Watchmen

I didn't realize that our blogs were supposed to have also things we've read, I only found out today. So, he he, what else did you expect I would speak about?

A Brief History:

Watchmen is a graphic novel which was originally released on 1985 as a 12-issue mini-series. It was revolutionary in the sense that it re-invented the comic book medium (along with "The Dark Knight Returns") making it as approachable to adults as it was for kids. The novel did a huge impact and won the Hugo award and also made it in Time's 100 best novels of the 20th century (in both cases it was the only comic book to ever win these things). After a trip around every major movie studio, it landed in the hands of Warner & Zack Snyder, it is produced and is going to be released in March 6, 2009.


The Graphic Novel:

Alan Moore, the guy who wrote it and one of the few intelligent people of our times, came up with the idea of making a super-hero story, but presenting them as they would be in reality. Normal people, who dress up with silly costumes to do what they think is right, each one for his own reasons. They are not Supermen, no white knights, blond and bold heroes who will save the princess and give the money to the poor. They are guys with sexual insecurities, girls who just want to be famous, people that have bills to pay and kids to raise.

In a universe like this, Moore puts the only supernatural (?) thing in the novel, Dr. Manhattan, a man who was in a nuclear-type accident which changed his molecule structure during the 50's. From that point, history changes. USA wins Vietnam, the Watergate is covered up and Nixon gets to serve 3 more terms, being a country-wide hero. So here we are, 1985 with Nixon still president when one of the costumed heroes, The Comedian (freakin' great character) gets murdered. Meanwhile costumed heroes have been voted illegal since '77, but Rorschach, the kind of protagonist (and a bad mothafucka!), never stopped fighting crime and wants to get to the bottom of all this...

Dave Gibbons, the artist of Watchmen, has also made a magnificent piece of art. You'll only start to understand it the second time you read it though, when the story is out of the way. And the third, and the fourth etc.



The Film:

The film is being made, as I mentioned earlier, by Zack Snyder (the God who made 300) and is a really controversial subject. The main thing is that the graphic novel has so many elements, so many things happening at the same time, that many consider it impossible to be made into a movie.

I am a big fan of the comic book (I first read it 2 years ago, but I've re-read it many times since). I have been following up with updates from the movie since Zack Snyder was involved. Especially during the last year I'm checking for news from the Watchmen side EVERY day (I'm not joking). I've read every set report, seen all video journals, trailers, videos, photos, interviews, just about everything. I'm usually very pricky when it comes to adaptations, especially about things I like (don't ask me about LOTR), but with this one I'm really hopeful since the beginning.

What I like is that Snyder is making it true. He's not polishing it, he's not bringing it to modern day, he's not cutting the rape & the murder of the Vietnamese gal, he's not changing the ending (well, he is, but not the essence of the ending). He is keeping the stuff that make it what it is, the moral dilemmas and the choices that each of them does.

And about the visuals... well, I can't say anything to describe them, just take a look at the trailers cause a picture might be 1000 words, but Snyder's pictures are 1000000 words!

Another thing that I liked is that he chose not so well known actors, which keeps them in the same kind of level. They're all protagonists, if he had Jude Law for Rorschach (it was proposed), then he would seem as the star, while in Watchmen there are no stars. Also, the choices he made are excellent. Patrick Wilson (Angels In America, Hard Candy), Jackie Earl Haley (Little Children), Mathew Goode (The Lookout) are all amazing actors, and although you might not recognise the names, you've all seen them somewhere.

I believe in Zack Snyder. I don't believe the film will deliver 100% of what the graphic novel does, but I'm sure it will give us no less than 75-80%, which is much more than what we would get from any other director. It's just that he is a fan of the comic book, and always was, and not just someone random, found by the studio to do a movie inspired by the graphic novel. He is making the graphic novel into a movie.



An Epilogue:

Watchmen is one of the best things written in the history of mankind, period. No one has any right to deny it, it is above subjectivity or preference, it just is. If you haven't read it, don't wait for the movie, grab it now. It is a bit expensive (I think you can find it between 12-17 pounds) but is a piece that not only passes the test of time, it's getting even more beautiful every time you read it.