This better be good. Or those responsible will pay.
I really don’t want to get my hopes up about this project. I’d rather hover around it with low expectations, like a vulture waiting for its least favorite species of roadkill to finally die, so that in the event of a colossal failure I won’t have to suffer any pangs of disappointment or regret. But even if you’re not impressed by the musical quality (and the Smashing Pumpkins aren’t for everyone), I can’t help but point the significance of their choice of that particular song.
It’s fucking brilliant is what it is.
Not that it’s Smashing Pumpkins. Not that it’s moody and gothy. No, what’s brilliant is the song itself, that it was specifically written for the shitty-ass Batman and Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher (may he burn in cinematic hell forever). That is to say, that song is a part of the tapestry of superhero movies that has been woven for the last couple decades. And the entire point of Watchmen is the deconstruction of the superhero mythos. By dipping into the old soundtracks, they’re showing that they have their eyes placed firmly on history of the cinematic superhero. It is a thrillingly positive sign, akin to the fact that Ozymandias’s suit has nipples, as was pointed out in a previous Watchmen thread.
Maybe that doesn’t mean anything, but I find now that I am not able to quash my hopes quite so ruthlessly as I could before I watched the trailer.
Another interesting choice: they’re keeping the movie in the 1980s. Cold War. Flashbacks to Vietnam. That sort of nuclear paranoia is a bit distant from our current post 9/11 mindsets, but I imagine that, as long as they keep the ending faithful to the book, the ultimate effect will be chillingly resonant with the audience. Even if they fuck up the execution of the thing, at least they’d be making an attempt to hit the core of the material. Personally, I’m not looking for a masterpiece that compares to what Alan Moore accomplished - I would be more than happy if they try and fail in a sufficiently spectacular fashion. And from the visual spectacle that is this trailer, it looks like they really are trying.
In all seriousness, why? So they can be rewarded for their defecation with your hard-earned money to make another shitty movie?
This is why I love the dope. I never would have caught that stuff without it being pointed out - but it does make sense. Thanks!
Of course, Moore will hate it.
Because, from my perspective, an interesting failure isn’t automatically a shitty thing.
Of course, I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know that they’re going to make an honest attempt to translate the “language” of the material from Comicbook to Movie. Maybe they’re taking the famous name and attaching to it a standard formulaic Hollywood superhero flick, like that bastard Schumacher did (may he burn in cinematic hell forever). Okay, sure, that would piss me off. But if they make a real attempt at digging into a few of the main themes of the book, and they don’t quite succeed, then why would I be upset by that? I have no idea what a successful execution of this material would look like in the first place. I really don’t know. So if they try and fail (as is likely), but if they do it in an honest and interesting way, then I will enjoy the hell out of their attempt. Why wouldn’t I enjoy it for what it was?
This movie will have no effect whatsoever on the graphic novel in my collection. None. Even if the movie is terrible, even if I would hate it as much as you think you will, the book will continue to exist, available for perusal at my leisure. Unaltered. Pristine. Pure. A thousand million shitty movies wouldn’t change that fact. This adaptation, no matter how bad, will do absolutely jack-shit to the original. And yet you take it like it’s a personal affront to you, when you could’ve just ignored its existence, and the existence of this thread, entirely.
So let me turn the question around now: why would that bother you so much? If these “schlocky movies” are as horrible as you think they are, then why don’t you just ignore them instead of bitching about it?
The Internet is a communication tool used the world over where people can come together to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another.
Fantastic. This looks right! They even have the forever half-visible ‘who watches…’ tag in the background…
That’s my favourite single panel of the entire graphic novel. “He understands perfectly… and he doesn’t care”. It’s beaut.
It’s looking gorgeous. Dr Manhattan is just right. I’m still not fond of Ozymandias, but my previous attitude of “cautious optimism” has been upgraded to “slightly apprehensive anticipation”.
Dammit, I need 2009 to come faster.
I could never get through Watchmen[sub]pleasedon’tbeatme[/sub], but this looks very interesting indeed.
Wow. I watched it with so much trepidation - I am a huge Watchmen fanboy.
This is really good. I can only hope the movie narrative flow can match the visuals and the individual moments…
In what way?
In a fucked-up shitty way, one assumes.
It’s something I often mention when me and the local comic geeks discuss; All of the heroes in the book are ‘based on’ (often loosely) other DC properties. I’m pretty emphatic on my take on the Comedian.
He’s the Joker. He’s just government sanctioned.
As people will soon ndescend on you and correct the error of your ways, let me just state that the characters in Watchmen are based on a line of hereoes from MLJ comics. From the Wikipedia write-up on Watchmen:
Try direct digital stimulation of the prostate.
First, your observation about the song used in the trailer is spot-on, and very illuminating. Kudos.
And second, I completely agree with your larger point as encapsulated in the quote above. I would much, much rather watch a movie that shoots for something new and ambitious, and doesn’t quite make it, than a movie that succeeds at the same-old same-old.
Same. I’d rather see them try big and fail than turn The Watchmen a popcorn-comic movie with a happy ending or something. It was the first time I ever read a graphic novel (my husband told me to read it) that made them worthwhile for me. I found it unbelievable, and since then I’ve been digging into his comic collection more often.
I don’t think Moore let ANYTHING unintentional slip into this book.