Tales of the Invisible Ben

I'm watching the Watchmen...

So like many other people, I went and saw The Dark Knight during its opening weekend. My girlfriend has not yet seen the film, so I'm going to avoid any spoiler-filled reviews except to say that I enjoyed the movie and think that both Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger gave particularly noteworthy performances. Also, they somehow got Commissioner Gordon to portray himself under the pseudonym of "Gary Oldman" (whoever that is).

But perhaps even more enjoyable than watching the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime square off with the fate of Gotham in the balance, at least from the perspective of my inner geek, was watching the trailer for the upcoming cinematic adaptation of Watchmen.

Now I have read Alan Moore's graphic novel at least a dozen times over the years and when rumors began flying that a movie was in the works, I was among the first to argue that this it was simply too complicated to capture in a 2 1/2 hour long movie.

But damn if this isn't a pretty trailer.




I'm still uncertain about a few things. The costume designs for Nite-Owl and Ozymandias, for example, make me a little nervous, and I know very little about most of the major actors involved. But there are so many little touches throughout the trailer that gave me hope that the people associated with the film truly respect the source material.

A few standout moments include:

• The Comedian's smiley-face button.
• Rorschach's mask, subtly shifting patterns with his speech
• Ozymandias' wall of televisions
• The use of Veidt brand aerosol cans in a makeshift flamethrower
• Dr. Manhattan winning the Vietnam War

Unlike the Sleeper, I think that Dr. Manhattan's CGI looks pretty good. Let's be honest...it's hard to realistically present a giant blue man with the ability to control matter at a molecular level. Frankly, we should all be glad that they didn't just smear Billy Crudup with azure body paint. (Who knows what sort of hits that last sentence will bring up on Google?)

I confess, I still have my doubts. Anyone who watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen knows that Alan Moore-inspired movies tend to fall significantly short of their source material. And let's not forget that trailers can make any movie, even The Phantom Menace, look exciting. Nonetheless, the more I read about the project, the more willing I am to set aside my doubts and wait for the final product. Zack Snyder seems to understand that some fans will want to see every part of the original story and has taken steps to address those parts that simply won't fit into a standard movie running time. (For example, by including the Black Freighter storyline as a separate full length animated feature.) If they can maintain the attention to detail present in this trailer without significantly making sacrifices to the storyline, there may be hope for this new Watchmen movie yet.

And when it comes out, you had better believe, I'll be watching.