by Daniel Erenberg and Joe Ireland
Joe: I think I should start out by saying that I’m no expert when it comes to comics, though I’ve read several series and enjoyed most of the ones that I’ve read, some of them quite a bit. Watchmen is hands-down my favorite comic, so I was super excited when I heard that an adaptation was going to be released, and only slightly less excited when I heard that said adaptation was going to be directed by Zack Snyder (director of 300). I have to say that I enjoyed the movie, though I recognize its flaws (of which there are many).
Daniel: I am an expert on comics, I guess. I’ve been reading them since I was a wee young lad in Brooklyn. My first was a Chris Claremont X-Men book, bought for me by my grandfather when I was 4. I read Watchmen for the first time when I was about 12, and starting to get a little jaded about superhero books. And Watchmen isn’t a superhero book. No, really. It isn’t. It’s a book about how writer Alan Moore sees the world, and what would make it “a stronger, loving world to die in,” as John Cale is quoted in the book. That’s the real problem with Zack Snyder’s bold, but woefully misguided film. He made a cool, flashy, superhero film and ended up with a heartless, if occasionally fun, early summer blockbuster that’s gonna be forgotten in less time than it took the comic to come out in serialized form. Fanboys used to argue on the internet about whether Watchmen should be a film or a TV miniseries, but that’s missing the point. Watchmen is as perfect as comic books get, and no filmed adaptation could replicate it. But I’m a fanboy too. I got excited when I heard about it. I was super-excited when Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, the last two Bourne pictures) was set to direct. And I got choked up at the trailer in front of The Dark Knight last summer. But Watchmen is now a great comic and a very, very bad film. Bummer.
Tags:
comic books
watchmen
point/counterpoint
zack snyder
March 14, 2009 at 2:39pm
