Saturday was a big day for us here at GBU. We all went into the city to attend the NY Comic Con and it was a great experience. I split up from the rest of the group to get more info on movies and comics while the other guys checked out the games. Check back in over the next couple of days to read our impressions of everything at the show. I went to a lot of panels and saw a lot of interesting things Saturday but the thing that really made the day for me was the Watchmen panel. The first 18 minutes of the movie were shown to a packed room with easily a thousand people in it. As a huge fan of the graphic novel, I was equally excited and worried about what many call an unfilmable story. Well my fears have been laid to rest.
The movie, like the book starts out with the murder of the Comedian, a "super hero" in this stories alternate 1980's. The Snyder-Slow-Mo is in full effect in the opening fight through the Comedians apartment. While the murder in the book only lasted about five panels, the movie extends it to about five minutes, every one of those minutes is extremely brutal. Knives are thrown and knives are caught, punches thrown and punches landed, and the "Snyder Slow Mo" is in full effect for all of it, going in and out of the action but never hampering it. One actually begins to feel sorry for the Comedian, something that the reader never really felt. The scene ends with the Comedians murder and Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A'Changin" begins playing to the credits.
I actually loved the credit sequence in this movie. One of the reasons many people believe this book to be so difficult to film is that there is more than just one story going on, one in the present(alternate 1980's) and one in in the past. During the credit sequence, scenes showing the history of the first group of vigilante crime fighters and their influence on events of the time. A few of them were very cool to see(The Comedian on the grassy knoll). Without spending story time and without making the audience watch pointless images as they read the names of people involved in the film, the history of the first generation of heroes is given and one already has some idea of the different world in which this story takes place. After the credits, Rorschach, the paranoid psychotic vigilante who makes the Punisher look like a priest, shows up to investigate the crime scene and discovers that this might be more then just a regular homicide.
The next scene involves Rorschach in a prison being hassled by an inmate. I don't want to give to much away but just know one thing- it involves a deep fryer. As Rorschach is pulled away, his screams and warnings to the other inmates are genuinely scary and terrifying.
After the footage, Dave Gibbons, the artist of the graphic novel held a Q and A with the audience members. The first person asked if Alan Moore, the writer of the Watchmen, was indeed as terrifying as he looked.
This is Alan Moore
When asked about the change to the ending, Gibbons confirmed that the ending had been changed. He said that although the exact means to the end had been changed, the outcome is the same. The final question was to a fan who how much nudity from Dr. Manhattan we should expect. Gibbons replied with just one word. Total.
Overall this movie looks amazing. Everything from the dark tone to the look of the characters and the world is great. It's hard to believe this movie is less than a month away. You can pick up the book for about 20 bucks at any book store and most of them have it featured prominently in the front of the store. I highly recommend reading it although it doesn't seem like you need to to understand the movie. One last warning, something happens about three quarters through the book regarding the identity of one of the characters. For those people that like to look on IMDB about the movie and the actors, DO NOT LOOK AT THE ACTORS PAGE. I repeat, do not look at the actors page. It is a huge spoiler if you know who is playing one of the heroes.
I actually loved the credit sequence in this movie. One of the reasons many people believe this book to be so difficult to film is that there is more than just one story going on, one in the present(alternate 1980's) and one in in the past. During the credit sequence, scenes showing the history of the first group of vigilante crime fighters and their influence on events of the time. A few of them were very cool to see(The Comedian on the grassy knoll). Without spending story time and without making the audience watch pointless images as they read the names of people involved in the film, the history of the first generation of heroes is given and one already has some idea of the different world in which this story takes place. After the credits, Rorschach, the paranoid psychotic vigilante who makes the Punisher look like a priest, shows up to investigate the crime scene and discovers that this might be more then just a regular homicide.
The next scene involves Rorschach in a prison being hassled by an inmate. I don't want to give to much away but just know one thing- it involves a deep fryer. As Rorschach is pulled away, his screams and warnings to the other inmates are genuinely scary and terrifying.After the footage, Dave Gibbons, the artist of the graphic novel held a Q and A with the audience members. The first person asked if Alan Moore, the writer of the Watchmen, was indeed as terrifying as he looked.
This is Alan MooreWhen asked about the change to the ending, Gibbons confirmed that the ending had been changed. He said that although the exact means to the end had been changed, the outcome is the same. The final question was to a fan who how much nudity from Dr. Manhattan we should expect. Gibbons replied with just one word. Total.
Overall this movie looks amazing. Everything from the dark tone to the look of the characters and the world is great. It's hard to believe this movie is less than a month away. You can pick up the book for about 20 bucks at any book store and most of them have it featured prominently in the front of the store. I highly recommend reading it although it doesn't seem like you need to to understand the movie. One last warning, something happens about three quarters through the book regarding the identity of one of the characters. For those people that like to look on IMDB about the movie and the actors, DO NOT LOOK AT THE ACTORS PAGE. I repeat, do not look at the actors page. It is a huge spoiler if you know who is playing one of the heroes.
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