The Watchmen trailer (plus its great music), the limits of the superhero film genre, and our first look at a Max Payne movie.

One of the most pleasant not-quite-surprises of going to see The Dark Knight last weekend was getting to see our first official glimpse of the upcoming Watchmen movie. It was a great appetizer for the feast it preceded.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ve already been back to watch the Watchmen trailer again several times since.

This is an example of how to do trailers. It’s the perfect teaser: all memorable imagery and mood, meant only to build anticipation. Arguments abound as to whether or not the movie will be any good — not to mention whether one of the pinnacles of the graphic novel form even needs a film version. I fall in the camp that if nothing else, it will be exciting to see the classic panels in motion. Of course, the images are all we really get a taste of in this trailer, and on that front it’s reassuring. 300’s hyper-stylized execution proved that Zack Snyder’s team is capable of manipulating film with the best of them to create an eye-popping visual spectacle. The Watchmen trailer looks like their next level of achievement, and thankfully, with colors this time.

The question won’t be if he can make a nice-looking adaptation, but if the script can hold a candle to the book. If some of the rumblings I’ve heard from those who’ve read it are to be believed, then it’s got a fighting chance to be great. And the resulting slew of stylish R-rated graphic novel films could be really fun, though I’d be happy if they just get around to the next Sin City already.

One more thing of note was how perfectly that Smashing Pumpkins song set the tone and mood. Popcritics points out the song’s details — ‘The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning’, off their b-sides album — and the curious fact that a different version of the same song appeared on the soundtrack to the atrocious Batman and Robin. Bad omen for Watchmen, or second time’s a charm for the Pumpkins?

……….

If you’ve already read our extensive, multi-sided review of Dark Knight, you heard me argue that it sets a new bar for comic book movies that can be taken seriously. Spencer lamented that lowered expectations for this genre lead the film to get over-hyped just for being decent.

NY Times’ AO Scott has his own piece on how the superhero film genre may have gone as far as it can.

His argument is that between Batman and Iron Man, “these films discover the limits built into the superhero genre as it currently exists.” He goes on to detail why no matter how good they are, they always fall short because of the formula they’re tied to:

“The Dark Knight” has rules, and they are the conventions that no movie of this kind can escape. The climax must be a fight with the villain, during which the symbiosis of good guy and bad guy, implicit throughout, must be articulated. The end must point forward to a sequel, and an aura of moral consequence must be sustained even as the killings, explosions and chases multiply. The allegorical stakes in a superhero are raised — it’s not just good guys fighting bad guys, but Righteousness against Evil, Order against Chaos — precisely to authorize a more intense level of violence. Of course every movie genre is governed by conventions, and every decent genre movie explores the zones of freedom within those iron parameters. Thus “Iron Man” loosens the reins of its plot to give Mr. Downey room to explore the kinks and idiosyncrasies of Tony Stark, the playboy billionaire engineering genius who finally grows up and builds himself a metal suit. And “Hancock” takes the conceit of a dissipated, semi-competent hero — more menace than protector — and turns it into the occasion for some sharp satirical riffing on race, celebrity and the supposedly universal likability of its star, Will Smith.

But in both cases, as soon as the main character is suited up and ready to do battle, the originality drains out of the picture, and the commercial imperatives — the big fight, the overscaled action extravaganza — take over…

An argument that essentially comes at the same point I tried to make, but from the negative angle. Instead of just crediting these movies for pushing the conventions farther, he calls out the genre’s glass ceiling and casts doubt on their ability to break through it. Although it’s a valid point, personally, I’d like to give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt. The genre will continue to evolve and grow if talented directors continue to take it on, and maybe the path from Dark Knight, to Watchmen, and forward from there will lead to the comic book genre’s Unforgiven yet to come down the road.

……….

Unfortunately, things aren’t looking as promising in the games-to-movies world. One of my favorite last-generation games, only now being adapted to the screen, made a much less impressive debut on the internet recently.

If you were expecting great things, I’m afraid that the Max Payne trailer may just ruin your day.

Not that they get everything wrong. Mark Wahlberg is a solid casting choice. The dark, snowy city looks right on. But then there are giant angel/demon creatures that kind of ruin the whole hard-boiled noir aspect. Instead it swerves into a totally unnecessary Hellraiser/Constantine territory, and some of us may have the misfortune to remember how that turned out. So put me an extra wrung down from ’skeptical’ and hope someone knows what they’re doing — although hearing the words ‘first-time screen writer’ doesn’t inspire the greatest confidence. 

This furthers a point that can’t be made enough. Now, I loved Max Payne. In fact, it’s one of the very few games I’ve played through more than once. But the reason people loved it was because it took a great movie genre (hard-boiled cop), and let you be the hero. Not because the story was amazing, but because it was typical of a style that people love, and made interactive in a fun way. You can’t adapt a game that borrows so heavily from film (and graphic novels) back into a film again and expect it to be good. Movie industry, please hire some new idea people and stop making us out to be sycophants whose thought processes can’t go past “I paid money for that game and liked it… so I will also pay money for the movie version.”