March 7, 2009
And another thing...
I can't help returning to what ought to be a done and dusted subject to single out for further discussion the absolutely terrifying level of effort (and, presumably, money) that Zack and his crew expended to put on our screens picture-perfect duplicates of the original comic frames. The effect, for a hardened fan of the original, is quite disorienting, especially during the first hour's incredibly painstaking and at least superficially thorough reproduction of issues #1 and #2. Barely a shot goes by that isn't a direct translation of Dave Gibbons's art; what we cannot now avoid seeing as his storyboard. Even the casting has been fastidious, nay anal, in selecting performers on the basis of their resemblance to the original drawings rather than any other, more pertinent, qualities. Nearly everyone looks exactly like their print counterpart: heroes, policemen, bystanders. Even Tricky Dicky is made up to resemble the comic art rather than the real Nixon.
The one obvious, outstanding exception, is Adrian Veidt. Matthew Goode may or may not have great qualities as an actor -- Watchmen doesn't really gives us much evidence either way -- but he certainly bears little visual resemblance to the original Ozymandias. And, indeed, his character is the one most betrayed by the screen version, recast as exactly the "comicbook villain" he (in one of the more acceptable rewrites -- how much of the audience, after all, would even know what a Republic serial was?) claims not to be: a fey, liberal Lex Luthor with floppy hair.
Sigh.
Anyway, courtesy of Robin yet again, here's a great antidote to all this nonsense:
I think we're probably over it now.
Posted by matt at March 7, 2009 7:52 PM