Les Jones

Comic Books > Stills from "Watchmen" Production

Gametrailers.com and Hollywood North Insider have stills from the set of Watchmen, the movie adaptation of the Alan Moore comic book. If you haven't read the comic, it was set against a backgrop of high crime, high unemployment, and the Cold War dread of the 1970s, which explains the desolation in those stills.

I tell people that "Watchmen" is to comic books what David Webb Peoples' Unforgiven script is s to westerns. Unforgiven exploded some of the myths of movie westerns - in Peoples' universe many of the western mainstay heroes were drunk, nearsighted, corrupt, attention-seeking, or just plain mean rather than selfless, golden-eyed, or pure of virtue. In Moore's multi-generational comic book universe some of the heroes turn out to be drug addicts, egomaniacs, rapists, or clinically insane rather than clear-eyed defenders of truth, justice, and the American way.

Comic book movies can be hit or miss. We've had lots of bad ones, but we seem to be entering a sort of golden age of good comic book movies. Technology has provided computer graphics that are up to the task and economics have given us A-list acting and directing talent. The Bryan Singer-produced X-Men movies were unbelievably good, and the new Batman series starring Christian Bale is off to a good start.

"Watchmen" author Alan Moore has been disgusted by all of the previous movie adaptations of his comic books ("V for Vendetta," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "From Hell"). This one is being directed by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) so I'm willing to risk getting my hopes up for potential dashing.