In perfect honesty, the more I hear about it through ads and discussions in all of the SF groups I'm in, the *less* I want to see it. When it's released, I'll probably break out my trade and read it through.
<-----Original Message-----> >From: Tracey de Morsella >Sent: 10/12/2008 4:55:35 AM >To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Will America Watch Watchmen? > >Will America Watch Watchmen? >http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=61133 > >Director Zack Snyder unveiled nearly half an hour of footage from his upcoming >epic film Watchmen earlier this month. While fans and journalists--including SCI >FI Wire--raved about the preview, our writer Jeff Otto wonders: Will mainstream >audiences watch the Watchmen? > >Rumors began circulating two decades ago about a film adaptation of Watchmen, >Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comics magnum opus, which was first published by DC >Comics in 1986. Moore, whose contributions to the graphic-novel medium include >The Killing Joke, V for Vendetta and From Hell, had delivered the genre's first >masterpiece. The deeply layered epic was filled with visuals that seemed >perfectly suited to cinema. But filmmakers puzzled over how to adapt it: Such a >project would be costly, and the book itself lacked major action sequences, was >unevenly paced and told a story at odds with film's traditional plot structure. > >Filmmakers as varied as Terry Gilliam, Paul Greengrass and Darren Aronofsky were >attached at different points during Watchmen's extensive "development hell" >process, but all eventually opted out to pursue other projects. > >For his part, the famously prickly and anti-Hollywood Moore never saw Watchmen >as a fit subject for cinematic adaptation, no matter the director. > >"There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic," >the notoriously private Moore recently told Entertainment Weekly in a rare >interview. He added that the book was "designed to show off things that other >media can't." > >But one director persisted. Zack Snyder previously delivered fan faves Dawn of >the Dead and 300. He ultimately won the right to make a Watchmen movie. The >question now: Has he succeeded in adapting Watchmen as a movie audiences will >want to see? > >Considering the first footage screened at Comic-Con International and in >previews in Los Angeles and New York this month, Snyder's Watchmen movie is >clearly taking its look and feel from the frames of Moore's novel. > >But that in itself may pose a problem. Can an adaptation be too faithful to its >source material? It's clear that fans of the graphic novel will likely love >Snyder's adaption, but will a mainstream audience unfamiliar with the book get it? > >Here are 10 reasons I think mainstream audiences will ignore Watchmen. > >1. It's an alternate-history Cold War period piece. Considering that a large >portion of the core moviegoing audience was in diapers in 1986 and is still too >young to understand the political climate of the time, will the setting really >resonate? Like it or not, younger audiences rely largely on television and >movies for their historical perspective, meaning that they may be familiar with >Vietnam and World War II, but not with the Cold War, which might sound like >something Ian Fleming dreamed up for James Bond's adventures. > >On top of that, this isn't the Cold War of the history books, but rather an >alternate history in which superheroes such as Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) help >the United States win the Vietnam War and that makes Richard Nixon, perhaps >history's most maligned president, a hero. In the book, Nixon is serving an >unprecedented fifth term in office after successfully pushing for repeal of the >23rd amendment. > >This story continues below the image. > > > >Malin Akerman (left) is Silk Spectre II and Patrick Wilson is Nite Owl II in >Watchmen, Zack Snyder's upcoming adaptation of the seminal graphic novel. > > > >2. Ridiculous-looking costumes. If there's one thing director Christopher Nolan >has proven with his two Batman movies, it's that audiences respond to superhero >movies in as realistic a setting as possible. Aside from the ears and bat >symbol, Nolan's superhero is a vigilante in a dark costume. Watchmen's >Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), on the other hand, looks like a flamboyant tennis >star in his cape and gold headband. Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) is, well, an >owl that looks vaguely like a gold Batman. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is >pretty cool, but Laurie Juspeczyk's (Malin Akerman) Silk Spectre II costume >looks like a reject from X-Men. And Dr. Manhattan looks kind of like a blue Mr. >Clean. Did I mention he's also naked, bits and pieces flopping in the wind? > >3. Old Folks. To be fair, Watchmen's first generation of crimefighters are only >a part of the storyline. Still, nothing sends that desirable target demographic >running for the exits quicker than old people. Senior citizens drove Cocoon, >Driving Miss Daisy and The Bucket List to box-office success but are unlikely to >buoy a comic-book movie. > >4. Zack Snyder. Call me a cynic, but a remake of Dawn of the Dead and an >adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 don't exactly qualify you as the man to adapt >what is arguably the greatest work in the history of the graphic novel. >Directors with stronger pedigrees passed, and I'm still a bit underwhelmed with >the choice of Snyder. Don't get me wrong: His movies are good popcorn flicks. >But I think Snyder has a way to go as a filmmaker before he's making movies on >the level of Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi. > >5. Flashbacks and Allegories. Moore's story skips around almost constantly, >which could prove quite confusing for audiences. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean >Morgan) goes from rapist to Vietnam hero to modern-day murder victim. Sally >Jupiter (Carla Gugino) goes from nubile pinup to nursing-home resident. Hollis >Mason (Stephen McHattie), the original Nite Owl, goes from crimefighter to >rambling old coot. Moore's puzzle of an altered history comes together >beautifully as the story weaves itself into coherence, but it remains to be seen >whether Snyder can weave the complicated tapestry as adeptly for the screen as >Moore did for the printed page. > >And if the constant time shifts aren't enough, Moore also interwove into >Watchmen's narrative a completely separate story, the comic-within-a-comic Tales >of the Black Freighter. The allegorical Freighter tells the story of a pirate >who journeys home on a raft of human corpses to warn his town of an impending >pirate attack. Freighter's significance is confusing enough on the page and >should probably be cut from the film, but Snyder has promised that he is >committed to including Tales of the Black Freighter in his Watchmen movie at >some point. > >6. Lack of Familiarity. While Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the X-Men have >been absorbed into the pop culture for decades, Watchmen's characters are known >mainly to its core fan base. News of the impending film intrigued some non-comic >aficionados to pick up a copy, as d > >=== message truncated === Click to receive credit card help and get out of debt fast. <http://www.relevantads.biz/fc/Ioyw36bkMORXPlWUcjO7C4wnocfpQhgdR2DrbViuq tMbxyZGlbk9Ny/> <P><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" style="font-size:13.5px">_______________________________________________________________<BR><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" style="font-size:13.5px">ICQ - You get the message, anywhere!<br>Get it @ <a href="http://www.icq.com"; target=new>http://www.icq.com</a></font><br><br> </font></font>
