TheCC Staff
07-22-2008, 07:49 PM
Here it is, folks. The 800-pound gorilla of comic book movies--WATCHMEN!
by Bruce Edwards
June 22nd, 2008 - I don't know if everyone quite realizes what this means. This is the holy grail of modern comic books, made into a movie, finally. After all the stops and starts, all the drama, all the heartache, all the other Alan Moore properties ripped from the pages and summarily gang-raped onscreen (though "From Hell" really is pretty good), THIS is his greatest work, arguably THE greatest comic book of all time, translated to a live-action, big-budget movie. And there have been worries, to be sure. I don't love the costumes. I don't see how it's going to work as a mass-theater-chain-friendly 2 hour popcorn movie. I don't know how I feel about the guy who's basically the current poster boy for style-over-substance Hollywood movie making directing the most finely-honed, ingeniously crafted, philosophical/political/diabolical comic story ever told. This isn't a simple action story, folks, this is big. Multi-faceted. Complex. Dark. Violent. Brilliant.
So this trailer has to work against ALL OF THAT. This trailer has to say to the world "I get it. I know the source material. I will respect it. I will do it justice. I will not let you down." And the question on everyone's lips is, of course, does it?
No. It does not let you down. Now let me see if I can figure out how it doesn't...
The very opening--whatever, typical. Dark hard-hitting percussion. Clouds. Logos. The usual. Then the first comic-inspired image: the man who will be Dr. Manhattan, surrounded by erratic energy arcs, calling to be let out of his impromptu prison. Something's wrong. Intensity--right off the bat. Then some titles: "In 2009"--amongst gears and machinery (and on a side note--what's with this lately? What is this motif? Hellboy II just did it and I feel like I've seen it in a few other movies. What's the point? It makes sense for Watchmen--Dr. Manhattan is known for disassembling clocks and watches, etc.--but it's an over-used tool, I think. But I digress.)...then a shot of Billy Crudup looking at his arm, hair standing up, energy arcing across it--and here we see the first clear evidence of copying comic panels to a T; not just in composition, that's the easy part. But in Crudup's expression. He's out of focus, sure, but he keeps the wide-open-mouth-agape look just a little longer than is normal, and I think that's a tip of the hat to the original comic; it's a reflection of the still, single image of a comic panel, and already I start to see the thinking behind this movie. And I'm liking it.
Click Here To Read The Whole Review (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Reviews/2008/July/PreREview_Watchmen/)
Watch The Trailer (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Trailers/W/Watchmen/)
by Bruce Edwards
June 22nd, 2008 - I don't know if everyone quite realizes what this means. This is the holy grail of modern comic books, made into a movie, finally. After all the stops and starts, all the drama, all the heartache, all the other Alan Moore properties ripped from the pages and summarily gang-raped onscreen (though "From Hell" really is pretty good), THIS is his greatest work, arguably THE greatest comic book of all time, translated to a live-action, big-budget movie. And there have been worries, to be sure. I don't love the costumes. I don't see how it's going to work as a mass-theater-chain-friendly 2 hour popcorn movie. I don't know how I feel about the guy who's basically the current poster boy for style-over-substance Hollywood movie making directing the most finely-honed, ingeniously crafted, philosophical/political/diabolical comic story ever told. This isn't a simple action story, folks, this is big. Multi-faceted. Complex. Dark. Violent. Brilliant.
So this trailer has to work against ALL OF THAT. This trailer has to say to the world "I get it. I know the source material. I will respect it. I will do it justice. I will not let you down." And the question on everyone's lips is, of course, does it?
No. It does not let you down. Now let me see if I can figure out how it doesn't...
The very opening--whatever, typical. Dark hard-hitting percussion. Clouds. Logos. The usual. Then the first comic-inspired image: the man who will be Dr. Manhattan, surrounded by erratic energy arcs, calling to be let out of his impromptu prison. Something's wrong. Intensity--right off the bat. Then some titles: "In 2009"--amongst gears and machinery (and on a side note--what's with this lately? What is this motif? Hellboy II just did it and I feel like I've seen it in a few other movies. What's the point? It makes sense for Watchmen--Dr. Manhattan is known for disassembling clocks and watches, etc.--but it's an over-used tool, I think. But I digress.)...then a shot of Billy Crudup looking at his arm, hair standing up, energy arcing across it--and here we see the first clear evidence of copying comic panels to a T; not just in composition, that's the easy part. But in Crudup's expression. He's out of focus, sure, but he keeps the wide-open-mouth-agape look just a little longer than is normal, and I think that's a tip of the hat to the original comic; it's a reflection of the still, single image of a comic panel, and already I start to see the thinking behind this movie. And I'm liking it.
Click Here To Read The Whole Review (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Reviews/2008/July/PreREview_Watchmen/)
Watch The Trailer (http://thecomiccollective.com/Movies-TV/Trailers/W/Watchmen/)