My first post of Unreeled, but I'll jump straight into it because this is too sweet. The hate-him-or-love-him director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) has let loose the trailer for Watchmen, the film adaptation of Alan Moore's incredible graphic novel, which dissects and explores the hypothetical tragedy of a world too tired of heroes.
"In my movie, Superman doesn't care about humanity, Batman can't get it up, and the bad guy wants world peace," Snyder says with a smirk. "Will Watchmen be the end of superhero movies? Probably not. But it sure will kick them in the gut."
- EW.comThe visuals look orgasmic. Interesting choice of music with the Smashing Pumpkins, but it works in the way that NIN worked for 300. Snyder has kept his promise; many of the shots in the trailer stay true to the exact comic panel (the folks at Ropes of Silicon have examples).
I'm still iffy about Matthew Goode playing legitimized superhero and businessman Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. He looks like a complete pansy next to Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and that shouldn't be the case for the world's most perfect man. The moral absolutist and fan-favorite character of Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is in tip-top form. His voice is oh-so-raspy-good, and his shifting mask is awesome. Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) may have a lame costume, but his spaceship is bitchin'. The Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) looks great, but we still have to see about her acting.
Oh, and the glass castle on Mars? Boner.
But will the actual movie manage to at least brush the literary greatness that is the graphic novel? A lot don't think so - will Zack Snyder simply repeat his style-over-substance mistake and butcher the best piece of comic literature ever? Who knows. Right now, I'm staying positive. In the meanwhile, indulge:
You can see the HD version of the trailer at Apple.com.
