Zack Snyder has always been (and will likely continue to be) a very divisive filmmaker, but it's probably fair to say that none of his films have drawn as mixed a response from fans and critics alike than his 2009 adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen.
A few notable changes (the squid, for example) aside, the movie was mostly pretty faithful (some would say overly so) to Moore's seminal graphic novel, but a lot of fans felt that Snyder missed the overall point of the story by either glossing over or completely ignoring its more satirical/subversive elements (the term "style over substance" came up a lot).
That's debatable, of course, and an actor who played one of the main roles in the film would certainly disagree.
During a video interview to promote Insidious: The Red Door, Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II) reflected on his experience working on the movie, and he's of the opinion that audiences simply "weren't ready" for Snyder's interpretation of Watchmen at the time.
"Watchmen is the only movie of mine that I've watched front to back since a premiere," Wilson tells CinemaBlend. "I wanted to look at it as an older guy, as a filmmaker. I knew Zack was ahead of the curve, y'know, it's weird to say that audiences weren't ready for it, but you need a movie like that. You need movies to go so dark, so then Avengers can go so light. Bur yeah, I love that movie.. I mean, I'd love to do that movie now."
Watchmen was recently revisited for an HBO sequel series, that was much more positively received. A second season was discussed, but never came to fruition.
What do you guys make of Wilson's take? Do you agree that Snyder's Watchmen is underrated? Drop us a comment down below.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.