With a number of big movies to review and Comic Con to round up, I was forced to skip over what could be the most important news of the year. But not anymore! For those of you who don’t know, the trailer for the Watchmen film was released a few weeks ago, and to my surprise, it looks pretty awesome. Now I’ve voiced my concerns over a Watchmen movie on this site before, and it’s going to take more then a slick trailer to convince me. But still, I’ve been having these strange feelings lately that the movie might actually be good. Call me cautiously optimistic. Very cautious. So, to that end, here are a few reasons why Watchmen might make a successful leap into film.

1. Zack Snyder - For me, the most important part of adapting something into film is that you stay faithful to the source material. Sure there can be changes–there has to be–but it should still retain the feel of the original. Director Zack Snyder already has some success in this regard as the man behind the adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300. Rumor has it that Snyder will be using the same technique for Watchmen as he did on that film: using actual panels from the comic book as storyboards for the film.

2. The time is right - If this movie had of been made 10 years ago, it would’ve been a disaster. I shudder to think what Doctor Manhattan would have looked like back then. But with today’s special effects technology, this could actually work. Nite Owl doesn’t look as silly off the page as I thought he would, but if you need real proof though that special effects are an important part of making this movie great, look no further then the end of the trailer. The scene in which Doctor Manhattan builds a crystal castle on the surface of Mars out of sand looks truly stunning, and gives me hope for the rest of the picture.

3. Gibbons’ support - While Alan Moore vehemently opposes this movie, artist Dave Gibbons has a different take. The man who drew the most influential comic of all time had this to say about Snyder and the film: “I do think Zack has got the ability to make a really good movie, and I think Watchmen has the ability to be a really good movie, and hopefully the two things will come together… I’m basically supporting it.” After the treatment that Moore’s work has received in Hollywood (though, despite its differences from the comics, I liked V For Vendetta) it’s understandable that he would be weary of the same happening to his most important work. But to have Gibbons’ suppport is very encouraging.

There are of course, many reasons why the film could end up being a disaster. It is, after all, the ultimate example of comic books as a narrative tool. There are subtle details in the artwork and writing. The book encourages flipping back a few pages in order to better understand it. Most of the things that it does well, are things that are unique to the medium of comic books. It also has very little action, which doesn’t bode well for a blockbuster movie. But only time will tell if Moore was right in taking his name off of the credits. Hopefully he wasn’t.

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Andrew Webster is a freelance writer based in Toronto who covers comics, movies, videogames, and anything else that will rot out your brain. Check out his personal site to read more of his incoherent ramblings.
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