ME: So apparently the trailer for Watchmen will run in front of The Dark Knight.
FLAPJACKS: Because they are both comic book movies. I get that!
ME: Yes.
FLAPJACKS: Maybe they could run a trailer for the new Terminator in front of it as well, because they both have Christian Bale in the movie. And then maybe a trailer for Traveling because they both have Aaron Eckhart in it. And then – no, wait, Heath Ledger is dead, that one doesn’t work.
ME: It’s also available online.
FLAPJACKS: So we should watch it then.
ME: Aren’t we going to go see it this weekend? On a big screen?
FLAPJACKS: That would mean, like, waiting and shit.
ME: A cogent point.
FLAPJACKS: So let’s watch it now.
ME: All right.
We start watching the trailer.
ME: “In 2009, everything will change.”
FLAPJACKS: Previously, in 2008, the first thirty seconds of the trailer are watching the hairs on Billy Crudup’s arms stand up.
ME: Owlship looks cool.
FLAPJACKS: Yes. Hey, when did Silk Spectre plunge through a burning building and land with great agility on her feet in the comic book?
ME: I believe that did not happen.
FLAPJACKS: Oh.
ME: Adaptation!
FLAPJACKS: Originality!
ME: …wow, the “fling the Comedian through the window” scene seems… familiar.
FLAPJACKS: “THIS! IS! WAAAATCHMEN!”
ME: I thought we’d declared that joke dead.
FLAPJACKS: It’s relevant, because he also made 300. So it can be used this time.
ME: Can’t you come up with something better?
FLAPJACKS: “THIS! IS! AN OVERLY PRECIOUS SOULESS PASTIIIIIICHE!”
ME: Never mind.
FLAPJACKS: Ozymandias looks… what is it, when something is exactly the opposite of “intimidating”?
ME: Not intimidating?
FLAPJACKS: More than that.
ME: I just think he looks like a little kid playing dressup.
FLAPJACKS: Maybe that’s sharp, purposeful cultural commentary.
ME: It is a brief look at Rorshach! Does his mask go oogy with the moving blots? Rewind it! I want to see if his mask goes oogy.
FLAPJACKS: I don’t think it goes oogy.
ME: Crap.
FLAPJACKS: Maybe it’ll go oogy later.
ME: Okay, fair is fair: Dr. Manhattan looks exactly as creepy as he should look.
FLAPJACKS: I concur.
ME: …I think Vietnam is entirely greenscreened.
FLAPJACKS: I think your mom is entirely greenscreened.
ME: Shut up.
FLAPJACKS: Oh, quit whining. We’re supposed to be surprised that there’s greenscreening in a Zach Snyder movie? Did you even see 300? I think that title actually referred to the number of animators they had rendering CGI cliff faces.
ME: The Comedian also looks badass.
FLAPJACKS: Well, if you can’t make the Comedian look badass, you shouldn’t even bother making the movie in the first place. Making the Comedian look badass is easy. Making Nite Owl look badass, on the other hand, is hard.
ME: Nite Owl looks like a cheap Batman ripoff.
FLAPJACKS: Cultural commentary! He’s playing with our preconceptions! And stuff.
ME: Hey, can you see Dr. Manhattan’s dick in the trailer?
FLAPJACKS: …okay, why do you care?
ME: Look, we get an extended shot of full-frontal Manhattan in this trailer, I want to know if Zach Snyder is out to pervert the minds of nerd America.
FLAPJACKS: He could make it worse?
ME: Rewind, I wanna see.
FLAPJACKS: …I think they made his groinal area glow so brightly you cannot make out individual parts.
ME: Zach Snyder, you wuss.
FLAPJACKS: Well, I don’t think Billy Crudup wants to… well, maybe he does want to expose himself to teenagers. How would I know?
ME: “The most celebrated graphic novel of all time.” Wait, nobody told me this was Maus.
FLAPJACKS: That’s not fair and you know it. Come on, it’s Watchmen. It’s entirely fair to give it those props.
ME: All right, I guess – NO! NOT CGI PADDY HAT SOLDIER!
FLAPJACKS: He had four CGI kids and a fifth one being rendered!
ME: What will we tell his wife?
FLAPJACKS: Something in binary. Do you speak binary?
ME: Fuck no.
FLAPJACKS: Well, let’s not tell her anything then.
ME: Agreed.
FLAPJACKS: Okay, there is Rorshach’s mask going oogy for you. Are you satisfied?
ME: On that level, at least.
FLAPJACKS: And there’s the Mars jewel ship.
ME: Pretty cool.
FLAPJACKS: So, how do we rate this trailer?
ME: In terms of being a good trailer, A. In terms of making me think the movie will not be dogshit… I dunno, B minus.
FLAPJACKS: I’m closer to B plus.
ME: Yeah, but you like all that stylized compu-fighty stuff Snyder does.
FLAPJACKS: We will have to agree to disagree. Except about Nite Owl looking lame. We agree there.
ME: But do you think it was on purpose?
FLAPJACKS: …probably not.
ME: A ha.
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45 users responded in this post
Honestly, this actually looks way better than I expected. Yeah, there are problems, but seeing stuff like Dr. Manhattan and the Mars palace so beautifully rendered has actually got me pumped for the film. Plus, while it may be bad CGI, I like the shot of Dr. Manhattan smiling while blowing up the paddy-hat soldier.
I still haven’t read Watchmen (I don’t really read a lot of print comics), what am I missing out on?
To be honest, I only read it two months ago. You’re missing out on intertextuality, roving metaphors, biting critiques of the Reagan administration, and the object of worship from multitudes of “graphic novel” fanboys. In other words, buy it and read it now.
The use of dreamlike quantities of CGI works for me. Watchmen always had a bright palette – part of its appeal was the marriage of bright comics artwork with a very disturbing plot. What would have been a mistake would be putting everyone in jogging pants and hoodies.
I think the newer looks for Nite Owl and Ozymandias work just fine since they resemble fucked-up movie superheroes rather than fucked-up comics ones. The shots of Nite Owl with his goggles off I found on the website make him look much like his tightly wounded self.
I thought 300 was terrible not because it used lots of CGI, but because the source material was terrible and you can’t really polish a turd. Watchmen is different, so… for me, things are looking up.
Tossing Comedian out a window does look like the pit scene from 300, but it is something that happens in the comic, so it’s got to be okay, right?
Not reading Watchmen is just missing out on another Alan Moore story. Reading it now . . . you might have a hard time seeing the appeal.
I saw this at the theatre and yes, you can see Dr. Manhattan’s penis in the “approved for all audiences” trailer.
Actually, rereading my copy, Silk Spectre DOES go into a burning building to rescue people and get them to the Owlship.
The day is saved! Nerds everywhere can stop complaining about changes to the story and start complaining about, I dunno, something else.
Yeah, but does she jump through windows? I mostly recall herding people around. When I saw that Carla Gugino would be playing SS, I thought “too hot,” then saw that she’s the first generation one. All she needs is a bad wig and clingy clothes to fight off an assault in the second issue.
With how little was actually shown or said on panel, I’m guessing the adaptation could get a PG13. But it’d be one of the more disturbing things with that rating. And full of flaccid penises.
Honestly, I was most pleased at the watch held in Jon’s hand in the IF Subtraction Chamber. It’s the little things.
I am stoked, but…
The saddest part is that Ozymandias is supposed to be a perfect human, and look like a god. Not a frigging panzy that every 13 year old will feel they can beat up…
Admittedly, I have only seen the stills, so if he moves phenomenally, with effortless athletic grace as he should, I may be able to forgive his lack of Olympian beauty standards.
You got to see a bit of him in action fighting Comedian and knocking that dude into the water, I’d assume.
Could nerds diss Alan Moore (who looks like a fucking cult leader)?
I diss him because he takes childhood heroines and sexualizes them.
I still remain skeptical, but the trailer looked great on the big screen.
Do you think they decided to use a song from the Batman and Robin soundtrack to deliberately lower people’s expectations?
–d
Although “Ozymandias is supposed to be a perfect human, and look like a god”, I never thought that he did (at least not in the comic). I think he looked like a pansy and he thought he looked like a god.
“I still haven’t read Watchmen (I don’t really read a lot of print comics), what am I missing out on?”
It will remind, at least, why catching bullets is fuck awesome.
Was there ever a time when Nite Owl did look bad-ass? Even before he got his pot belly?
If have one problem, it’s that some of the costumes are made from hard plastic and latex instead of cloth — it does create a decidedly different visually effect from the book and lends an air of artificiality to one of the few superhero stories where that is not what you should be aiming for. The effect might work for Nite Owl (although his post belly really is what makes some of his scenes), but it makes it hard to think that Ozymandius really is built like that (which he should be — he’s Ozymandius). The need for prosthetics I can see — I don’t think anyone in Hollywood is built like Ozymandius — but they shouldn’t be glaringly obvious.
Also, did Ozy have an emo lick?
No, Ozzy had the close-sut remains of a blonde Jewish afro. But then again, nobody really looks like a Dave Gibson character in real life, either.
May I point out that Snyder didn’t actually originate the concept of kicking somebody into something? And that yes, adaptation implies adaptation, ie: Though we’d love something to be just like something else in every possible respect (“Why can’t they just use the GN as their storyboards?”; hmmm, looks like they’ve done just that), when you shift from one medium to another, things must change.
I have no problem with Laurie jumping down through a burning ceiling–in her family, she’s the effective one, remember? The one who’s trained for this since she was ten? Her Mom wouldn’t have done something like that; too much chance of random nail damage. Then again, different times.
I haven’t seen the trailer yet — I am by God waiting until tonight because big screen, that’s why — but Nite Owl looking ridiculous is very much how it ought to be. He IS ridiculous; he’s a man in a rubber suit and it’s very silly looking. They play up how dumb he looks in the comic quite a bit, Dan himself even slags on how dumb the costume was. He shouldn’t look badass, he should look like a rich boy playing dress-up.
@NCallahan: Someone put up a YouTube link to a fan made Watchmen movie on /co/ where the costumes, comic accurate, where made of cloth. And believe me when I say it looks more ridiculous then plastic and latex. Though I could never get over how silly Ozymandius’ costume looked in the comic either.
So, my reaction to the trailer for this is the same as when I saw the trailer for 300.
Damn but does Zack Snyder know how to make a trailer!
Good-looking trailer, but the musical choice struck me as odd. The Smashing Pumpkins track from Batman & Robin?
Kind of tangential, but what’s always irritated the shit out of me about Alex Ross is he makes everyone look like they’re wearing cloth and spandex type costumes. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see Captain Marvel having seams in his costumes. For one thing, he gets his powers from a wizard, you wouldn’t think he just picked up some stuff off eBay. For another thing, well, it just looks so COSTUMEY. I guess like he picked up some stuff off eBay.
[…] Posted by Scott on Friday, July 18, 2008 at 8:39 am “Oh, quit whining. We’re supposed to be surprised that there’s greenscreening in a Zack Snyder movie? Did you even see 300? I think that title actually referred to the number of animators they had rendering CGI cliff faces.” – MightyGodKing and friends discussing the Watchmen trailer […]
Ozymandias never looked intimidating or godlike to me. He struck me as a kind of bland, non-descript sort until I found out what he did with his spare time. I thought that was the point. So if he doesn’t immediately scream Most Dangerous Man On Earth, it sits well with me.
I agree with McGee, Ozy always looked and acted very passive and sedate until later on in the book. The fact that he developed his body so much didn’t make him super buff or intimidating looking. It was always what was going on in his brain that made him so powerful.
Well, if they film scenes like the television interview they’re probably going to have him look more like a giant smurf than the Hindu god of energy he looks like in the trailer.
1. Ozy was based on Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon, not Johnny Thunder) just as all the other main cast were originally intended to be Charlston characters – and the appeal of Cannon was always he was a seemingly ordinary guy whose complete mental control made him a total bad-ass.
At the point the story picks up Ozy has created a world-spanning empire – but (Booster Gold-style) he’s done it by shilling out to such a huge extent he’s largely devalued any of his heroic accomplishments. The overworked costume is kind of a nice nod to that. And I kind of thought the emo-do was a nice update of the bad 80s hair.
2. While I agree “hard” movie hero outfits never feel quite right, can ANYONE think of a cloth outfit they actually liked? Adam West? Christopher Reeves? Wes Studi in “Mystery Men”? The fact is actual cloth on actual people always ends up looking like bad Halloween costumes.
I agree with Michael McGee that I’d rather have the movie reference movie heroes – at least we know that’s a reference that the wider audience would get. Have we seen any stills of the golden-agers yet? That would be a nice twist if their costumes were decidedly “lower rent”.
3. For better or worse, I’m not sure why people are worried about Zack Snyder, of all people, not making a respectful adaptation. This is a guy who pretty much threw down a copy of “300” and said “I want to make this, exactly the way it is here…” and then when he was told there was no way to do that created a new visual format by using 100% CGI.
If anything, his devotion to his source material can be a little *too* slavish at times.
This isn’t exactly the same mindset that brought us such gems as the “Sandman” script with the line: “Puny humans, your bullets cannot harm me” from Morpheus.
@Brad – Does licensing your image for action dolls really devalue heroic accomplishments? I’d have thought it would belong in the same league as sports stars doing tv adverts – dependant on context. It’s not like Ozy is doing the “Buy Veidt Brand Cola, to make your crime fighting go with a FIZZ!” – in fact from the extracts at the back of one of the issues it seems he keeps a quite tight grip on what his image is used for.
@Quietus – Not a fan of Five Go Mad in Dorset then? 😉 Lost Girls wasn’t marketed at kids, whilst there is morally objectionable stuff being actually marketed AT kids, rather than at grown ups who get their jollies fantasing about fictional characters I think ire is better aimed in that direction. Either that or we’ll have start flaming Harry Potter slash websites – and that is a bigger task than I am man enough to take on.
Things about this trailer that make me go “erk.”
The Comedian’s bullet time slow down as he goes through the window. It’s a played out visual tick guys, let it die.
The Smashing Pumpkins – I like the band, but they should have used “All Along the Watchtower” or something – it’s a better fit for the comic.
The colour scheme – too bluey, black. A bit of colour would have made it seem a bit more interesting.
Silk Spectre – her costume is meant to be exploitative, and the character is meant to be embarrased by it. Her sexy slow walk does not fit that.
Rorscach’s voices sounds wrong to me. Too emotional, too anti heroic, not the creepily flat mouth breather I got from reading the comic.
Those who haven’t read Watchmen are missing out on the most perfect use of the comic book FORM since Eisner. Even the panel layout is used to tell a story. It’s wonderfully dense and complicated stuff that really requires concentration in a way few comics actually manage.
“Silk Spectre – her costume is meant to be exploitative, and the character is meant to be embarrased by it. Her sexy slow walk does not fit that.”
Well, you have to remember the context of that particular scene. It’s all about how the costumes contribute to their sexual desires. It seems like an appropriate shot for a scene that’s about Nite Owl’s first erection in decades.
Does licensing your image for action dolls really devalue heroic accomplishments?
You have no idea how quick people are to shout “SELL OUT!” do you?
“You have no idea how quick people are to shout “SELL OUT!” do you?”
They also raise the possible that he’s homosexual. *Hrrrukk* Must investigate further.
I actually like the look for Nite Owl II. . .it’s a costume designed by a fan to honor his hero, and of course it’s his best effort to look badass. . .which of course makes him look a little silly. As the most ‘traditional’ of the Watchmen characters NOII is going to look faintly ridiculous, as he did in the actual book. He is an analog for the Blue Beetle after all.
Now I read Watchmen about a year ago. Mostly cuz everyone around me was all like “Read it!! You’ll love it!! Best comic ever!!” Um to me the best 12 part micro series is “The Kents” but that’s just me. 😛
Now altho Im not much of a Watchmen fan (I wasn’t too impressed with the comic) I still have some fave characters…namely Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach.
But the trailer tho…the trailer gave me goosebumps. I was major impressed. Can’t wait to see this in theatres (which I will this weekend)!
I was on the fence for a long time, but Zack Snyder makes some kick ass trailers. I’m feeling more and more optimistic about this film.
I can already tell that I’m gonna have as much fun tormenting the purists with this movie as I did with the Lord of the Rings geeks.
Quietus Says:
July 18th, 2008 la 4:17 am
I diss him because he takes childhood heroines and sexualizes them.
Yeah, him and Kevin Smith.
Here’s a question:
Why’s is/was Watchmen so important, anyway? My friend had it, and I skimmed it years ago, but it didn’t grab me then.
/checks Wikipedia
Ahh, ok. That makes more sense now.
I thought the trailer looked pretty damn decent. But that’s not really a great compliment. At least they lifted scenes completely from the book, so they’ll at least be somewhat loyal to the book.
I have been extremely skeptical about this, but I did enjoy the trailer. Seeing the Mars palace is the first thing that has ever made me think that this whole thing might not be horrible.
It is a shame about CGI Paddy Hat Soldier though. He had so much to live for.
““The most celebrated graphic novel of all time.” Wait, nobody told me this was Maus.”
That is exactly what I thought when I saw the trailer! It might not be an entirely fair sentiment… but then again, it’s also kinda totally fair.
There’s a lot of very interesting choices at play in the trailer. Tellingly it’s the deviations from the original work which are the exceptions and not the norm — I’m impressed at Snyder’s ability to recognize the importance of fidelity and his inertia to arbitrary changes.
But it’s also very interesting how much of the funeral scene is in this trailer — there are moments of heroism (I guess Laurie falls through a floor during the fire rescue this point out and that’s great because otherwise the lone female of the group is woefully underused), but mostly it’s death, conflict, turmoil. Closest thing you get to a heroic pose is Rorschach brooding, and given his dialogue, that’s not too uplifting. Snyder has moments of awe and wonder (the Manhattan scenes, Mars), but I think it gives a neophyte, a complete newcomer to this universe, a feeling of foreboding.
I enjoyed the hell out of 300 — it knew what it wanted to be and it reveled in it. There’s much more going on in this movie, but I’m inclined to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt this time out.
[i]If anything, [Snyder’s] devotion to his source material can be a little *too* slavish at times. [/i]
I think it’s worth noting that “300,” for all its fidelity to the look, language, and story of the book, seriously missed the book’s tone. Particularly in the scenes that involved actors saying things.
“I think it’s worth noting that “300,” for all its fidelity to the look, language, and story of the book, seriously missed the book’s tone. Particularly in the scenes that involved actors saying things.”
Considering that 300 is a goddamn terrible book, I have no real problem with this.
In any case, this trailer made me feel a lot better about this movie.
It’ll be fun to see it with a friend of mine who I know will never be pleased with the movie no matter how good it is, just to see him squirm.
“Considering that 300 is a goddamn terrible book, I have no real problem with this.”
Don’t see how his ability to make a bad book worse is a credit to his adaptation ability.
“FLAPJACKS: Ozymandias looks… what is it, when something is exactly the opposite of “intimidating”?”
Untimidating.
Duh.