Getting tired of Watchmen posts on here? Too bad. Warner Bros. released a new "feature" trailer on Yahoo last night (though I'm giving you a Trailer Addict version). The trailer is also said to be attached to some prints of Quantum of Solace. This trailer attempts to give more story, setting up the murder of the Comedian and Rorschach's investigation that follows.
A lot of people are complaining about Rorschach's voice on the Internet right now but it doesn't really bother me. Many are comparing it to Christian Bale's super deep Batman voice but, if you read the graphic novel, you can tell from his word bubbles that his voice is shaky and raspy. It probably would have been better as a little more monotone and without any feeling but I think it will work like this for the film. I do have a problem with Dr. Manhattan's voice however. It basically sounds like Billy Crudup's voice with little alteration at all. When reading the graphic novel, I always imagined Dr. Manhattan's voice as deep, booming and almost God-like. If you watch the Watchmen Motion Comics, it is portrayed like this as well. One could argue that barely altering Crudup's voice makes Manhattan more identifable and human for the audience but it's just not what I had in my head at all. Another thing that I really just didn't like at all was the heroes constantly referring to themselves as "Watchmen." Anyone who has ever read the graphic novel knows that they never ever referred to themselve as "Watchmen." Watchmen comes from the protesters' graffiti that stated "Who Watches the Watchmen?" This was used to comment on all the power that these heroes had and if that power was really something we should trust them with when they were actually just as flawed (if not more flawed) than all the rest of us. The only names the groups of heroes referred to themselves as were "The Minutemen" (from the 1940's golden era of the masked vigilante) and "The Crimebusters" (which I understand has been changed to "Watchmen" in the film). I guess it's a nit-picky complaint but it just felt weird to hear Rorschach refer to himself as one of the "Watchmen" is all. Also, this is the second trailer that has featured footage from the new ending. I guess Zack isn't even trying to hide it anymore. Lastly, I did think that some of the trailer was awkwardly cut at times. Although I really like the opening song by Philip Glass, I don't think that "Take a Bow" by Muse was nearly as haunting and powerful as "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by the Smashing Pumpkins was in the first trailer.
With those complaints aside, I did like some of the trailer. The opening featuring the murder of the Comedian was pretty beautiful to watch. That shot of him being thrown about the room with that song playing felt almost like I was watching some kind of weird, violent ballet. It was also great to see Rorschach going around, doing his investigating from Chapter 1 of the graphic novel. Also, Patrick Wilson looks and sounds just like I would imagine Dan Dreiberg to look and sound. Although I think Wilson is a really great actor, when he was cast, I was really unsure of him because he doesn't remotely resemble what Dreiberg is in the graphic novel. However, it looks like he gained a lot of weight and they did a great make up job on him. The shot of him and Rorschach in his basement next to the Owl Ship got me really excited.
Overall, after watching the trailer a few times and thinking about it, I'd say I'm slightly disappointed. It has some good moments but, for the most part, I feel like the trailer's kind of awkward. Who knows what the final product of the film will be like. It looks like it could go any way at this point. But I'm gonna see it.
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