Hugo? (Score:3, Insightful)
The comic won a Hugo award, and I believe it may be the only comic ever to have done so. At the least, it's one of a very elite few. In other words, definitely worth reading.
Bombed during dark knight (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Read the comic! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is an important aspect that I think is critical for successful adaptations. The writer/developer/director needs to understand and capitalize on the advantages of the medium, rather than simply regurgitate the material in the same form as it was received.
The Watchmen did some interesting things by supporting the main comic format with letters, articles, and prose in order to flesh out the background of the world. In a book, brevity can be sacrificed for extensive levels of detail. In a movie, you've got the full focus of the audience onto the screen in order to present the director's imagining of the story. This can enable an inspired accounting of the material, but is a double-edged sword since he must take the reins of imagination from the audience and guide it in the most entertaining fashion possible in a 1.5-2.5 hour timespan. He's armed with both visual and auditory effects to bring the story to life...as long as he has the budget.
There are particular advantages and disadvantages to each medium that really need to be taken into consideration to provide the most entertaining experience possible. The presenter must recognize what was used in the original medium and what must be done to successfully execute the material in the presenter's medium. If the best aspects of the comic fail to carry over to the movie he'd damn well better find another way to make it succeed or it's just a cheap knock-off that never needed to be made in the first place.
In this particular case, the Watchmen is some pretty heavy material in a dense comic-book form. He's already been supplied with the storyboards, but he'll need to nail the right look and sound, while preserving the key aspects of the storyline. The storyboard should carry over fairly easily, but he won't have the supporting stories and reading material, which he may need to replace by squeezing in brief and/or subtle moments of insight in the course of the movie.
Most importantly, the movie better not have a happy ending.
Re:re Slashdot's Hunger For Comic Strip News (Score:5, Insightful)
c. s. Lewis
My Qualms (Score:3, Insightful)
They show Nite Owl doing a jump kick to some prisoners face. Nite Owl is supposed to be a pudgy, middle aged loser at this point in his life.
The action looks to be from the highly stylized school of superhero movie violence, which might look dated after seeing Dark Knight.
It looks like the coloring has been played with a lot, making it look more surreal. If anything, making it look like one of those 70s cop movies would fit the comic better.
This is not a "No" vote or anything. I'm going to reserve judgment on whether or not to see it after the story trailers come out. This was just some of the stuff that occurred to me while I was watching the trailer.
Of course, I could just be hyper-paranoid that they will make a crappy movie out of an outstanding comic book.
Re:My Qualms (Score:1, Insightful)
The comic, in the '80s, took its style cues from '60s and '70s comics. The film is taking them from '80s and '90s superhero movies, which makes a lot of sense if it's done right.
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:re Slashdot's Hunger For Comic Strip News (Score:3, Insightful)
Shame, shame, shame on all of you. It is well past time to put away childish things and grow up.
Graphic novels bear the same relation to novels as stage plays/movies/TV shows bear to live storytellers.
If one form is inherently "childish" than so is the other.
Time to grow up and "put away" plays, opera, and movie theaters. Throw out that TV and those DVDs. It's all kid stuff. You're an adult now - you should be getting your live entertainment solely sitting at a campfire with somebody who can spin a good yarn.
There was a hint (Score:4, Insightful)
Although I certainly didn't put 2 & 2 together enough to realize this when reading, Ozymandias gives a hint of his attitude when he repeatedly compares himself to Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great wasn't called that because he was a great guy. He was called that because he ruled a vast piece of territory and brought prosperity to those he ruled. He achieved that rule by killing lots of people who hadn't done anything wrong other than oppose being ruled by him.
Re:Looks good (Score:3, Insightful)
Not necessarily. If done right.
I know that it CAN be done right - Moore may be good but he is no god.
Remember the first reactions to the news that the blond guy from that movie about gay cowboys and from that horrible movie about medieval knights from the 21st century - was going to play the Joker?
After Nicholson's iconic performance?
Come on! What the hell were they thinking?
It can be done in a good way. Couple of them probably.
Also, a thousand wrong ones too.
But lets be optimistic for a change.
Re:Mixed Feelings definitely (& more spoils) (Score:3, Insightful)
It's more than that. Rorschach wandered outside in Antarctica and didn't come back. Dan knows he didn't take the owlship. One way or another, they're all complicit in Rorschach's death -- they didn't ask questions when he disappeared, and there's no sign that they even looked for him.
They gave up being heroes, gave up any pretense of changing the world for the better, because they were overwhelmed and outclassed. Probably for the best, in their situation. ...but me, I would have been Rorschach.
Re:I hope it's better than the comics (Score:1, Insightful)
no it isn't heresy...
you are pretty well spot on.
As a 16 year old it was 'impressive' when put against the fayre that was out at the time - but it hasn't 'aged' well at all. In fact I would say that of Alan Moore's creations it has aged the worst.