[Film] Revisiting Watchmen

From the moment the first trailer for Watchmen was revealed, my thought was that it would be a breathtaking adaptation of the characters and story that stripped it of most of its meaning and subtlety.

The book, for its part, is one of the least overrated recipients of a "greatest X of all time" consensus in existence - it masters the art of comic book superhero storytelling while also creating a complex structural commentary on its own subject matter. To call it "unfilmable" is to miss the point to some degree - it is simply not translatable into any other medium. If a filmmaker wanted to set out into equivocating Watchmen in film form, one of the first things they would have to do would be to throw out much of the story itself. It is a product of its format, its genre, and its era, and adapting it so directly to film is futile if it is an attempt to adapt it at its thematic core.

When I watched the film on opening night, my original assumption seemed to hold true. The story and the characters come to life vibrantly and are breathtakingly faithful to the source material. The unfortunate side of this is that the film feels shallower as an experience than the book. Another downside is that it is so faithful that any changes present become glaring wounds on the film - every missing beat and every altered plot point is preset to be annoying to the viewer who is familiar with the source material. Some took this in stride, while others absolutely hated the film for it. For my part, I found myself closer to the former - willing to adapt, but also mildly bothered, especially by the ending, which seemed to me to violently alter several thematic aspects of the original.

Like the book, though, I felt like the movie would likely benefit greatly from a second viewing. In the case of the book, this is because the presentation is so complex and layered that an entire level of the story opens up to those who read it a second (and third, and fourth) time. The film was different - watching it for the second time, I felt more at ease with the changes, and this allowed me to gain more enjoyment from the film itself (which, despite its lessened subtlety, is still monstrously complex and a visual masterpiece).

In the end, the test of time will sort out true failure from success, and I have a feeling that Watchmen will endure as a tentpole in the film superhero genre - even if it's not quite as big a one as it is in the world of graphic novels.

[Animation] Wonder Woman (2009)

The use of the (2009) quantifier above is just a wee bit pandering, I suppose. It seems to have pervaded listings of the film universally, yet there has never been a Wonder Woman movie before. Curious that this animated film, which offers up the seemingly definitive tale of the character and her mythology to date, would need to be explained away by its year of release (as opposed to, say, an "Animated Movie" subtitle).

Having seen the film over this past weekend at WonderCon, I really just want to portray that I'm impressed as hell with it. The DC Universe series of animated films has been very successful so far, exploring and reinterpreting classic parts of DC lore that may never get the film treatment they deserve.

Not only does Wonder Woman successfully blend epic, mythic action and drama with a comedic subplot, but it's just the right kind of self conscious and perfectly tongue-in-cheek about the absurdities of the source material (such as the invisible jet and the lasso of truth) while still taking itself seriously. Michael Jelenic's screenplay paces the story perfectly with the beats of pure entertainment, and up-and-coming animation savant Lauren Montgomery proves why a legend like Bruce Timm would trust her so much with the director's role for these films. The voice cast is, in a word, solid.

A review of a film like this may be worthless - the vast majority of the target audience will buy it regardless of what anyone else says or thinks - but still, if you're on the fence, at least give this a thorough Netflixing.

[Film] Outlander

It's a simple enough high concept: Vikings vs. Aliens. The images that ensue from this pitch can range from the completely awesome to the terrifyingly corny. One look at the trailer, however, quells most fears about this movie.

Outlander is a remarkable piece of cinema. The filmmakers took their core concepts, cheesy on their most fundamental level, and crafted an exceedingly well-told sci-fi story without a hint of irony or self-deprecation. The end result is entertaining as hell in a less straightforward way than you'd ever expect from a concept piece about Vikings fighting an alien monster. The production values are very high, and the budget is put to extremely effective use.

Unfortunately, this film is only receiving a very limited release in the U.S. It's an absolute crime that this movie is being buried; not only does it deserve better, but it has all the trappings of a sleeper hit and a cult classic in one very entertaining package.

On a scale of one to awesome, I rate this movie Viking Ron Perlman.