The Movie Blog

My Biggest Fear About Watchmen Coming True?

By John - March 3, 2009 - 12:54 America/Montreal

Like millions of other people out there, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the Watchmen movie to come out, and tomorrow night I finally get the chance to see it. It’s an understatement to say I’m pumped about it.

But at the same time I’m a bit nervous. About a year ago I wrote the following expressing my fear:

I’m very apprehensive about this movie. The comic is AWESOME… but I have my doubts that the story in the comic will translate well onto the big screen. It’s a very different type of superhero comic story than your traditional fare, and I’m not convinced audiences will get it… or be attracted to it (unless they pull a Disney and completely mislead people with the marketing and make it look like some high caliber action adventure movie).

So basically my fear has been in two parts:

1) The Fear The Comic Won’t Translate Well Onto Film
I’m very big on the idea that stories from different mediums NEED to have some adaptation in order for them to work as effectively on the big screen. Different mediums require some slightly different approaches, and just because something works extremely well in one medium doesn’t mean it will work in another. Adaptation, slight adaptation, is required. I’ve fear they’d try to stay TOO faithful to the comic.

2) The Fear They’d Adapt Too Much And Break From The Comic Too Radically
Watchmen is not a standard comic book. There isn’t high intensity action all over the place and I’ve been worried that WB may turn Watchmen into just another Spider-Man type film (not that I mind Spider-Man

Thankfully it appears that WB didn’t go down the path of fear #2. But from what I’m hearing… it may have fallen a bit into my fear #1. Listen to some of these quotes from a few critics:

“Yes, I’ve read Watchmen… It moved me, too. And still — or, rather, because of that — I found director Snyder’s adaptation hugely disappointing, faithful as it is to the 1986 graphic novel.”
~ Associated Press

“Snyder has appropriated Moore’s doomsday themes without any sense of how to animate them. That’s the trouble with loyalty. Too little, and you alienate your core fans. Too much, and you lose everyone — and everything — else.”
~ Newsweek

“They’ve made the most reverent adaptation of a graphic novel ever. But this kind of reverence kills what it seeks to preserve. The movie is embalmed.”
~ New York Magazine

“The movie is ultimately undone by its own reverence; there’s simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord, and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated.”
~ Variety Magazine

Ok, now go back and read what my fear was and the quote from a year ago, and then read those critic quotes again. Those are the EXACT kind of quotes I’ve been afraid to see.

Now keep in mind, there are lots of positive reviews at this point too. As of this moment, Watchmen has dropped from it’s 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but is still holding a solid 76%.

Guess I’ll just have to see for myself tomorrow night.