Kevin Smith Watchmen movie impressions:

[Bweez]

“I saw Watchmen. It’s fucking astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off. Remember that feeling of watching Sin City on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you’ll come close to watching Watchmen. Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can’t come soon enough.”

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/15/kevin-smith-has-seen-watchmen-its-fking-astounding/

hmmmmm

[Tanjint]

that lucky bastard. well that's cool, no one can wait. but in the meantime i can get my friends that haven't read it yet to read it. One friend called today raving about how much he loved it. I recently got a hold of aNOTther copy today as well so I can double my conversion rate.

i still don't get why Smith can't do signings at con though.

i mean even one of those ticketed signing in the autograph area where you have to have had bought a certain product from a certain booth (which would greatly limit admission to a signing, preventing overcrowding problems) would be better than no signing at all.

-T

[ultramandingo]

.......it has a smith seal of approval ( the guy fom the daredevil movie !!!! ) must of had alot of dick jokes in it

[hYPE]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/15/kevin-smith-has-seen-watchmen-its-fking-astounding/

hmmmmm

Lucky son of a b****!!! Man, I'm super jealous!

[Ryan Day]

Well if the guy behind Jersey Girl liked it, I don't see how it could possibly fail. And Sin City really isn't a good example, either.

This actually makes my optimism take a turn downwards.

[Bweez]

^yeah pick his worst movie why don't ya.

Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc.

[HouseSolo]

^yeah pick his worst movie why don't ya.

Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc.

Haha, really. You can't call Kevin Smith the "Jersey Girl" guy. Those 3 listed right there are amazing movies.

[jesse_custer]

Well if the guy behind Jersey Girl liked it, I don't see how it could possibly fail. And Sin City really isn't a good example, either.

This actually makes my optimism take a turn downwards.

But Sin City was faithful to the source, content-wise and visually, and that was Smith's point.

Kevin Smith may not be a good filmmaker anymore (I think Clerks is his only great film), but he does know a lot about comic books.

[stealthwise]

I gotta agree with the above sentiment that this only furthers my cynicism about the flick. Snyder's great at pushing geek buttons though, and his style really lends itself well to the testosterone crowd, so I'm sure the film will be successful, without having any real depth.

[Ryan Day]

But Sin City was faithful to the source, content-wise and visually, and that was Smith's point.


But it's not a very good movie, which is part of my point. Sin City and 300 are almost panel-to-screen adaptations of fairly simple stories. That approach won't work with Watchmen.

"Faithful" isn't a good thing in and of itself.Sure, Sin City was faithful, but up to the point of ignoring that some things that work in a comic don't work in a movie.

[RaulTheCat]

But it's not a very good movie, which is part of my point. Sin City and 300 are almost panel-to-screen adaptations of fairly simple stories. That approach won't work with Watchmen.

"Faithful" isn't a good thing in and of itself.Sure, Sin City was faithful, but up to the point of ignoring that some things that work in a comic don't work in a movie.
Sin City was faithful, in as much as it was a horrible movie based on a horrible comic series.
300 was the same. A movie that was nothing but Sturm und Drang, devoid of anything that was not visually stimulating. Much like the source material.
Watchmen will not work with that type of vision. I am setting my expectations LOW for this. That way I won't be disappointed, or I could possibly be pleasantly surprised.

[DonC]

i still don't get why Smith can't do signings at con though.

i mean even one of those ticketed signing in the autograph area where you have to have had bought a certain product from a certain booth (which would greatly limit admission to a signing, preventing overcrowding problems) would be better than no signing at all.

-T


You must be going to the wrong cons. He signs autographs in Chicago every time he goes.


And while I realize Kevin Smith supposed to be our dork king, he can also get caught up in hype. Watchmen does look good, for the two minutes of it I've seen. Once I see the rest, I'll decide if it's good, no matter what the reviews say.

Finally, why the non-disclosue agreement? The movie is based on a 20-year-old graphic novel. "I did it 30 minutes ago" isn't going to be a surprise to comic fans.

[Ryan Day]

Finally, why the non-disclosue agreement? The movie is based on a 20-year-old graphic novel. "I did it 30 minutes ago" isn't going to be a surprise to comic fans.

It will if the next line is "You only think you did! We stopped your diabolical plan - you just destroyed a set we made you think was New York! All thanks to the Comedian, who, you see, isn't dead at all!"

[Perry Holley]

Finally, why the non-disclosue agreement? The movie is based on a 20-year-old graphic novel. "I did it 30 minutes ago" isn't going to be a surprise to comic fans.According to the Entertainment Weekly article, the ending is being changed a bit, so "thirty minutes ago" may or may not be in there.

Which is a shame, because it's a truly badass line.

[scratchie]

Which is a shame, because it's a truly badass line.

That's the best line in the whole book. If they changed that, it's going to be hard to make a convincing argument that they stayed "true" to the original source material.

I'm in the camp which is setting its expectations very low. As others have pointed out, 300 is simply a panel-by-panel translation of a comic that was all about visuals. Nothing in that movie gives any indication that the director is capable of handling a complex, multi-layered work like Watchmen. Which is not to say that he can't, just that there's no evidence of it from his previous movie.

[Chemical King]

That's the best line in the whole book. If they changed that, it's going to be hard to make a convincing argument that they stayed "true" to the original source material.

I'm in the camp which is setting its expectations very low. As others have pointed out, 300 is simply a panel-by-panel translation of a comic that was all about visuals. Nothing in that movie gives any indication that the director is capable of handling a complex, multi-layered work like Watchmen. Which is not to say that he can't, just that there's no evidence of it from his previous movie.

I'm with you on that. Watchmen is such a complex graphic novel, it's absolutely impossible to put it all into 150 minutes. I mean, we're talking about a nine panel grid comic book, there is so much content in it... and when I'm starting to hear that they somehow tinker with the ending, I'm getting a very bad feeling about this (The world is saved, Ozymandias is stopped, the Watchmen are reunited and Night Owl marries his girl... ugh)

And 300 was a totally different comic book. Lots of splash pages, lots of action, no real story. I never was a big Frank Miller fan and never got the excitement about his 300 series. So there a whole different challenge there to do an Alan Moore book than there is with a Frank Miller book...

But I really like most of the things Kevin Smith does. I like his humor (minus the endless dick jokes) and his Mallrats and his Jersey Girl, so his comment is rather a plus in my book. But I guess he would say the same about any comic book movie done by anyone because he is such a nice guy...

[Bweez]

^and Rorschach lives! lol.

[Tanjint]

i hope they don't change the ending too much. and if there's not some acceptable equivalent to the 30 minutes ago the streets will burn!


-T

[Tanjint]

also as long as we're evaluating smith's movies, I think clerks and chasing amy are truly great

dogma is very good

mallrats and jay and silent bob strikes back are fun if dumb/insubstantial often.

clerks 2 was fun to see once

the rest is eh. I have decent hopes for zach and miri though.


-T

[Ilash]

also as long as we're evaluating smith's movies, I think clerks and chasing amy are truly great

dogma is very good

mallrats and jay and silent bob strikes back are fun if dumb/insubstantial often.

clerks 2 was fun to see once

the rest is eh. I have decent hopes for zach and miri though.


-T

Um, doesn't "the rest" consist of nothing more than Jersey Girl? I do pretty much agree with your takes on his films but while it is encouraging to hear that he liked Watchmen, I think he's a friend of Snyder's so I would take his opinion with a pinch of salt.

[Tanjint]

the rest pretty much is Jersey girl, yeah huh?

well he executive produced good will hunting which kicked ass.

he worked on that vulgar the clown which didn't interest me...

and as far as television...he directed the first episode of that show about that kid that has to capture escaped prisoners of hell which was hilarious

first episode of heroes, was pretty good

the clerks cartoon was better than clerks 2

meh

His comic stuff that I've read is pretty sweet. all the DD is good...though 'evil that men do' had a weird fucking ending. haven't read 'quiver' yet

-T

[Perry Holley]

^and Rorschach lives! lol.Ahh, you've read the Sam Hamm script!

[RaulTheCat]

Ahh, you've read the Sam Hamm script!

As doubtful as I am with the movie, I am so grateful that they decided NOT to ever use that script for anything, ever. It was that bad.

[Perry Holley]

As doubtful as I am with the movie, I am so grateful that they decided NOT to ever use that script for anything, ever. It was that bad.I'm not certain why Hamm wrote those opening and closing sequences the way he did. They just don't scream Watchmen to me.

That said, if you took those two sequences, took different superhero characters, and had a different plot to bridge the beginning and ending scenes, you might have had an interesting, quirky superhero film... probably not something that would have been a big hit, but perhaps something that might have become a cult favorite, perhaps.

[Perry Holley]

For those wondering what RaulTheCat and I are talking about...

http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/wtchmn.txt

[Lester C.]

I love Kevin Smith. I love his movies, I love his comics and I love his personality. But let's be honest here he loved the Star Wars prequels and his movies have never been well received by the mainstream. If he says he liked Watchman I think we might be in trouble.

Also don't forget David Hayter, the guy who voices Solid Snake, writer of X-men and cowriter of X-men 2 had to have his script for Watchman revised because it was too close to the source material.

[RaulTheCat]

I'm not certain why Hamm wrote those opening and closing sequences the way he did. They just don't scream Watchmen to me.

That said, if you took those two sequences, took different superhero characters, and had a different plot to bridge the beginning and ending scenes, you might have had an interesting, quirky superhero film... probably not something that would have been a big hit, but perhaps something that might have become a cult favorite, perhaps.

That's the thing, the opening and ending sequences don't even jibe with the rest of the film. The ending is incredibly weird and surreal, like a Twilight Zone episode.
I can't imagine any studio even considering to make that script, but then again, Joel Silver was attached to the project at some point...

[Bweez]

Ahh, you've read the Sam Hamm script!


Haha, I actually hadn't when I posted that, I was just adding to the list of silly things I wouldn't put past Hollywood to manufacture.

[BigBoss]

According to the Entertainment Weekly article, the ending is being changed a bit, so "thirty minutes ago" may or may not be in there.

Which is a shame, because it's a truly badass line.

this movie then shall automatically suckballs.

[Bweez]

well, considering there is no line that involves "30 minutes ago," I hope it's not in there :P

[mattx110]

The only change is instead of saying "I'm not a republic serial villian", he says "I'm not a republican".

Don't worry.

[Tanjint]

well, considering there is no line that involves "30 minutes ago," I hope it's not in there :P

what's the line?

-T

[Bweez]

"I did it 35 minutes ago," right? :biggrin: :rolleyes: :evilsmile:

[Tanjint]

Oh yeah. Word.

-T

[Tanjint]

The only change is instead of saying "I'm not a republic serial villian", he says "I'm not a republican".

Don't worry.

LOL nice

-T

[jesse_custer]

"Faithful" isn't a good thing in and of itself.Sure, Sin City was faithful, but up to the point of ignoring that some things that work in a comic don't work in a movie.

I wasn't suggesting that faithfulness was always a good thing. I mean, The Da Vinci Code film is very faithful, and it sucked.

But sometimes being faithful can be positive. I thought the Sin City movie was a lot of fun even though it wasn't perfect.