Watching the Watchmen [Updated]
So, now that all the hype has settled and pretty much all the fans of the original comics have gone out and seen it, I thought I would chime in with overall thoughts on the Watchmen movie.
First off, I do want to say that I enjoyed the movie and will probably go see it once more on the regular screen (as my premiere viewing was IMAX) and will definitely pick up the extended blu-ray version once it's released. That said, I do wish that Zack Snyder would have done a bit more personal interpretation of the source material and not tried to replicate all the major beats panel-to-panel. It's just so strange going into a movie, being a fan, and really not being surprised at all about anything that unfolds on the big screen.
I honestly feel that the movie makers decided incorrectly as to the level of accuracy they felt they needed to achieve with this film. It's almost as if they were afraid to dramatically change anything (ending aside) and probably would have preferred to just have released the motion comics (watch them if you haven't) into the theaters instead. Personally, I would have loved to have seen a lot more changes, improvisations and, actually, direction in this movie.
I guess my point is that if you don't endeavor to expand the experience of a movie past what was accomplished on paper, then there is no real hope to expand its viewership beyond those who read what was on that original paper. Movies that understood this were The Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Iron Man... all of which took the best elements of the comics and then greatly expanded on them to create something completely new. The failure of Watchmen movie is that it didn't really do anything new. All it was, was a tracing. And I can certainly bet you that most people are not going to pay good money to see a tracing.
[UPDATE]: Zack Snyder's adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen (Warner Bros.) took a nasty plunge from its strong opening weekend, dropping 67% to second place with $18 million in its second weekend. It has grossed $86 million in North America in its first ten days, though it will be a push for it to get to $130 million before it's gone from theaters.
First off, I do want to say that I enjoyed the movie and will probably go see it once more on the regular screen (as my premiere viewing was IMAX) and will definitely pick up the extended blu-ray version once it's released. That said, I do wish that Zack Snyder would have done a bit more personal interpretation of the source material and not tried to replicate all the major beats panel-to-panel. It's just so strange going into a movie, being a fan, and really not being surprised at all about anything that unfolds on the big screen.
I honestly feel that the movie makers decided incorrectly as to the level of accuracy they felt they needed to achieve with this film. It's almost as if they were afraid to dramatically change anything (ending aside) and probably would have preferred to just have released the motion comics (watch them if you haven't) into the theaters instead. Personally, I would have loved to have seen a lot more changes, improvisations and, actually, direction in this movie.
I guess my point is that if you don't endeavor to expand the experience of a movie past what was accomplished on paper, then there is no real hope to expand its viewership beyond those who read what was on that original paper. Movies that understood this were The Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Iron Man... all of which took the best elements of the comics and then greatly expanded on them to create something completely new. The failure of Watchmen movie is that it didn't really do anything new. All it was, was a tracing. And I can certainly bet you that most people are not going to pay good money to see a tracing.
[UPDATE]: Zack Snyder's adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen (Warner Bros.) took a nasty plunge from its strong opening weekend, dropping 67% to second place with $18 million in its second weekend. It has grossed $86 million in North America in its first ten days, though it will be a push for it to get to $130 million before it's gone from theaters.
posted by Frosty @ 10:07 PM
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