Who Watches The Watchmen?
Last night we saw a screening of the new movie Watchmen and we were blown away. This was a movie that many said couldn't be done. Some said it shouldn't be done. And yet there it was, up on the screen--an almost perfect adaptation of a classic.
As you might recall we here at Jack Manly have more than a mere passing interest in the world of comics and graphic novels--we've been avid readers since childhood. However, this pop culture genre hasn't always enjoyed the respectability that it sometimes truly deserves. Over the years there have been quite a few standout graphic novels and comic book series that have elevated the genre into the realm of classic fiction. One such graphic novel is Watchmen.
Watchmen was first released by DC Comics as a mini-series in 1985 and 1986 and later compiled into a trade paperback or graphic novel. Written by the highly-respected Alan Moore and illustrated by the talented Dave Gibbons this was a ground-breaking work, a dense piece of multi-layered fiction that could only have been presented as a graphic novel. It's influence on the genre was permanent and it has actually gained in critical prominence since it was released. Several years ago Time Magazine listed its choices for the Top 100 Greatest English Language Novels from 1923 to the present and Watchmen was the ONLY graphic novel to make the list.
If you want to read the graphic novel or get some background info on Watchmen you might be advised to wait until you see the movie lest you spoil it for yourselves. Then we urge you to read it and see how well director Zack Snyder and his team did. Even those of you who have the novel should wait until you see the movie before re-reading it. In many ways it's extraordinarily faithful from both a visual and literary sense. Alan Moore wrote the graphic novel script with exact details for each and every panel and this movie tries to respect that by often recreating whole scenes with that same exactitude. In other ways the movie has made some very striking changes and omissions, not always so successfully. The movie is long so obviously some of the omissions were the result of time issues.
Some of the actors are virtually unrecognizable in their roles but all of them take these roles very seriously. In any comic book movie it's always daunting for an actor to be convincing in outrageous garb but it's safe to say that everyone here is up to the task.
We should also offer you a disclaimer of sorts: Watchmen is not for everyone. While it's true you don't need a background in comic book lore and legend, some of the concepts and background details will be very familiar to those who are familiar with the genre. Like the graphic novel, you will also have to think. This is not a mindless action-adventure movie although there is plenty of it. There are also dark & disturbing themes here and some cringe-inducing violence and gore.
Finally in addition to waiting to read the Watchmen graphic novel after you see the movie, you should hold off on looking at the tie-in books and DVDs. They really do enhance the movie and for fans of the graphic novel they fill in for things that were left out. Of course we're hoping to see a director's cut on DVD that has missing scenes put back in and tons of extras culled from the following items but until then these will do:
ESSENTIALS FOR COMIC READERS
The Original Graphic Novel The Artist's Guide An Analysis
Not in the movie essentials Great to see how well the filmmmakers did
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