Episode 15 - Watchmen (HBO)

Merry Christmas everyone! So in honor of the Christmas spirit, here's a little story: 34 years ago, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons create arguably the magnum opus of the comic book/graphic novel genre. It's widely praised but when it comes time for the comic to be adapted, it goes through development hell and is considered widely unfilmable. To add insult to injury, Alan Moore goes crazy and considers comic book writing "sacred" and that any attempted adaptations of his work would be considered an abomination of man. Furthermore, he goes on to state that any comic book writer who creates anything derivative is a useless hack who contributes nothing to the genre. Even tho he himself made his name for publishing derivate works of other, more widely known characters.
Fast forward 20+ years and Zach Snyder's adaptation of the comics is released in theaters in March of 2009. It receives mixed reviews, but the things that are undeniable about the film are thus: Snyder truly does do a pitch-perfect adaptation in every sense of the dictionary definition, as the film is, for the most part, a shot for shot, panel for panel straight adaptation of the comic with one of the most visually interesting aesthetics of any film, with two major differences: one, the infamous changed ending in which the manner through which Ozymandias enacts his final plan is changed significantly, and two, how he presents the heroes as more so cinematically embittered antiheroes with plenty of flash and matrix-like fight techniques, for the purposes of revere rather than deconstruction. The second point I feel is the larger criticism that stands out because it ultimately goes against the theme of the comic and ends up creating a severe clash of tones. As for changing the ending, that one I'm chalking up to dumb luck because there's no way Snyder is smart enough to think of an ending that's better, makes more sense by every definition and in a way makes the flaws of the comic almost passable on his own.
Then comes Damon Lindelof, who's made a name for himself for having created two of the most widely known and critically praised shows of the last two decades. Having been offered the opportunity twice before to adapt Watchmen, he finally accepts the third time knowing he probably won't get a shot like this again. It's been 34 years since the comic, 10 years since the movie, and the time is ripe. So he does it. And now Chris & I are here to review it. Merry Christmas to all, this is...HBO's Watchmen. Enjoy.

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