It has been 10 years since the release of Zack Snyder's
Watchmen. Some fans praise the director's visionary take on the classic comic book while others point out a variety of the film's shortcomings.
The director’s take on the material may not have totally understood what Alan Moore was trying to say in his popular comic, and gave us too much distractingly gory action - not to mention one of cinema's most absurd sex scenes - but it wasn’t all bad by any means. Jackie Earle Haley played Rorschach exceptionally and Dr. Manhattan's origin scene was pure brilliance. It was consistently beautiful to look at, which was unsurprising given that Snyder always infuses his work with gorgeous visuals.
Now, looking back at the film; one of its stars thinks that its most crucial downfall was that it was "ahead of its time."
Here's what Jeffrey Dean Morgan said to
Variety at the premiere of his new film
Rampage:
I'm very proud of that movie. People are still finding it and watching it and I think it'll have fans forever. I think it was ahead of its time. I don't know what else to say, other than I'm extremely proud of it. Not long ago, I caught the second half of the film, just flipping channels, and loved it. It was great.
In hopes of capitalizing on the story's potential, Damon Lindelof is developing a Watchmen series for HBO, with a longer total runtime allowing the series to explore a variety of elements more thoroughly. Perhaps now is the right time for a live-action adaptation.
The original book from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was considered one of the most difficult stories to adapt in any live-action medium, given the dense themes and mature subject matter, yet the success of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins helped confirm that audiences were ready for more adult-oriented superhero stories than fans had previously seen. Hot off the success of his 300 adaptation, Snyder was tapped to bring the film to life with his compelling visual style, delivering to audiences the epic tale.
Snyder certainly tried his hardest and perhaps delivered the best live-action take on the Watchmen we could've gotten. It's up to you to decide whether you think his efforts paid off.
What do you think about Morgan's hypothesis that the film was ahead of its time? What's your opinion of the film? With David Lindelof's attempt to adapt Watchmen just around the corner; do you think now is the right time? Will you be watching the Watchmen (once it arrives on HBO)?