"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Friday, September 19, 2008

Trailer: Watchmen

I read this graphic novel many years ago but I didn't have enough background information or maturity at the time to truly appreciate the scope and scale of what Moore and Gibbons were trying to accomplish with their 12 issue comic; I'm re-reading it before the film's release. From Wikipedia:

Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternate history of the United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union; throughout the books, the Doomsday Clock is shown gradually ticking towards midnight. It tells the story of a group of past and present heroes and superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts heroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who—with one notable exception—lack anything immediately recognizable as accepted super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
Watchmen and Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns are the two titles most often cited as re-energizing the comic book industry during it's crisis slump in the mid 80's, so it seems only fitting that film makers now have the technology to truly bring these stories to life on the big screen, rendering them as beautifully as I've seen them in my head for decades:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We saw a preview for this before TDK. I thought the animation was absolutely MISERABLE. Perhaps it was preliminary and things will change (I didn't watch your inbedded video), but if it doesn't then they won't be getting my money.