Comments on: Has Watchmen Killed ‘Comic Book Movies?’

By: Yet Another “Before Watchmen” Rant « alexsiabrown

Yet Another “Before Watchmen” Rant « alexsiabrown — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:40:38 +0000

[...] for this Watchmen prologue. Alan Moore must be pissed. He was already unsupportive of the movie, which also failed, and now DC is trying to bank off of his beloved characters and create a backstory for each [...]

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:18:54 +0000

Never before have I seen such painstaking adherence to the original comic as here. The opening scene was just like the comic. Perhaps Hollywood is beginning to use the comic medium and test market before spending millions in production. The recent advent of Motion Comics that can be bought on iTunes for $1.99 shows that if anything Hollywood in the future will rely increasingly on the integrity of the comic styled storyboard, but will seek to control this medium too. Already a vital part of preproduction is the act of publishing the printed comic. It’s no coincidence that DC Comics, for example, share the same parent as Warner Films. In the futue comics will be moulded in Hollywood’s image, and will be the precursor to the film.

By: nick

nick — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:07:33 +0000

The movie was awesome. I have yet to see another movie that came close to it. The dark knight was also close, but watchmen blew me away. If you disagree, than you should not watch movies.

By: nick

nick — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:07:33 +0000

The movie was awesome. I have yet to see another movie that came close to it. The dark knight was also close, but watchmen blew me away. If you disagree, than you should not watch movies.

By: shawn

shawn — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:58:38 +0000

ummmm…. isnt this film about the Rolex watch company?

By: lewis

lewis — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:15:36 +0000

i actually thought watchmen was a good movie. i dont know what people are on about saying that its a crap movie.

By: ‘Matrix’ Producer Says His ‘Watchmen’ Would’ve Been Better - Screen Rant

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:09:47 +0000

[...] the end, I think it all comes back to the too-soon-to-call debate about what Watchmen is vs. the wishful-thinking notion of what it could’ve been. Only time (or the inevitable [...]

By: ‘Half-Blood Prince’ Advance Tickets Outselling ‘Twilight’ - Screen Rant

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:32:58 +0000

[...] Warner Bros. has had a somewhat di$$$apointing blockbuster season so far, with big tentpoles like Watchmen and Terminator Salvation not doing as strongly as hoped at the box office. If the trends Fandango [...]

By: New Details On Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kick-Ass’ - Screen Rant

New Details On Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kick-Ass’ - Screen Rant — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:34:59 +0000

[...] “comic book geek” world, and like Watchmen it’s very violent. By now we know how (not) great Watchmen did at the box office; however Wanted (another little-known comic book adapted into a violent movie) was a surprise hit [...]

By: Watchmen Director’s Cut Will Have Limited Theatrical Release - Screen Rant

Watchmen Director’s Cut Will Have Limited Theatrical Release - Screen Rant — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:11:16 +0000

[...] Watchmen: The Director’s Cut will be getting a limited theatrical release this July! After all the debate about whether Snyder’s film was a fantastic achievement or a flaming disaster, Watchmen fans [...]

By: Deadpool Creator Talks Deadpool Solo Project - Screen Rant

Deadpool Creator Talks Deadpool Solo Project - Screen Rant — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:38:16 +0000

[...] love to see a comic book character that knows he’s now in a movie, but if Watchmen is a sign, niche comic books don’t make “successful” films (that is, in box office [...]

By: SIN187UM

SIN187UM — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:27:58 +0000

Firstly I don’t think Watchmen has killed the Comic Book Movie wave or even the R-Rated comic book movie for that matter. I can honestly say that if they make Terminator Salvation PG-13 it will be a let down on some level. I’ve never read the graphic novel of Watchmen so I went as a “newbie” if you will when I watched it, but I did read a quick overview on Wikipedia (yes I know this is not the same as reading the whole graphic novel), so I wasn’t completely blind by events of the film, but I must admit when I first saw the trailer I was interested because it appeared to be an R-rated super hero movie, and because it looked cool. I thought the plot was good, and direction, but it was still lacking. I don’t really agree that films should be made specifically for fanboys that are going to be released to the general public, and Im glad for the most part they are not, because lets face it most of the revenue is coming from the the general movie watcher public as far as films are concerned.

By: New Details On the ‘Venom’ Script - Screen Rant

New Details On the ‘Venom’ Script - Screen Rant — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:24:09 +0000

[...] the last few years, and the success of Watchmen, a film that was all about comic book anti-heroes, is certainly debatable. This could be a steep uphill battle for old Venom (his co-creator Todd McFarlane certainly thinks [...]

By: 1-7

1-7 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:45:38 +0000

Watchmen has moments of brilliance, but succumbs to mediocrity too often and this becomes frustrating for the audience. It entangles the viewers with strong characters but fails to deliver a strong conclusion. The movie is nearly 3 hours long but it did not have 3 hours worth of material. It could have, but Snyder decided it was more important to spend nearly a minute zooming out from a tombstone. In the end, I think Alan Moore was right. A graphic novel by its very nature is able to do things which can not be translated onto the big screen, or they can if you want unintended comedic or implausible moments. On paper, Watchmen is brilliant, on film, it’s just another comic book movie.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:33:57 +0000

I can’t speak for sin city, but to me the difference between 300 and watchmen is obvious. Watchmen is nearly 400 pages long, while 300 is less than 100.
That means when adapting 300, there was room to include everything from the comic plus padding to make it work better as a movie.
A true watchmen ‘comic book film’ would be like 8 hours long. The version we were given was almost 3 hours long and still left out half the source material. So ironically, by trying to be so faithful he has stripped the comic down to a hollow shell of what it was. It looked like watchmen, but it didn’t feel like watchmen. It was missing the spirit of the comic, because we didn’t have enough information and time to absorb all the characters and events that shaped the watchmen world. Most importantly, we didn’t get to absorb the politically charged climate. It didn’t have that sense of impending doom that was so important to the source. Basically what I’m saying is, watchmen can’t me made into a shot for shot adaptation because it’s way too long. Snyder tried anyway, and what we got was half a film.
To adapt watchmen successfully, it would have to be rewritten, ala V for Vendetta. That movie worked because it took the basic plot, characters, and ideas of the comic and wrote a movie around them. So as different as the film was, it still had the spirit of the comic. I had all the same reactions and emotions while watching as I did while reading. And the ending was just as satisfying, if not more.

Also it should be noted that neither watchmen nor v for vendetta had narration like 300, which greatly eases the transfer from novel to film. Another thing to consider is pacing. Scenes that play perfectly in panels can often seem long and drawn out on film. That’s why its so important to rewrite an adaptation like watchmen. You have to play to the strengths of your medium, so when that medium changes, so must the story.

For what its worth, I think watchmen would have worked great as a 12 part HBO miniseries, provided it had the budget. Then they could make a true shot for shot adaptation with no changes or omissions, and retain the feel of a serial stroy.

By: the biz

the biz — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:35:07 +0000

You obviously have never read The Spirit if you think that film followed the source material closely or faithfully.

Watchmen was the unfilmable graphic novel and this was proven in the awful photocopy job they attempted in the film.

Honestly, Hollywood can stay out of the comic book film business forever. The saying is always, “the book is always better”. It is true of novels and short stories and it is true with the comics.

By: GBB

GBB — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:47:07 +0000

I disagree with the premise that fanboys of the book tend to love the movie. As such a fanboy, knowing what could have been just made me more disgusted with the stiff acting, the poor pacing, and the lousy billboard dialogue of this expensive, glowing blue lump. Regardless of the R-rating, the familiarity or unfamiliarity with the graphic novel, or for chrissakes the blue willy (really?), the box office dived because Watchmen is a bad movie.

By: LordThanos X

LordThanos X — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:25:37 +0000

By: Prototype

Prototype — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:39:17 +0000

Then we agree to disagree.

By: LordThanos X

LordThanos X — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:24:13 +0000

@ prototype

Did you post saying anything about liking it. and I don’t think the marketing was the issue