Saturday, July 26, 2008

Mighty Big Expectations

Watchmen, the 2009 film based on the Alan Moore / Dave Gibbons masterpiece, is getting a lot of buzz. A lot of buzz.

Hell, I've written about it twice this week!

Some of the strongest reactions are coming from regional comic conventions, like the Comic Con in San Diego, California. Take this blurb from USAToday:

“I came here only for this; everything else was just icing,” says William Strong, 27, who drove with three buddies to San Diego from Austin for their first Comic-Con. “Keep your Batman and Spider-Man and Iron Man. This is the only comic-book movie a lot of us have been waiting for.”

That talk both inspires and terrifies director Zack Snyder.

“People love that book like the bible,” he says. “I’m honored to be doing the movie, but I also hope people [understand] that it’s just that. A movie. It won’t be exactly the book. I hope they give us the benefit of the doubt. Or I’ll be making romantic comedies the rest of my life.”

Uh oh...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

the trailer sucks - looks just like any other superhero movie. i mean cool special effects are nice and all - don't get me wrong - but that's not what watchmen is about. it's so overblown and operatic. if that music (billy corgan??) is anything to go by we should expect the worst.

and where's the pirate scenes? that's crucial to the structure and crystal -like narrative of the story. the original is a piece of literature - this looks like a x-men film with a bit more angst.

the director can say that its just a movie but that's just his way of getting out of the shitstorm thats coming his way from moore fans.

The Film Geek said...

I'm not sold on the idea the movie will be bad based on the trailer. I mean, the trailer for Basic Instinct 2 was awesome! Plus, i expct the trailer is designed as much for younger kids who have never read Watchmen, to draw them in. So I'm willing to give the flick a chance at this point. Alan Moore has already distanced himself from the movie, but he's done that with all of his work turned to film.

larryosaurus said...

I gotta say the trailer made me go back and re-read the (yours!) book, which I'm doing this week. There's alot there I missed the first time...so maybe I rushed to judgement...a little...maybe.

Have a nice day!

The Film Geek said...

Let me know if you liked it better the second time. I think I've read it about three times, and I saw stuff new each time.

JD Byrne said...

My biggest concern from the trailer was the "from the director of 300" tag. What I've seen of that one on HBShowtiMax is pretty awful.