Patrick Wilson as The Night Owl for WATCHMEN(2009).
© Warner Bros.
Watching the Watchmen
By: Kurt AmackerDate: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Last Friday, Watchmen director Zach Snyder released the first five character shots from the upcoming comic-to-film adaptation, which will hit theaters on March 6, 2009. As usual, fan reaction has run the gambit from excited to enraged. The usual public vows to skip the film and wait to accidentally see it on HBO during a drunken night alone have already reached Newsarama and other message boards. The characters bear the usual hyper-stylized look of so many modern superhero movies, with pre-formed rubber and vinyl muscles and an almost too-perfect sheen. Given the music video trappings of Snyder’s last film, 300, some fans fear an epic of all style and no substance, and that the long-awaited film will not do justice to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s quintessential graphic novel.
Cautious optimism remains advisable, as always. No one has seen the film, and many of the complaints could easily fall by the wayside in the face of a movie that stands on its own merits. It will not and cannot copy the comic. Anyone looking to relive that experience should consider rereading the book in a single glorious sitting. But, the implications of a box office failure for Watchmen should scare any Maniac who wants more superhero comic adaptations in the theaters. In a way, Watchmen almost stands as the final exam for superhero films. But in this class, Hollywood and comic publishers started the semester strong, only to miss a few classes and flunk a couple of exams after the partying started. After the release of Blade in 1998, followed by X-Men in 2000 and Spider-Man in 2002—not to mention another successful Blade film—the public and Hollywood knew something special had reached pop culture. Special effects and decent writing had finally crossed paths to create the big budget superhero epics we all wanted as kids. But, the year before Blade came out, Batman and Robin nearly killed superhero movies forever. With no way to know the production timeline, it is likely that Blade was already in production when the fourth Batman film bombed. However, by happy accident, it met box office and relative critical success. It primed pop culture for X-Men and a slate of superhero films of surprising quality. But, like any cinematic trend—especially genre films—superhero movies will have a short shelf life if Hollywood and the major publishers don’t pick up the ball again.
With the noticeable decline in the quality of capes-and-tights movies, a bad adaptation of Watchmen may serve as this genre’s Heaven’s Gate. For those unaware, that film—directed by Michael Cimino of The Deer Hunter fame—effectively ended the era of the director-driven Hollywood pictures that characterized the 1970s. After The Deer Hunter won Best Picture, United Artists allowed Cimino relative freedom in making Heaven’s Gate. Though arguably redeemed by a director’s cut and 28 years of hindsight, the film stood as a critical and financial disaster at the time. It nearly killed Westerns and gave major studios second thoughts about letting directors run wild with their creative visions. Other than the dodged-bullet of Batman and Robin, Hollywood and Marvel and DC have yet to experience a true genre killer. But, the last couple of years have not boded well. Granted, Batman Begins met both critical and box office success, and—despite fan complaints—Superman Returns did well enough to justify itself and an eventual sequel. But, for every good DC tent-pole film—few and far between though they may be—Marvel has seen two or three mediocre or downright awful adaptations in the past few years. Since Spider-Man 2, virtually every Marvel film has taken a critical drubbing. Spider-Man 3 received decent reviews and box office success, but time has not stood on its side. DC’s two superhero efforts since then—Catwoman came out a month before—have exceeded Marvel’s, and its two Vertigo adaptations, Constantine and V for Vendetta, have been at least above average, if not successful in their own right. This creates a problem for Hollywood and the public. Studios and most moviegoers don’t differentiate between Marvel and DC adaptations. They only see superhero films. In the case of successful non-superhero adaptations like Sin City or 30 Days of Night, they consider the non-genre-specific source material less important. But, if Marvel and the studios handling its adaptations continue to churn out mediocre hackwork by B-list directors, they may set an inhospitable stage for the arrival of Watchmen.
The same sort of “genre decay” occurs whenever studios realize that audiences will pay for films of a particular genre without regard for quality. It periodically occurs with horror films, or any other specialized genre that succeeds in cycles. A few quality movies hit theaters and create a minor cultural phenomenon. Then, the studios churn out copycat films. The audiences see those films, because they remind them enough of the few successful efforts that came before. Consider the recent spate of J-horror remakes. The Ring succeeded both critically and financially. Then, consider The Grudge, which at least made a ton of money, despite a lukewarm critical response. Then came The Ring 2, The Grudge 2, One Missed Call, and other films that ranged from okay-not-great to outright awful. Once audiences are hooked, the studios will continue to make similar films of declining quality until the box office returns really trickle, or a real bomb comes along.
Agree or not, critical consensus usually labels Watchmen as the best comic ever written. It landed on the Time list of “All-Time 100 Novels,” which included the best English-language novels from 1923 to the piece’s publication in 2005. Some will argue its relative merits and declare it overrated, but just as you can argue with the similar “best ever” designation given to Citizen Kane, the cultural consensus has spoken. That raises expectations for Zack Snyder’s film adaptation considerably. And, it already has a few strikes against it. Most critics will be at least passingly aware of Moore and Gibbons’s comic book and its place in the medium’s history. That will position the film for that much more of a drubbing if it fails. Many audiences may not even know about the comic, and will see the film as a bleak, R-rated superhero film to which they can’t take their children. While Snyder has proven his skill as a visual stylist with his Dawn of the Dead remake and 300, Watchmen presents a number of unique challenges. To his credit, he seems intent on recreating the comic on screen as faithfully as possible. But, a bleak superhero film set in an alternate version of the 1980s may seem more puzzling than interesting to mainstream filmgoers. If changes from the comic alienate minutia-obsessed fans and regular audiences avoid the film altogether, it could cut into the film’s opening weekend box office numbers considerably. If that occurs after a string of at-best-mediocre superhero films, it may set the stage for the rapid decline of caped crime-fighters at the box office. It may depend on the next year’s slate of superhero films succeeding, followed by an adaptation of Watchmen that pleases both regular audiences and fans to reinvigorate a genre that has declined in quality since 2002.
Watchmen has great expectations to meet. If it fails at the box office, it may mean a relatively quick end to superhero films. If it fails critically and artistically, it will only accelerate the decline of the genre. To fail in both respects could be disastrous for the genre, which had comparably few successes prior to the late 1990s. Don’t screw this one up, guys. There’s a lot riding on it.
The Spinner Rack
By Ben Johnson and Kurt Amacker
Kurt: Ben’s back! Now I don’t have to format this sh-t myself!
DARK HORSE COMICS
Abe Sapien The Drowning #2 (Of 5) $2.99
Kurt: This seems impossible, by definition.
BPRD 1946 #3 (Of 5) $2.99
Ben: Two Hellboy universe comics in one week, SWEET!
Conan TP Vol 05 Rogues In The House $17.95
Empowered TP Vol 03 (MR) $14.95
Evil Dead #3 (Of 4) $2.99
Goon #22 $2.99
Hanami International Love Story TP Vol 04 $9.95
Orion 4th Ed TP $17.95
Serenity Better Days #1 (Of 3) $2.99
Ben: Like before Fox prematurely canceled it.
Kurt: Must…not…bust…on…Whedon…GAAH!
Star Wars Legacy #21 $2.99
Star Wars Rebellion #12 $2.99
Terminator Omnibus Vol 02 $24.95
Ben: Flipping through these at the shop make me mourn the time I wasted reading them in the 90’s.
Kurt: I used to really want all of these when I was a kid, but I’m coming to realize that a lot of Dark Horse’s licensed books from those years weren’t as good as I remember.
DC COMICS
Bat Lash #4 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: Chronicling Bruce Wayne’s S&M fetish.
Kurt: Sounds more like last weekend in the French Quarter for me.
Batman Confidential #14 $2.99
Batman Strikes #43 $2.25
Booster Gold #7 $2.99
Countdown To Final Crisis 7 $2.99
Countdown To Mystery #6 (Of 8) $3.99
Ben: Countdown to misery.
DMZ #29 (MR) $2.99
DMZ TP Vol 04 Friendly Fire (MR) $12.99
Emma Vol 07 $10.99
From Eroica With Love Vol 12 $9.99
Gen 13 #18 $2.99
Gotham Underground #6 (Of 9) $2.99
Green Arrow Black Canary #6 $2.99
Green Lantern Corps #22 $2.99
JLA Classified #54 $2.99
Justice League International HC $24.99
Ben: Oui! It is I, the French Tickler!!!
Kurt: Not since Orgazmo have crime-fighting porn stars offended so many.
Legion Of Super Heroes In The 31st Century #12 $2.25
Lobo Portrait Of A Bastich TP $19.99
Orfina Vol 02 (Mr) $12.99
Robin The Big Leagues TP $12.99
Salvation Run #5 (Of 7) $2.99
Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger TP Vol 02 $16.99
Simon Dark #6 $2.99
Kurt: Yer damn right.
Suicide Squad Raise The Flag #7 (Of 8) $2.99
Superman #674 $2.99
Superman Confidential #13 $2.99
Tiny Titans #2 $2.25
Ben: Nope, not going to do it.
Kurt: Man, if Al Brown were still here I’d go nuts.
Un-Men #8 (MR) $2.99
Wildstorm Revelations #5 (Of 6) $2.99
Wonder Woman #18 $2.99
IMAGE COMICS
Astounding Wolf-Man #5 $2.99
Kurt: By next year, we’ll be on issue 7 or so.
Cemetery Blues #2 $3.50
Ben: Electric Bugaloo! Also a damn fine comic.
Gutsville #3 (Of 6) (Mr) $2.99
How To Make Webcomics TP $12.99
Madman Atomic Comics #7 $2.99
Ben: This s**t is blowing up!
Screamland #1 (Of 5) $2.99
Ben: Bring some Aspirin.
Walking Dead #47 (Mr) $2.99
Ben: Nothing will ever be the same… seriously, this one’s legit.
Witchblade TP Vol 03 $14.99
Kurt: In this issue, a large-breasted woman fights monsters with a sword.
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Girl #18 $2.99
Amazing Spider-Man #553 $2.99
Annihilation Conquest #5 (Of 6) $2.99
Avengers Fairy Tales #1 (Of 4) $2.99
Avengers Initiative #10 $2.99
Avengers Initiative TP Vol 01 Basic Training $14.99
Captain America #34 Directors Cut $3.99
Ben: In this one I become Captain America.
Kurt: I think that would be the fan edit edition.
Civil War Chronicles #9 $4.99
Dead Of Night Featuring Man Thing #2 (Of 4) (Mr) $3.99
Fantastic Four #555 $2.99
Ben: The last issue we should expect for several centuries.
Ghost Rider TP Vol 04 Revelations $14.99
Hedge Knight 2 Sworn Sword #5 (Of 6) $2.99
Iron Man Enter Mandarin #6 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: This has to be the most ambiguously gay title around.
Last Defenders #1 (Of 6) $2.99
Magician Apprentice Prem HC Vol 2 $19.99
Magician Apprentice Prem HC Vol 2 Dm Ed $19.99
Marvel Adventures Hulk #9 $2.99
Marvel Comics Presents #7 $3.99
Marvel Illustrated Last Of The Mohicans Prem HC $19.99
Marvel Illustrated Man In The Iron Mask Prem HC $19.99
Marvel Illustrated Moby Dick #2 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: Not touching this either.
Marvel Illustrated Treasure Island Prem HC $19.99
Mighty Avengers #10 $2.99
Ben: This book sucks. Thought balloon that Bendis!
Kurt: I haven’t read this, but Bendis-bashing seems almost quaint these days.
New Exiles #3 $2.99
Nova #11 $2.99
Ben: Do-da-do…AWESOME!!!
Punisher #55 (MR) $2.99
Spider-Man Family TP Untold Team Ups Digest $9.99
Spider-Man Red Sonja Prem HC $19.99
Ben: Almost naked woman and Venom. That’s the stuff wet dreams are made of.
Thunderbolts #119 $2.99
Ben: About f-ing time.
Ultimates 3 #2 (Of 5) 2nd Ptg Var $2.99
Ben: If you buy this be sure send me an email with your name and address to: Ben@isgoingtokillyou.com.
Wolverine #63 DWS $2.99
Ben: The Driving While Stupid arc continues.
X-Factor #29 DWS $2.99
X-Men TP Die By The Sword $13.99
Kurt: If only! Just kidding—I actually read a couple of X-books now.
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.
