Is “Watchmen” solely for geeks only? Every sci-fi fanboy site is already in the tank for the film and has been pushing the graphic novel agenda along for months. This is their Christmas so they’re thoughts on the film aren’t really to be trusted. What you really need is the opinion of objective outsiders who don’t cream their jeans over the mere mention of “Watchmen” like that effusive fanboy Time blogger.
Defamer and others have accurately already been lamenting the leaden delivery and wooden dialogue of some of the clips that have circulated online and Jeffrey Wells keeps hearing reports from adults that aren’t comic book store obsessives. Their thoughts on the film are getting more and more brutal. We’ve only seen the opening 20 minutes, but they were — for the most part — pretty impressive aside from the silly and laughable, but still kind of simultaneously awesome inclusion of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’ ” to soundtrack the history and backstory of the novel. One of Wells’ people say, after that first 20 minutes, it all goes downhill.
“By far the highlight of the film is the opening credits,” he begins. “It perfectly nails the surrealist tone of the graphic novel and does an adequate job of running through some of the back story of the Watchmen. It’s so good I’m half-convinced that director Zack Snyder had little to do with this sequence. Because that’s where the surrealism ends. “The rest of Watchmen basically alternates between campy silliness and 2nd-rate comic book melodrama. At some points on the level of live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I assume Snyder was trying to hit that sweet spot of surrealism that accompanies the alternate 1985 reality of the graphic novel, but the kindest thing I can call it is a kind of tragedy/campy combo.”
Geeks will surely descend down on Wells post momentarily and rip it to shreds as they’re wont to do – dissent of any kid is always verboten in geek circles. And surely he, his “messenger” and even this report will probably be seen as some kind of anti-‘Watchmen’ agenda, but that’s fine.
Fanboy reviews and opinions just aren’t very trustworthy. And they don’t help their case one iota when — even the bloggers themselves – descend upon reports that are not 100% gung-ho and dismiss and attempt to rip their arguments apart (like some recently did to David Poland and his report was fairly benign).
Another early-bird report Wells ran earlier this week was from someone who was a fan. “And speaking as a huge admirer and devotee of the graphic novel, the film is a staggering failure. On the plus side, you’ve got a pretty literal adaptation of the source material. It is at times a meticulous and gorgeous recreation of Alan Moore‘s original work. Unfortunately it’s an empty, inert, meandering and, yes, boring 2 hours and 45 minutes.”
This worries us too, because all reports suggest Zack Snyder has xeroxed the graphic novel way too literally and in doing so, sucked the soul right out of it. Let’s state it loud and clear though: We’re fans of the graphic novel. Many of us read it when it first came out in the late ’80s. Of course this won’t change a thing: “Watchmen” will probably rake in a bundle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, right? We reserve judgement until we see it, but yes, it looks worrisome from the outset.
Yeah, I’ve seen Watchmen, and I don’t have an embargo and its seriously fucking good. I’m not a comic book geek either. Never even set foot in a comic store. I actually have my degree in film theory and have been working in production for the better part of a decade. So these “reports” are from people who don’t know their elbow from their asshole.
While I’d call myself a “fanboy” I certainly wouldn’t reject the comments of “regular” reviewers out of hand.
I’ve actually been wondering how this would come across to mainstream audiences… and I’ll be honest and say that I hope Wells is wrong.
Vic
Me too! I want this to be good. I do have major concerns though.
I’ve been reading a few reviews of early showings of Watchmen and it doesn’t seem to good at the moment. Think I need to see it for myself though.
However, those recent clips that got released have me worried – acting was a bit wooden and it all just seemed a little bit off.
I really want it to be amazing
Funny. Until we started seeing actual bits of film, the outraged cry was “This isn’t going to LOOK like the GN! The colours are wrong, the costumes are wrong! This was cut from the GN, and that was cut from the GN and…” Zomg angst and oh noez! and so on and on. Now, the outraged cry is “It looks too much like the GN! It’s just slavish copying…”
‘Is “Watchmen” solely for geeks only?’
I’d have to say yes. But that doesn’t make a film necessarily BAD either.
Maybe it’s the FUBU equivalent of the movie industry. It ain’t for you ‘non-geeks’. Deal with it.
However, I’d have to say I must be a fanboy, for whatever tha definition means. I’ve read the comic oodles of times, and it just gets better as I do.
If this film is bad, I’ll gladly say so as well.
I do think it is time to get off of the high horse and stop labeling people so you can easily dismiss their opinions. It’s a childish cop out.
Geeks, fanboys, what other secret coded words do you have for people of differing opinion?
A Zack Snyder film? YOU DON’T SAY.
Eternally pessimistic,
Gabe.
I'm excited to see this with a close friend who's never read the novel.
It'll keep me from over-geekifying the experience, as I am now an adult, and never really was a 'Geek'.
What the mainstream will probably get from it immediately is that it's a clear send-up of the entire Superhero genre, as well as a social commentary on what these different characters would do, given more realistic human personalities & motives.
If the acting doesn't get that across, then I'll just refer my friends to the Graphic Novel, here on out.
I'll look forward to the director's cut, however.