Cost too high for “End is Nigh”
THE NEXT LEVEL
The downloadable game “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” is a strong indication of the high-end of graphics that can be delivered in the downloadable format, but ultimately the game doesn’t live up to its visuals or its source material. Furthermore, the game only offers about three hours of play for around $20.
Spinning off from the movie “Watchmen,” itself based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, “End is Nigh” takes place in the 1970s, when superheroes Nite Owl and Rorschach worked as a team.
The gamer can play as either Rorschach or Nite Owl in a single player or cooperative multiplayer game.
The game takes place in 1972, as Nite Owl and Rorschach attempt to shut down a prison riot in Sing Sing.
As it turns out, the riot was only a cover so that crime lord the Underboss could escape. On each level, Nite Owl and Rorschach must bash their way through a phalanx of thugs as they seek the Underboss. Eventually they uncover a planned assassination attempt, which the gamer will see as a twist from the actual history of 1972. Gibbons was an art consultant on the game, and it’s written by original “Watchmen” editor Len Wein. The story is decent, and the look is brilliant. But the gameplay isn’t there.
Rorschach and Nite Owl have different fighting styles and power-ups. Rorschach is a brawler, taking on multiple enemies at once. Nite Owl is a more strategic fighter who also has an electrical weapon in his suit. The combat is similar to other beat-’em-up games.
While “Watchmen” the graphic novel is a brilliant deconstruction of the superhero, “The End is Nigh” is a by-the-numbers fighter that’s graphically impressive, but doesn’t offer anything new.
The game is rated M for mature and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
“Watchmen” sales top 1 million
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The sales of “Watchmen” collected editions have topped 1 million units since the trailer was released with the “Dark Knight” film in July 2008, DC Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne announced at the ComicsPRO Annual Meeting.
In addition, DC Comics offered a fourth consignment program for retailers to help keep “Watchmen” stocked deeply on store shelves.
“We think there will still be people coming in looking for this book,” Wayne said, citing anticipated continued demand projected by DC Comics.
– Matt Price
Watchmen takes a big fall in second weekend
According to Box Office Mojo, “Watchmen” dropped by two-thirds in its second weekend for a weekend total of $18.1 million. According to Box Office Mojo, only “Hellboy II” and “Hulk” had stiffer second-week drops among major comic-book movies.
While I think “Watchmen” was a success creatively, for the most part, there is the question of the film’s intended audience. Comic-book fans came out in droves and packed the IMAX theaters, but this wasn’t a movie that tracked well among women, and it wasn’t the kind of film that parents could take their children to see.
Still, the graphic novel has long been fiercely admired among its fans, and it’s possible the film will find a similar success in the longer term. While cinema-goers have accepted Spider-Man and Batman films, there is apparently still some resistance to or confusion over a very mature superhero tale like “Watchmen.”
Still, I’d like to pass on some thoughtful words from someone else, who, like the characters in “Watchmen,” is a denizen of 1985:
“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that, yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”
– Matt Price
Entertainment Insider: What does Watchmen’s box office mean?
Gene Triplett, Heather Warlick, Matt Price and Brandy McDonnell discuss what the opening box office for “Watchmen” might mean for future comic-book films. Also discussed: band reunions and “Killer Inside Me,” now filming in Oklahoma.
Watchmen opens to $55.7 million
According to Box Office Mojo, “Watchmen” made $55.7 million in its opening weekend. That’s behind the blistering pace of director Zack Snyder’s previous film, “300,” but double the openings of two previous adaptations of Alan Moore graphic novels, “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “V for Vendetta.”
WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, MARCH 6-8, 2009
Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #
1. Watchmen (Warner Bros.)
$55.7 million | 3,611 | $55.7 million | 1
2. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail (Lionsgate)
$8.8 million | 2,151 | $76.5 million | 3
3. Taken (Fox)
$7.5 million | 3,016 | $118.0 million | 6
4. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
$6.9 million | 2,890 | $125.4 million | 17
5. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony / Columbia)
$4.2 million | 2,558 | $133.6 million | 8
Source: Box Office Mojo
(www.boxofficemojo.com)
“Watchmen” opening credit sequence online
The opening credits to Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” in theaters now. I maintain this is one of the all-time great opening credits. EDIT: Not anymore. I was wondering if that was an official trailer/release or not; it appears perhaps it was not!
- Matt Price
Watchmen has $25m Friday
Box Office Mojo is reporting a $25 million box office for “Watchmen” on Friday. Whether that’s in line with projections or disappointing depends on who you talk to at this point. It’s behind the $28 million scored by director Zack Snyder with “300,” though that movie’s shorter running time meant more screenings could be held on the opening day.
It’s higher than both “Hulk” and “Fantastic Four” openings, and both of those movies were shorter than “Watchmen,” and PG-13 to boot. On Box Office Mojo’s all-time opening days list, it’s between Lord of the Rings: Two Towers and Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
– Matt Price
Movie review: Watchmen
Set in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war, “Watchmen” is a mature and complex adaptation that could be considered too close to its source material.
The film is based on possibly the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time, “Watchmen,” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The series was first released in 12 issues in 1986-1987. You won’t see Moore’s name anywhere in the credits, though, as he’s forsworn all film adaptations of his work.
At its simplest, “Watchmen” is a superhero murder mystery. When superhero-turned-government agent The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, his former colleague Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) goes into action. Rorschach suspects someone is targeting the now-outlawed masked vigilantes for extinction.
Rorschach warns former colleague Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the only superhero who has superpowers. Caught in a scientific accident, Jon Osterman transformed into the bright blue Dr. Manhattan, a superbeing who can manipulate material and see into his own future.
His connection to humanity is Laurie Juspeczyk (Malin Akerman), the second Silk Spectre. Her mother, Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), had been at the heart of the first group of costumed crimefighters in the 1940s.
Both Rorschach and Laurie have a connection to Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson), the second hero to call himself Nite Owl. After meeting with Rorschach, Dreiberg warns Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), the world’s smartest man, of the assumed conspiracy to kill the former “Watchmen.”
Ozymandias, aka Adrian Veidt, had retired prior to the passage of the Keene Act, which outlawed masked superheroes. Veidt parlayed his fame and intelligence into a multibillion-dollar enterprise with a focus on alternate forms of energy.
As more heroes are targeted, Rorschach continues his investigation. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Soviet Union draw even closer to nuclear war.
“Watchmen” investigates the motives behind those who would put on a mask to fight the world’s evils, and asks “Who Watches the Watchmen?” in its examination of who controls those who claim to protect the innocent.
While director Zack Snyder amps up the blood, sex and violence beyond what was present in the graphic novel, and while there is no way to capture all the layers of same, he has managed to create an intriguing adaptation of a work long considered unfilmable. The costume design, sets and visuals are rich and dense; the performances of Haley and Wilson stand out.
There are flaws, and the movie will be a lot to take in for those unfamiliar with the source material. But Snyder deserves credit for taking on a massive, complex project and trying to capture its essence.
- Matthew Price
MOVIE REVIEW
“Watchmen”
R -2:41 – 3 stars
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson.
(Strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)
Under the Hood: Patrick Wilson on “Watchmen”
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Patrick Wilson has a deep laugh and a movie-star charm. As such, he wasn’t necessarily online fans’ first choice to play Dan Dreiberg, the nerdy nebbish who is secretly Nite Owl, one of the superheroes at the heart of “Watchmen,” the Zack Snyder adaptation of the graphic novel.
“I remember being cast pretty early on, even though the deal wasn’t known,” Wilson said at the recent press junket for the film. “So I remember when I’d be … hearing randomly about people want this person cast, I would just sort of laugh and I thought, ‘Aw man, but I already have the part!’ There was no chance for these other actors and I felt like I just wanted to put it in an e-mail: Guys, I got news for you. I’m nowhere in your wish list, but, I’m going to be him.”
Wilson put on weight and donned 1980s-style glasses to play Dreiberg, who’s floundering after the government-mandated superhero shutdown. The hero has gadgets and accessories like Batman, but his motivations are different.
“Dan was so far from Bruce Wayne; it’s more Clark Kent than anything,” Wilson said. “I think you don’t run from that, that’s the point, really. The similarities.”
Wilson said he grew up watching Batmans from Adam West on through Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney, and even loves Christian Bale’s current incarnation. Wilson said the similarities with Batman, and Blue Beetle, and “Moon Knight, a couple of other characters thrown in there” didn’t detract from his performance as Nite Owl.
“I don’t know what it’s like to play Batman, but knowing Nite Owl now, it was exciting to act like what Dan would think playing Nite Owl,” Wilson said. “That’s sort of the point of this, is how Dan feels in the suit, not just how Patrick does.”
Dan’s need to be Nite Owl even plays into the film’s romance between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman), which culminates in a graphic-for-superhero-movies sex scene.
“You wanted all the passion, the weird fetish-ness, every bit of that was intentional, on purpose,” Wilson said. “And when you have those parameters of what you set out to do, then it gives you a freedom to just go, OK, let’s go for it.”
Wilson re-unites with his “Little Children” co-star, Jackie Earle Haley, in “Watchmen.” The two play former superhero partners. Wilson said he and Haley hung out together more than worked together on “Little Children,” because Haley’s Ronnie, a suspected child molester, had only a couple of scenes with Wilson’s Brad, a stay-at-home dad who falls into a short-term love affair.
“When I heard (Haley) was being considered, I got so excited, and I just kept crossing my fingers that he was going to get it,” Wilson said. The first day of filming together on “Watchmen,” the pair were breaking into an office in full superhero gear, seeking evidence as to who is trying to kill the former Watchmen.
“It was really funny between takes,” Wilson said. “Before we started, we were sort of looking at each other, saying ‘Here we go again.’ It’s Brad and Ronnie in some very weird sequel to ‘Little Children.’”
Despite the trappings, Wilson developed a reverence for the source material. When he told a friend who was a comics fan about being cast in “Watchmen,” Wilson realized that he was on “hallowed ground” for comic-book fans.
“So for not growing up within that world, I always admired it, if that’s odd to say,” Wilson said. “I felt like vicariously through my friend I knew their importance. Funny thing was, I’ve actually gotten more into it the past year. The problem is, (my friend would) give me other comics and graphic novels, and I’d say, ‘It’s not that great,’ and he’d say, ‘Yeah, you started with “Watchmen.” Most of them will pale in comparison.’”
No more “Watchmen” comics, says co-creator Dave Gibbons
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Dave Gibbons illustrated “Watchmen,” the comic-book series that is the basis of the film opening today. He said he and collaborator Alan Moore – who isn’t involved and doesn’t want his name on the movie – never anticipated the series would become a film.
“It was never the pinnacle of my ambition or Alan’s ambition that there be a movie,” Gibbons said at a recent press junket for the film. “They’re two completely different beasts. There was very early on interest in it, I think to make it into some type of action movie, which would have been horrible.”
In fact, Gibbons said, the creators never anticipated “Watchmen” would be in print as a graphic novel for now 24 years. Gibbons said he anticipated it would be 12 issues and then consigned to the back-issue bins of comic-book shops. In 1986 and 1987, when “Watchmen” was being made, there was little in the way of always-in-print graphic novels.
Gibbons said “Watchmen” the comic book is a complete series, and, like the makers of the film, he has no intention of returning for a sequel.
“We’ve got no plans at all to add anything to ‘Watchmen’ the comic book,” he said. “We did at one point toy with the idea of maybe revisiting those early characters and doing it in a really innocent kind of way. The dramatic twist being we all know the terrible things that are going to happen down the line. But we decided not to do that. I think anything that you added to ‘Watchmen’ would probably dilute it rather than enrich it.”
While “Watchmen” led to a host of “grim and gritty” comic books through the late 1980s, Gibbons said that was never his or Moore’s intent.
“We were really sorry about (it),” Gibbons said. “We love superheroes … and what we were trying to do was get to know them better, as it were. And we went down some dark pathways with it.”
Had he and Moore teamed again, they likely would have taken a crack at a lighter character. “In fact, if Alan and I talked about doing anything after ‘Watchmen,’ apart from going back, it would be to do a character like Captain Marvel, who’s light and fantastic, something for the kids almost.”
Gibbons says his favorite character from the series is Nite Owl.
“Nite Owl was a character that I came up with the name, and the costume of the earlier version of him, when I was a kid, when I used to make up my own comics,” Gibbons said. “When Alan and I were creating ‘Watchmen,’ we knew we had to have kind of a Batman equivalent, and I suggested that. … And probably if I was a superhero, I’m probably Nite Owl; I’d be the guy set in the basement with all the gadgets rather than the psychopath out stalking the alleyways.”
