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abridgma wins! abridgma beat romero-renato 6 to 3
Zack Snyder is not gonna make a good Watchmen movie
romero-renato said
Snyder should stick to make zombie movies with MTV-editing. Really, he had with 300 the opportunity to create an original epic, and he decided to copy videogame-like directing and insert it to Miller's perfect story. Instead of directing like an grown man with vision (like Cronenberg, Gilliam or Aronofski, all beter choices for Watchmen than him), he decided to make it his playground cool-geeky shots and editing.
300 didn't feel like an actual film, and it was more suitable material for a 2 hour film than Watchmen.
It's not only a matter than he won't be able to do in 2-hour all that Alan Moore did in 12 editions.
It's also the fact is he's problably gonna do the same thing that he did in 300, which is to appeal to over-the-top aesthetics and copy the exact same shots done by Miller.
He's not a true visionare, that can make justice to the material and still bring his own personality to it(remembering that all the best comic-book movies were done by directors that gad a very particular vision of the story was).
I'm certain that all it should be a 12 - hour minisseries from HBO, 120 minute long film will feel 90 minutes too long.
abridgma said
Zack Snyder has decided to do the smartest possible thing in his adaptation of Watchmen: he's sticking to the source material religiously. He knows its near-perfect, and he's using the philosophy behind it and trying his damndest to improve it for film.
First off, he's taken out Tales of the Black Freighter - sad, but necessary, I'm sure anyone will agree. BUT he's still going to film in - animated - and include it on the DVD.
And if you've seen any of the character drawings or screenshots from the Watchmen website, he and his team have done a fantastic job of realizing the character appearences in real-life. Silk Spectre no longer looks ridiculous (well, as ridiculous), Nite Owl looks appropriately like current-era Batman, and The Comedian looks skuzzy and perfect.
He's also casted well. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is a stroke of genius. My only worries are Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre and the guy playing Ozymandias, but I'm sure he'll get the performances out of them he needs.
He's bringing what Alan Moore envisioned to the screen, and with sacred texts such as Watchmen, that's how it should be.
romero-renato said
Forfeited Turn
abridgma said
Personally, I'm fine with the idea that Zack Snyder isn't bringing a particular personality of his own to the film. He's going to make it look amazing and generally stick to the instructions given by Alan Moore, via the book itself. Other directors who brought their own "unique" visual flair to comic book movies were dealing with VERY different circumstances. Movies like the Batman or Spider-Man or even the X-Men movies really needed directors to bring a bit of personal flair to it, or at least to establish a certain tone for the film, because each series had gone through some wildly different permutations. Watchmen is one graphic novel, no more. They all retained the same tone and style throughout. There weren't different "eras" of Watchmen like there were with the Marvel and DC properties.
Zack is sticking to the book, because he understands how brilliant it is. He may not be Gilliam or Aronofsky, but he's going to make a damn fine film but not fixing what ain't broke.
Also, making a 12-hour miniseries? That would stretch the book out way too far. Compressing it into a single film is the best route to retain the power of the book with a tight pace.
romero-renato said
Forfeited Turn
abridgma said
Forfeited Turn
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Comments
jet88 03/16/08
I have faith in Snyder. Him doing the Black Freighter just as an extra for the DVD really shows how into it he is. And the pictures we've seen so far seem near perfect to what Watchmen would look like in the real world, if it were real that is.
But I know Watchmen will be phenominal.
RobGrizzly 03/17/08
From what I've seen so far, the look of the characters is "Batman & Robin"-esque. I'm not really feelin that.
But Snyder is 2 for 2 in my book, (both Dawn of the Dead and 300 were bad ****), so I have complete faith that his Watchmen will be just as cool. What can I say, the guy knows how to honor the source material. I don't think he needs to mess everything, renato
abridgma 03/17/08
I'd say Nite Owl looks way more "Batman Begins" than "Batman and Robin," however Ozymandias does have the dreaded "nipple suit." But I feel that kind of fits with the whole philosophy behind Watchmen: Watchmen was a commentary of the state of the superhero genre at the time, mid-80's. The costumes reflected that. In our current age, the genre has changed a good deal, so it would make sense that the costumes would reflect that too. Luckily the truly iconic ones, like Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan, appear to be unchanged.
BluthBanana 03/18/08
It takes more than just slavish devotion to the material to make a good movie (see 300), especially when the source is so sprawling and metatextual as Watchmen. You have to know what can be transfered and what can't and I don't believe Snyder can figure that out. Also, I don't really think he understands the politics of the book or how it relates to today based on statements he said.
abridgma 03/18/08
I agree with you on the point that slavish devotion isn't enough - but, in the case of Watchmen far more than 300 - it's important. The beauty lies in the details, which Zack Snyder is following to a T. Zack has knowingly cut a few things - Tales of the Black Freighter, obviously, and I remember reading somewhere that the central figure in Veidt's plan (giant alien mutant squid thing) has been changed to something else. Honestly, this is a great move. How the creature came about and the theory behind it was always a bit wonky and vague.
Personally, I think he understands the book fine. He clearly loves the book, and having Dave Gibbons on board for the film doesn't hurt in case he had any misconceptions. It's about morality, fear, the compromises we make, regret, destiny, etc. It's not like these things are TOO difficult to grasp when reading the book. Also, he didn't write the screenplay; Alex Tse did I believe. What Zack is going to do is bring the world of Watchmen to reality.
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