I really don’t know what to think about “Watchmen.” My suspicion is that it will be too faithful to interest average action movie fans, and not faithful enough to appease the kind of people who have every frame of the original graphic novel memorized. This latest trailer contains a lot more footage than before, but it’s still not quite clear what the movie is about to those who don’t already know.
Me? I love the novel, but not enough to remember a lot of the specifics. Unless they screw up something obvious, I probably won’t notice. But the fact that Zack Snyder directed the often-criticized adaptation of Frank Miller’s “300″ is disturbing. Does he really know how to handle something so massive?
This trailer doesn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know. There are going to be a fair amount of shot-for-shot recreations from the novel, but those do not a faithful adaptation make. And Rorschach sounds like Batman. There aren’t many ways to interpret his voice, especially if you are a fairly mousy guy like Jackie Earle Haley. (Which, by the way, would be the perfect name for an inbred kid playing banjo on a porch somewhere in the Deep South. Alternately, I think he’s a pretty good choice for Rorschach. I was afraid they’d make him not-ugly.)
“Watchmen” is a complex story that simply can’t appeal to everyone. I don’t think anyone foresaw a “Dark Knight” future for it, but they were hoping for at least an “Iron Man” showing. Is it possible, or will most audiences be confused and scared off by a premise they don’t entirely understand? Both trailers so far have been geared towards fans; will there be a more commercial version that explains the story’s premise? If not, then it’s going to be a tough sell.
There has been a lot of controversy regarding the ending of Watchmen. Snyder has admitted that he’s changed a few things, and this has made a lot of people angry. As far as I am concerned, the only part of Watchmen that really matters is the very end. Those of you who have read it know what I’m talking about. The part that Snyder admitted to removing is the “giant squid,” and maybe I’m a bad Alan Moore fan, but I honestly do not remember a giant squid.
As usual, I turn to the talkbackers of AICN for searing commentary.
Le Vicious Fishus says “This isn’t about the Squid per se…”
It’s about the fact that Snyder seems bent on keeping all of these little touches whilst letting the CLIMAX OF THE F****** WATCHMEN be changed beyond recognition. It’s no different than if Jackson had decided to utterly change the climactic moments of LOTR in disdain of Tolkien’s story.
The Scouring of the Shire? What’s that?
Meanwhile, Thunderbolt Ross puts things into perspective. “Watchmen is not sacred.”
Neither is the Bible, though.
<iframe id=”kwcWidgetFrame” name=”kwcWidgetFrame” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ width=”300″ height=”250″ src=”http://www.kwanzoo.com/widget/customized/262″></iframe>
Popularity: 2% [?]
