I must confess that although it's a ground breaking comic, and one of the most enjoyable series I've read, I haven't re-read Watchmen since I bought the original 12 issue Limited Series back in the 1980s! Which basically means I've only ever read it as a monthly comic and never as a graphic novel. (Sorry Dave! - and apologies to Alan too if you're out there.)
However I intend to remedy that this summer now I've bought Absolute Watchmen, a fantastically luxurious hardbacked, slipcased, remastered-coloured version of the story. That should keep me occupied for quite some time.
The reason I'm coming back to Watchmen is of course to refresh my memory of the saga in time for when the movie debuts next year. The jury's still out on whether it can be transfered to screen convincingly, - or even if it should be adapted into a movie. Most other comic book movies haven't been enhanced by Hollywood and the public notion that a comic movie is somehow more socially acceptable than the original comic is increasingly annoying.
Daredevil? League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Elektra? Judge Dredd? All failed to capture the spirit and intelligence of their original comics, and as good as Spider-Man was would you trade your Ditko and Romita comics for the DVD? However, I keep hearing that Watchmen may do justice to its source material. I certainly hope so, and will be going to see it with an open mind. The film doesn't open until next year but the hype has already started. An exclusive trailer was on the Empire website until recently and Entertainment Weekly is releasing a Comic-Con special:
Click here to visit the Entertainment Weekly website to read the feature and see images from the film:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213273,00.html
I'm deeply skeptical. The source material is just too long and complex-- I think it could be put on the screen well, but as a mini-series. The mini-series is a neglected artform. Mostly, they're kind of crap, but once in a while you get something like "Roots" or (even better) "Scenes From a Marriage."
ReplyDeleteI just don't think it'll translate well into a two-hour film.
You add to that the fact that it sometimes seems like Alan Moore somehow sabotages the Hollywood adaptations of his films-- I'm sorry, you can't take something as good as LoEG or From Hell and end up with such bad adaptations without EFFORT!-- and the project seems doomed.
That said, I'll be there opening night. Because I'm a geek that way.
I see your point, but my concern is "Do these movies do comics any favours"? The public assume the film accurately reflects the source, which it rarely does.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I found the X-Men movies far more enjoyable than I ever found X-Men comics to be, and for some unfathomable reason I really liked the Ghost Rider movie. I suppose the more simplistic the comic is, the less Hollywood can damage it, but anything more sophisticated gets diluted.
Perhaps Hollywood could just come up with their own ideas?
ReplyDeleteIron Man was great fun, thanks to Downey Jr, but IMHO the comic hasn't been on form since 1968 so anything would be an improvement. :-)
I'm intrigued to see how Watchmen turns out. The comic was fine on its own merits but I'm pleased that Dave will benefit from it.
Hi Lew, great post. I've been having a similar mini-rant over on my blog this week on the very same subject.
ReplyDeleteMy beef is that when a naff film is released (your example of TLOEG is the same one i used!), it somehow also taints my enjoyment of the comic. I can never delete my memory of that awful film (no matter how hard i try!)
pop by my blog if you get a moment.
http://www.piley.blogspot.com
Piley