Muzman on 6/3/2008 at 07:07
Strange look they've gone for. I took a while to read the comic and when I did it surprised me with how old school it looked. Indeed it was intially alienating, even for a comic from the late eighties.
So here they've gone for old school in comic book movies, I guess; that being Tim Burton's Batman
Fafhrd on 6/3/2008 at 07:24
They're retaining the 80s setting from the graphic novel, so it fits. And for the flashback stuff they're using appropriate styles: (
http://www.firstshowing.net/img/davegibbons-watchmenset.jpg) Link to Picture.
That there behind Dave Gibbons being Dollar Bill's costume from the movie.
They're even going so far as to do an animated version of Tales of the Black Freighter (possibly as a supplementary DVD to be released at the same time as the film, or possibly it'll be in the final film), and there are rumours that the 'Under the Hood' excerpts are going to be done as a period 60's TV News Special type show, to be included in the full DVD release.
The Magpie on 6/3/2008 at 08:57
Thanks for that, DN and Fafhrd.
The images carry that kind of photo-op feel, of course, so it's kind of stylized compared to what the movie itself will feel like. I'm not opposed to the Burton Batman imagery in connection with Watchmen, but it does mean running the risk of being thrown in with other genre features using the same kind of camera filters - Hellboy, Underworld, Van Helsing, League of Extrordinary Gentlemen... not all of which were equally effective.
The Gibbons portrait was reassuring, though.
--
Larris
Thirith on 6/3/2008 at 10:32
I just hope that Snyder isn't so enamoured of the style that he forgets to pay attention to the characters. There has to be something very human to these 'superheroes' or it won't work.
Vivian on 6/3/2008 at 13:34
I dunno... realistically, is there any chance this film won't be a horrible stumpfuck like every other Alan Moore film ever attempted? They all look kinda young, for one thing. Comedian looks promising.
Thirith on 6/3/2008 at 14:00
There's a chance. It's a teensy tiny little chance, but I'm taking it as a good sign that they're doing a "Tales of the Black Freighter" cartoon and possibly an "Under the Hood" documentary. It shows that on some level they respect and appreciate the material... which can't exactly be said for the people who did LXG.
Muzman on 6/3/2008 at 14:25
The jury is still very very out on Zack Snyder as far as I'm concerned. He talks good talk on this film and in general, but his stuff to date is basically interesting trash at best, let's face it. This one is make or break as far as being a quality filmmaker goes, and he's only taking the beloved pinacle of a medium, with a vast array of characters plot lines and time periods, adapting it and condensing it down to two hours.
Thirith on 6/3/2008 at 14:55
Adapting and condensing Watchmen is at least as much a challenge to the scriptwriter as to the director, though. David Hayter has done okay stuff and crap stuff; Alex Tse yet has to prove his skills.
Ben Gunn on 6/3/2008 at 15:53
When Terry Gilliam asked Alan Moore how he envisiones a movie adaptation to Watchmen he said he can't... wait, Terry Gilliam is not doing it?.. Zack who?
