Popular comic to hit big screen

By Patrick Arvizu
Staff Writer

On March 6, 2009, the highly anticipated movie adaptation of "Watchmen" will be released nationwide. Based on a limited comic series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, "Watchmen" remains one of the most influential comic books, having been awarded various honors including a Hugo Award in 1988. "Watchmen" is also listed in Time's list of "100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present," compiled in 2005.
The initial run of the comic in 1986 and 1987 was a commercial success, and unsurprisingly, several attempts at film adaptations have been made in the past. According to a recent CNN article, directors such as "Terry Gillham, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass and David Hayter" have accepted the job at one point or another, only to be halted by "studio fears about the budget," questions about transitioning from comic to film, and "how the ending might be perceived in a post 9/11 world."
The director who ultimately created the film, Zach Snyder, is well known for his adaptation of another comic book series. As one of Snyder's first feature films, "300" broke box office records and became a pop culture icon, even if its highly stylized art direction, 2-dimensional characters and xenophobic undertones were the source of constant criticism and parody. Concerns with "300" should not transfer over to "Watchmen." It appears to be a movie with vastly different source material and, according to a CNN interview with Snyder, has more use of actual sets over color keying.
Alan Moore, a legend among comic writers, has stated that his goal with "Watchmen" was to write a story involving superheroes in a real world setting.
In a 2005 interview in Entertainment Weekly, Moore stated, "I... wanted to write about power politics. For me, the '80s were worrying. 'Mutually assured destruction.' 'Voodoo economics.' A culture of complacency... I was writing about times I lived in," said Moore.
Like the comic book series, the movie takes place in an alternate 1985. Superheroes exist and are present, but with few exceptions, have been outlawed. Richard Nixon is still president and serving his fourth term. The scandal over the Watergate break-in never occurred due to the murders of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The Vietnam War ended favorably for the United States and the Soviet Union is in the process of involving itself in Afghanistan's civil war. Global tensions are rising in this version of the Cold War, with Soviet concerns over the United States' superhero advantage, risking the start of another arms race or possible nuclear war.
The cast contains lesser-known actors from a variety of backgrounds. Academy Award-nominated actor Jackie Earle Haley portrays Rorschach, a right-wing vigilante who played a major role in the comic book. William Crudup, a Tony Award-winning actor most famous for his role as Will Bloom in "Big Fish," plays Doctor Manhattan, a blue-skinned superhero created out of a lab accident. Jeffery Dean Morgan, widely known for his role as Denny Duquette on "Grey's Anatomy," stars as The Comedian, a sociopath and source of Watchmen's bloodstained happy face icon seen in promotional material.
Despite multiple adaptations of his works, Moore refuses to participate with any movie versions. Moore has publicly distanced himself from the film version of "Watchmen," claming in a recent interview with an Australian newspaper, "[My works] weren't ever designed to be films ... They were designed to exploit all the things that comic books can do and that no other medium can."
Other comic books Moore has written that have been turned into feature films include "V for Vendetta" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."
While Moore and diehard comic fans might not be happy with the end result, as some sections of the 12-part comic series undoubtedly need to have been edited to fit in the three hour time span, "Watchmen" appears as a good effort on the part of Snyder from the outset. "Watchmen" could be one of the first blockbusters of 2009.