Watchmen - Why Did They Change the Ending?

[GACollectibles]

I don't want to start a big spoiler here,

 

Did you have to put that in the title?

 

I'm ignoring reviews until I see the movie.

[Bosco685]

JC... Why in all hell would you call me a fanboy.

It's just a comic movie, but one we all hope turns out right (no matter how close to the story it remains).

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Gret graphic novel, but I am still more into Kingdom Come. Now THAT would be a movie.

[Bosco685]

Gret graphic novel, but I am still more into Kingdom Come. Now THAT would be a movie.

How about "The Weird" with all the DC superheroes involved like the mini series? I'd love to see that.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

You lost me there..

 

But in all honesty. Kindom Come. Probably the best comic story I ever read, and the Novel adaptation was very good also.

[Bosco685]

You lost me there..

 

But in all honesty. Kindom Come. Probably the best comic story I ever read, and the Novel adaptation was very good also.

Just my inner DC fanboy coming out.

 

The Weird by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson is one of the best DC mini series IMHO. To see that in movie format would be a great experience.

 

Wiki writeup - The Weird

[djpinkpanther67]

When I go to a movie that's been adapted from source material, I try to clear my mind of comparisons and just go to enjoy it for it's own merits.

To compare a movie to a novel (or GN) is unfair, as a book will usually outdo a movie every time.

My main concern is whether or not the movie is entertaining. That's it.

[Aman619]

I am fine with a diff ending - the one in the GN sucked donkey ballz...

 

Giant squid was LAME LAME LAME.

 

On that note, as I have said in the past, any "A" list superhero would have wrapped this up in 2 issues tops. The lame-wad ripoffs of "B" list heroes could barely figure out how to get dressed in the morning, much less figure out what the "smartest man in the world" was planning with his psychic blast BS.

 

This movie probably won't tank, but it won't be the block buster everybody is hoping for.

 

All this was tried already with the Tick (hero's behaving like real people with every day problems - which was already a rip-off of what Stan Lee did in the 60's, but I digress) and it failed to find a target audience.

 

Watchmen was a good departure for the time it was made, but it is just dated fan-boy Barbara Streisand now...

 

I see your points, but TICK was a comedy on that theme. This is a deadly serious take on it. Also, my gut feeling has been, as its become clear that this was a well-financed and crafted film at top-Hollywood state of the art levels) that the timing will be PERFECT!

 

the public now is fully learned on what to expect from a superhero movie. More than ever before. And at the tipping point of boredom, having seen it all before til they can guess the outcomes.

 

and that exactly how the WATCHMEN comic shook us all up back in 1986. We all knew full well what to expect, and BAM POW WHAM! it was different in nearly every aspect while pinned securely to our comicbook traditions and motifs.

 

If it holds together as a film, I think it will be received well, and eagerly recommended to others as a gotta see this film. Even if the end is a letdown. How many films do we see where se love it but quibble about the ending being too happy, or sad, or stupid?

[duncan36]

The change has been discussed by the director and I tend to agree with it. The squid was a way to get the reader to go back over the story in detail and see WTF happened and where this thing fits in.

While this works in a comic, it wouldnt work in a movie. People would get the WTF part but wouldnt be able to go back and examine things in more detail and would just leave angry or confused.

[Aman619]

yeah, but the outerspace common enemy was the thing that still worked. It didnt have to be a creature IMO, but an alien common enemy brings us all together on one human being team... with no recriminations.

[seanfingh]

 

If it holds together as a film, I think it will be received well, and eagerly recommended to others as a gotta see this film. Even if the end is a letdown. How many films do we see where se love it but quibble about the ending being too happy, or sad, or stupid?

 

This is a great point. Also, let's not forget, that when you are really into a movie, especially at the theater, there is often a visceral reaction to the ending that just happens. You are happy, sad, disappointed or whatever. But after the fact or upon a second viewing it can be appreciated in a different fashion. The first time I watched the Departed (at the theater) I was really pizzed about the last 20 minutes. Upon a second viewing (and many subsequent viewings ) they are just a solid as the rest of the film.

[Aman619]

right. The bad films are the ones that veer off track after the first reel! I loved SLUMDOG (maybe a controversial choice to single out) until the too pat happy ending. But I was so solidly into it til then, big deal.

[sckao]

Article about Watchmen in the SF Chronicle...

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/27/PKBG1616AM.DTL&type=movies

 

This part is especially interesting...

 

Dave Gibbons:

"There's one scene in the film that isn't in the graphic novel that Zack wanted to see how I'd visualize," he says, referring to a major plot twist. "So I actually drew three new pages, which I got the original colorist, John Higgins, to color, so they looked absolutely authentic."

 

Wonder who has those OA pages...

 

 

[seanfingh]

 

Watchmen is stroking an 81% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally a good sign . . .

[joe_collector]

The squid being removed was discussed in october I think.

 

I know, and that's why it's NOT a spoiler, but I didn't realize how drastically they'd change it. I thought they would use something else in lieu in the squid, like another creature, a space ship, a wormhole, etc. but maintain the killer ending, where Ozy's plan is to unite humanity through the threat of a TOTAL UNKNOWN.

 

That may be a bit insane, but that's what is so interesting about it - Ozy is superhuman in every way, so who are we to criticize and maybe it would work - Doc Manhattan even confirms that it will... for a bit anyway.

 

I also didn't like the squid creature, but without it (or some other unknown threat) you lose much off the ending's impact.

[joe_collector]

Watchmen is stroking an 81% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally a good sign . . .

 

Sure, but most of those are from fanboy sites, and the "Top Critics" list actually shows a 0% rating, with no positive reviews.

[He11blazer]

Watchmen is stroking an 81% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally a good sign . . .

 

Sure, but most of those are from fanboy sites, and the "Top Critics" list actually shows a 0% rating, with no positive reviews.

 

The 'top critics' are at 50% now. Two for, and two against.

 

Of those negs one is the truly imbecilic review from the Hollywood Reporter. That one can be dismissed as an aberration. The reviewer is an insufficiently_thoughtful_person.

 

The other 'negative' review is actually luke-warm. It does however contain this extremely disturbing observation:

As “Watchmen” lurches toward its apocalyptic (and slightly altered) finale, something happens that didn’t happen in the novel: Wavering between seriousness and camp, and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the book’s headier ideas, the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert.

 

I do NOT like the sound of that!

[joe_collector]

[

As “Watchmen” lurches toward its apocalyptic (and slightly altered) finale, something happens that didn’t happen in the novel: Wavering between seriousness and camp, and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the book’s headier ideas, the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert.

 

I do NOT like the sound of that!

 

Ugh - that's *exactly* what I was worried about.

 

I also read a recent review that stated the changed ending was designed "for the lowest common denominator" and that it "turned a complex ending into a simplistic one".

 

Not good news indeed.

[He11blazer]

[

As “Watchmen” lurches toward its apocalyptic (and slightly altered) finale, something happens that didn’t happen in the novel: Wavering between seriousness and camp, and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the book’s headier ideas, the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert.

 

I do NOT like the sound of that!

 

Ugh - that's *exactly* what I was worried about.

 

I also read a recent review that stated the changed ending was designed "for the lowest common denominator" and that it "turned a complex ending into a simplistic one".

 

Not good news indeed.

 

Oh god. So now I'm guessing Veidt is a straight-up villain and will be brought to justice by the heroic efforts of Nite Owl etc

 

Please let me be wrong

 

 

[joe_collector]

No, it really is more like a dumbed-down version for the Joe Six-Packs.

 

Like if at the end of The Usual Suspects, a long-haired Keyser Soze would have walked in and mowed down the entire police force, along with Verbal.