Superhero Filmmakers: Where's Our Watchmen?

seriously. they needed a young robert redford type, and they cast a pasty english dude affecting a german accent.

wilson as dreiberg/nite owl is good casting tho

agreed on the veidt casting. maybe he'll pull it off over the long haul...

OTOH, casting overall seems pretty okay. kelly leak as rorschach!

Careful, you'll get tagged as Shakey Morbius III.

"... given the necessary compromises"

seriously. they needed a young robert redford type, and they cast a pasty english dude affecting a german accent.

He doesn't bother me that much. Moore & Gibbons had always indicated in the annotations/notes that Veidt was more or less a "Sting" type.

haha, what a shocka that is

One wishes that writer, Moore, could have used his considerable talents to produce uplift as opposed to depression, to reach for the sublime instead of the prosaic, to inspire by taking the high road instead of the low.

I've always sorta seen V and Watchmen as companion pieces: V is all about "taking the high road", the possibility of change in society, whereas Watchmen is the cynical work, "the more things change the more they stay the same". It's notable though that both series have an open ending, we don't know what happens after the cataclysmic events in their finales, so V is not totally idealist and Watchmen is not totally pessimist.

Graphically, it isn't very well drafted. It does have the benefit of being created in the semi-realist style that began to be popular in the 1980s though. which instantly makes it better than today's comics drawn in that horrible Japanese Anime/Manga style that has so pervaded the comic book industry of late. Thankfully, Watchmen's was not yet an era infected by this regrettable, current trend in US comic art.

OK, this person has never actually looked at Watchmen or any other comic book.

There's a link to a sodding 22 page long book-by-book critique by the same guy at the bottom of that article.

He had me at "why can't art just be PRETTY?"

"the turn of a woman's arm"

I like how he hated Watchmen enough to write a thesis-length essay on what's bad about it.

"the turn of a woman's arm"

fyi lame-o watchmen the movie has a cuet girl in it

Veidt is not an effeminite euro-pansy. He's supposed to be a liberal/humanist ideal - in perfect shape, a macho sex symbol, an enlightened lefty, etc.

AKA STING

I think you guys are confusing Veidt with John Constantine.

He doesn't bother me that much. Moore & Gibbons had always indicated in the annotations/notes that Veidt was more or less a "Sting" type.

― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Sting is the gift that keeps on giving.

I still think I am the only one in the world who will like this movie (and admit to it).

Girl is hott, guy looks like a schnook, should be worthwhile.

He doesn't bother me that much. Moore & Gibbons had always indicated in the annotations/notes that Veidt was more or less a "Sting" type.

yeah I've never seen/heard this anywhere and am questioning the accuracy of this statement duh

It's so golden I WANT to believe it.

At one point I thought Carry Elwes might be a good Viedt, but I've just googled what he looks like now, and hmmm, no.

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2007/12/8864_0027.jpg

"I engineered a monster, cloned its brain from a human psychic, sent it to New York and killed half the city."

Moore created John Constantine with notes to Rick Vietch (I think) to make him look like Sting. Never heard that about Ozzy.

http://www.sting.com/bin/galImg/siteFiles/4805753713.jpg

"Sure, I'll sign off on those action figures."

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/1784_4_1.jpg

http://www.backissuecomics.co.uk/store/images/DC/DC577A-I-2.jpg

Moore created John Constantine with notes to Rick Vietch (I think) to make him look like Sting. Never heard that about Ozzy.

Bissette/Totleben did the og character design

Yeah, they were all working Swamp Thing around the same time. Couldn't remember who exactly did what.

Veidt is not an effeminite euro-pansy. He's supposed to be a liberal/humanist ideal - in perfect shape, a macho sex symbol, an enlightened lefty, etc.

He was supposed to be an effeminate euro-pansy, cf Rorschach's "don't trust Veidt, maybe he's gay?" musing.

Also I'm not sure you actually saw what he looked like in his costume in the comic book if your first thought on him is "oh, macho sex symbol!"

I'm referring to the way he functions within the world of Watchmen - with action figures modelled on himself, women swooning over him, peddling sexually charged products based on himself, etc.

duh of course he looks gay in his costume. as Morbz accurately points out all superheroes look pretty gay.

Rorschach thinks everyone is a homo/deviant/communist lolz at deferring to his vp for accuracy

> Also I'm not sure you actually saw what he looked like in his costume in the comic book if your first thought on him is "oh, macho sex symbol!"

As The Monarch said of Phantom Limb, he wears a lot of purple for a white guy.

Women threw themselves at Simon LeBon, does that make him a macho sex symbol?

Women continue to throw themselves at Prince, does that make him a macho sex symbol?

yes and yes

Rock Hudson also a macho sex symbol btw

hmm okay Prince is questionable

it just seems obvious to me that within the Watchmen narrative the whole point of Veidt's character is that he represents the IDEAL of western society, the achievement of some kind of rational, humanist pinnacle - and then revealing that the flipside of that character is that he is still a mass murderer. He's a best intentions kind of character. Painting him as a lolz "republic serial villain" complete with threatening homo underpinnings is missing the point entirely.

we all know how Snyder feels about effeminite pansies after 300, right...

^ this. veidt should seem flawless, beautiful, handsome, kind, compassionate, thoughtful, etc. like the perfect presidential candidate. playing up the creepo stuff undercuts the character. that said, i'm gonna give the movie some leeway to reenvision.

I said this a long time ago upthread but Veidt is The Mentalist (it only makes perfect sense)
http://media.sheknows.com/articles/Baker-Simon-Mentalist.jpg

I can only hope the actor who plays veidt in the movie doesn't come off as impotent as night owl.

Veidt has never come across that way to me, even on my first reading of "Watchmen". He has always come across as somewhat imperious and condescending, the type of ersatz goody-two-shoes who will cheerfully lead you down a path, then stab you in the back in the name of personal advancement. I don't think he's trying to save the world out of any type of humanistic ideal; he's trying to save the world because he wants to prove that he's the only one who can (hence the self-important codename "Ozymandius").

As The Monarch said of Phantom Limb, he wears a lot of purple for a white guy.

Really wishing there was a Venture Brother movie instead.

He has always come across as somewhat imperious and condescending, the type of ersatz goody-two-shoes who will cheerfully lead you down a path, then stab you in the back in the name of personal advancement.

Tom Cruise

> Really wishing there was a Venture Brother movie instead.

I heard a rumor that's what's up after S4.

Venture Bros is totally the Watchmen of superhero cartoons.

Lots more clips here: http://io9.com/5156689/6-more-watchmen-clips-to-put-you-in-the-costumed-adventuring-mood

I always thought Cruise was perfect for Veidt.