When I first heard that Zack "300" Snyder was going to helm the long-awaited film version of Watchmen, my heart sank faster than a leaky submarine. I didn't care much for 300, and thought it was a silly film. But there's no denying the huge success it was, and the huge fanbase it created, on top of the already existing one of Frank Miller worshippers.
Today, The Hollywood Reporter published a confirmed list of actors for Watchmen. Jackie Earle Haley will play Rorschach, along with Billy Crudup (Dr Manhattan), Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias), Patrick Wilson (Nite-Owl), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (the Comedian).
I worship the ground that Alan Moore walks on, and I have a shrine dedicated to the Watchmen. I thought Paul Greengrass would have been capable of doing a decent job of it, but Snyder? What do you think? Will the cast pull it off?
Ho hum. I still don't want to completely give up on this - and I can't say I know too many of the actors involved that well so can't really comment on the casting. But I can't imagine that this is going to be the film that Alan Moore proudly keeps his name on. Zack Snyder seems to have proved himself incapable of creating anything remotely complex (or even comprehensible) in the past so how he's going to cope with Watchmen I have no idea. 300 really was one of the worst films of recent times - should have just left it at the trailer which at least made it look enjoyable. I guess its maybe too late for Watchmen now but I still can't help but imagine the versions Gilliam or Aronofsky could have made...
Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg? I like him as an actor, but it's hard for me to picture him as Nite Owl.
What you guys said... "300" looked awfully pretty, but the story was so blunt and simplistic, I wonder how Snyder is going to handle the considerably more layered story (and characters) that Watchmen has.
I thought 300 was a good movie.
I guess you have to be a fan of Frank Miller and his art work and comics (as I am one of them) to really enjoy the movie, and the only reason 300 was such a good movie is that Frank had a hand in the making, just as he did in Sin City. Sin City and 300 are straight out of his comic books, as in the look and feel.
Not for everyone I guess, but for us fans it was right on target (more or less).
don't fuck it up snyder. i will hunt you down if i don't like this movie. i didn't like 300 so so far i'm not expecting much from you...cgi, yes i am expecting that.
but as i've said it before i'll say it again...special effects don't make a movie good. you have the incredibly rare and special opportunity to bring watchmen to the big screen. don't screw it up, buddy...do not screw it up.
Whether the movie is good or bad, it will be fun to see what Snyder makes of it. SO far I have enjoyed each movie he has directed immensely. That is not to say that this guarantees success. Only that the POSSIBILITY of success is there. A bad movie experience will not ruin the book. The book will always be held in high regard, no matter what happens. Like Stephen King's The Stand, which is my favourite single novel of his (that doesn't involve a gunslinger), it was turned into a made for tv movie starring Molly Ringworm and that kid from Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Corin Nemic. I still love the book, but the movie tanks.
Nobody has ever made a good Alan Moore film yet so we'll see.