HBO’s Watchmen Captures Comic’s Creativity And Complexity
I’m not a fan of Damon Lindelof. Prior to the butchering of HBO’s Game of Thrones series by the showrunners Benioff and Weiss, Lindelof’s conclusion to the series he co-created, Lost, held the title as the worst ending of a promising series ever put on television. He went on to write the movies Star Trek: Into Darkness, Prometheus and Tomorrowland. So when it was announced the he would create and write a sequel series for HBO to the classic comic series Watchmen, I was ready for big disappointment.
Imagine my shock at how good the new series is, and how much more like the comic book it is compared to the overlong and underexposed movie adaptation.
As a comic book, Watchmen is one of the most dense, layered and outstanding pieces of illustrated fiction ever made. As a movie made by Zack Snyder, it is exciting and fun, while missing any hint of the complexity of the comic, and completely missing the overall theme. Of course, that would be tough to do, as the theme of the comic is how problematic the adoration of heroes is, and how inaccurate to real life any comic book superhero is. Iron Man would grow tired of his dalliance with technological crime fighting, just like Night Owl did. Anyone as emotionally traumatized as Bruce Wayne would be much more likely to become a killer like Rorschach than a crime fighter with an unshakable moral code of never killing like Batman.
Again, I am surprised at how thematically layered Lindelof’s Watchmen is — not the same thematic complexity as the comic book, but updated to very timely themes of racism, police violence and the (rarely dealt with these days) risks taken on by police officers. And I am just as surprised at how well the new series works as a sequel to the comic books. Lindelof is as much a fan as he says in interviews, and he did his research.
That’s right, by the way — this is a sequel to the comic books, not the movie, despite being presented in a cinematic medium. If you aren’t aware of the one big change the movie made from the comic book, I won’t spoil it here for you. But you might be confused about some elements of the world at large if you’ve never read the comics. Not enough to cause a problem for anyone watching the series, but enough that you might have a few WTF moments, particularly in the first episode.
Three episodes in and the series could be dismissed as nothing but an endless row of Easter eggs and fan service for the comic books readers (which it really is), if not for the excellent writing and amazing acting by pretty much the entire cast. Regina King, Tim Blake Nelson, Frances Fisher, Lou Gossett Jr., Jeremy Irons and the recently joined Jean Smart are all killing it.
It is entirely possible that Lindelof could bungle the landing, given his track record. Right now though, he is twirling around the writing bars like a gold medalist. I’m in for the long haul on Watchmen and if you are fan of the movie, but particularly of the comics, then you should be too.
