Inq. of the Week: Who Watched the Watchmen?
We wanted to know the order of operations when a book becomes a movie. The answer was pretty clear with 65% of you saying: read the book, then see the movie. This is a philosophy I certainly support, but it doesn’t always happen, even in cases where I’m told just how much better the book is than the movie.
However, in the case of the Watchmen, I read the book, oh, at least 20 times before seeing the movie. It helps that they came out over 20 years apart (though as Chatty pointed out after reading my review, I was 3 when the original came out, so my experience is even different than the diehards who had read it when it first came out).
My sense when it was being advertised, and especially after seeing it, is that the movie is something of a tough sell. It’s long, it’s R rated, and it’s fairly high concept as far as movies with this kind of advertising budget go. Early box office receipts are panning that out, and I’m not confident in its word of mouth to those who aren’t fans of the original.
Regardless of how the movie does overall, I’m interested how our audience feels about the movie, and also I want to know:
Loading ...Watchmen Weekend Critical Bits
Review: "Watchmen"
Before we start, this review will contain a number of references to the book, and as a result spoilers for the movie.
It’s funny for a movie that is supposed to be so faithful to the book (that I have read through many, many times) that I did my best to avoid spoilers. I wanted to dive in and make the comparisons myself, without hearing what critics (who, as we discovered, may be coming from an entirely different perspective than I am) have to say. I also try very hard to avoid being the nitpicky fan who dislikes any deviation from the source material: after all, different media have different challenges.
Watchmen does a very good job of conveying the story (and most of the important plot beats) of the original work, and for that, I really enjoyed seeing it onscreen. Yes, there are a few details that are changed, both large and small, to accomodate the film’s running time (which is already very long). An opening montage is added to provide some of the backstory into the divergent 1985 where the story takes place. Talking to some of the people I had come with, it seemed that this worked to add confusion instead of give a foundation.
Then by the time you get to Rorschach’s meeting with Dr. Manhattan and Miss Jupiter, you start to see the groundwork of where the story would diverge more, and also a bit of new dialogue clashing with Moore’s original. Still, the scenes are there, and by the time you get to the Comedian’s funeral, you REALLY feel the faithfulness of the work shine through. As the movie goes on, you’ll see the odd line that the film walks between staying true to the original and making a plot that fits within the confines of the movie. Sometimes it succeeds, and sometimes it doesn’t. I will say that the ending event, which as you’ve probably heard is different than the book’s, fills the same role well enough. Unfortunately, several other parts of the ending are chopped to bits, and was where I most longed for it to have stuck closer to the original.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed the actors in it, having a vague feeling of dread going in that it would be a “young, sexy” cast instead of an appropriate one. Jackie Earle Haley wins my top award for casting, especially when he is without his face in the prison. His gravelly voice always manages to stay menacing (unlike Bale’s Batman) and he delivers all the classic lines with a subtle but hard edge. His most powerful scene in Antartica is not to be missed. Night Owl could have been a bit more of a schlub for my tastes, but manages to be enough of a dork in his giant glasses to make up for it, and a totally different person while in his suit. Miss Jupiter didn’t wow me, but didn’t ruin anything either. Billy Crudup plays Dr. Manhattan as detached at nearly all times, which has an appropriately unnerving effect, but not in the same ways you’d expect him to from the book. (And by the way, you will see plenty of Dr. Manhattan, in more ways than one). The Comedian (NOT played by Robert Downey Jr.) also has the appropriate range for the character, and you do both hate him and feel sorry for him at various times. Ozymandias plays it mostly cool as well, and while he doesn’t get much screentime, he delivers the important lines very well.
There is one important distinction to note between the cast of the book and the cast of the movie: the cast of the movie are bona fide superheroes. Every one of them is a martial arts master, able to take on large numbers of opponents at the same time and snap their bones out of their skin with a flick of the wrist. (Note to the squeamish: if you see a fight starting to happen and it’s going in slow motion, look away. Also, look away any time Rorscach is doing anything). There are even a couple fight scenes that are way padded out from the book, which seems unnecessary, and in fact reminded me a lot of the treatment of V for Vendetta.
In addition to the main cast, there are a large number of celebrity 80′s impersonators. This is one of the movie’s failings hands down: the make-up is terrible. I found myself wondering if Nixon’s putty nose was going to fall off in the middle of a scene. It was also amusing to me to have fake Lee Iacocca and fake Henry Kissinger have extended parts.
Another major distracting point of the movie, and one that also caused unintentional chuckles, was the music. Various famous songs are used, which makes them almost instantly recognizable and don’t sink into the background. They also are too “on the nose“, too loud, and often mood-breaking. This may sound like a small issue, but it’s done in the most irritating way I can imagine. At no point when reading Watchmen did I envision hearing 99 Luft Balloons.
As mentioned before, I thought the dialogue was fine, except when it specifically was clashing between old and new dialogue in two different styles, and not just because I was used to the old dialogue. I was quite thankful that most of my favorite lines made it in, and were largely delivered well. It’s only in the ending when it starts to get muddled up by moving around the lines between different characters, and leaving out a few that I felt were pretty important to the story. Additionally, almost all my favorite scenes made the jump, as well as my least favorite scene from the book (which I’m happy to discuss with those who have seen it in the comments).
So what’s the verdict? They made a good movie based on Watchmen. It’s not perfect, both in terms of adapting the source material and just in making a good movie, but it’s well worth seeing both for die-hard fans and those who can get a glimpse into what all the fuss is about.
My favorite part of the movie’s release is entirely detached from the movie itself. I’ve gotten to talk to other fans of the book, and find out that each person takes something different away as what to appreciate about it. Just last night, one friend was telling me about how he appreciated all the effort that went into the alternate world it takes place in. Another talked about the tough choices that all the characters were placed in. The more visually-minded I’ve talked to have discussed the back and forth contrasting panels, and the use of an unusual panel grid. I myself love the twists and turns of the plot. Any movie that spurs on such great conversation has to be given some credit. Alan Moore may not like it, but ultimately, I think having more entry points to his world is a good thing.
YouTube Tuesday: No, Seriously, It's A Trap Edition
Admiral Ackbar knows a trap when he sees one. If only the Corleone family had hired him.
YouTube Tuesday: Two Scimitars, No Waiting Edition
This has been making the rounds (or is that, making the Realms?) this week: a fan film based on a book starring everyone’s favorite dual-wielding Drow renegade with a figurine of wonderous power, Drizzt. By no means perfect, just like last week’s pick, it’s amazing what can be done for no budget nowadays. Originally spotted at ENWorld.
Review: "Fanboys"
It has taken a journey worthy of the Hero Cycle: the movie Fanboys, written over a decade ago before Phantom Menace came out, has struggled against setbacks and massive executive meddling, has finally been released. It was many years in development and suffered delays (I first heard about it two years ago, when it was set to be released in the summer of ’07), so the question is, has it all been worth it?
The answer, as Master Yoda would say it, is a solid “Yes, hrrrrrmmmm.” [Read the rest of this article]
YouTube Tuesday: City 17 Edition
Since I was sent it no less than 3 times this week, here’s the Half-Life 2 fan movie that everyone’s talking about. It’s well done, but perhaps more importantly, it shows that good quality stuff can now be made for as cheap as $500.
YouTube Tuesday: Doctor WTF Edition
What happens when ou mash-up Doctor Who, Benny Hill, and Eminem? A lot of running, at the very least. Hat tip to Graham.
Dungeons & Dragons & Racism
Can't We All Just Get Along?
Considering the Inquisition of the Week is ‘Races’ I thought I’d look at an issue that has personally caused me fair share of incredulous chuckles and uncomfortable examinations: race in Dungeons & Dragons. At first blush, D&D is a harmless fantasy game of heroes and villains, black & white. This article will examine the phenomena, offer some explanations as to its implications, and suggest how I have, anecdotally, approached the quandary of race in Dungeons & Dragons.
Orcs are just stand-ins for the hordes of mooks from action cinema, they just happen to look different than us. After all, every evil villain needs his flunkies, and the tradition of fantasy has those flunkies inevitably appear as inhuman beasts. But then, consider how D&D has evolved and how vastly different it is than the action movies I compare them to. In those movies, the protagonist can’t enter a bar, sense that an off-duty mook is there, and unceremoniously bash his face in. They are just normal guys that work for a bad guy (a fact that the Venture Brothers show loves to toy with). Now, let’s consider the scenario in D&D. The party walks into a bar in a normal town, sees an Orcish gathering, and a dwarf unlimbers his axe and goes to town on them. My point isn’t to argue whether or not that a ‘good guy’ would do that, but just that the Players, based on typical source material provided by Wizards of the Coast, would consider such an action reasonable, if not prudent. After all, Orcs are evil.
Not only are they evil, but they have a genetic predisposition to heightened strength and health. I guess that makes them good athletes too, right? And man, they sure can take a lot of punishment thanks to that Encounter power! And it’s not just Orcs, it is every race. Just consider the underlying assumptions PCs make every time they encounter a humanoid they are familiar with. The underlying implication, that you know something about a person based on their race, is anathema to the state ethos of our modern society, yet we play a game that not only enforces this notion, but thrives on it. There are a few plausible reactions to this kind of inherent racism.
First and foremost, some may choose to dismiss this line of thought because we are admittedly speaking about a fantasy game. Part of the game is succinctly describing to players what their characters are experiencing. Races, and their standard modus operandi, are valuable shorthand for the players and DM. What may be inappropriate for real life (hey there Jew, be my lawyer!) works well in a fantasy role playing context. Moreover, races that have different rules provide different play options and interesting decisions in character building, both of which are good things. On the other hand, it’s inescapable that race in D&D exists to justify the annihilation and pillaging from lesser beings. After all, how often are PCs challenged to consider the morality in plunging through a goblin warren, taking all valuables, and leaving cowering goblin children and infants with nothing? I suspect such things are infrequently considered. What’s more is this kind of chilling logic serves as an eerie mirror into classic justifications for expansion in modern human history (such as the American West or Hitler’s Third Reich).
As a DM I embrace D&D for what is, a game, but I refuse to allow the players lazy, albeit justified, racism act as an excuse for what would otherwise be poor behavior. Typically I use NPCs and occasions where races act “against the grain”, such as the peaceable goblins that find their homey warren invaded by overzealous dwarven miners. What’s more, I categorically reject the notion that monster types or races are unequivocally of a certain alignment. PCs learn rather quickly from this and find that although they can predict combat tactics and the like based on race they should be weary in assuming that they can ‘heroically’ attack the bugbears. All in all, I think that the D&D can promote a sort of racist laziness in players that I find both boring and disturbing. Rather than railing against its propensity for causing this I find that tailoring my style to be aware of this tendency acts as a sufficient curb on the greatest excesses D&D racism can cause.
Battlestar Galactica: The Beginning of the End Starts Tonight
Tonight at 10 EST, the last half of the last season of the remake of Battlestar Galactica premieres (or more simply, Season 4.5… since we all know that calling things “.5″ is an awesome idea). For those of you not caught up, I recommend avoiding this post since it contains some SPOILERS, and will probably contain more in the comments.
I know I and many others have lost a good deal of our gusto for the series after experiencing some pretty weak episodes in season 3, coupled with admissions by the head writers that they never had a real plan about whom the final Cylons would be. (Then Ron Moore parodied himself, which helped a tiny bit). But at this point, even if I were disgusted with the series (which I’m not, thanks to a few solid season 4 episodes), I’m far too pot committed not to see this through. [Read the rest of this article]
