Alan Moore of Watchmen fame made a comment recently that we spotted over at io9. The comment hearkens back to the point we tried to make about the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. Namely, that big-screen translations can’t always be authentic, because what works in a cartoon aimed at children doesn’t seem remotely realistic to adults watching an action blockbuster.
There is something about the quality of comics that makes things possible that you couldn’t do in any other medium.. Things that we did in Watchmen on paper could be frankly horrible or sensationalist or unpleasant if you were to interpret them literally through the medium of cinema. When it’s just lines on paper, the reader is in control of the experience – it’s a tableau vivant. And that gives it the necessary distance. It’s not the same when you’re being dragged through it at 24 frames per second.
We happened to think that Watchmen was a pretty good movie, and a good translation of the comic book at that. Able to ignore the impossibility of the character’s super-human athleticism, we were still rather put off by the over-the-type ending, and the rather unnecessary use of character costumes as often as they were. Yes, it’s a comic book movie, but when chilling out at home while watching the world turn asunder, do you really need to be in your dork-outfit when no one’s around to discover your identity anyway?
While some decisions in big-budget movies are aimed at selling merchandise, it’d be nice for producers to realize that this merchandising really hurts the integrity of what could otherwise be a very good movie. This Ewok-syndrome has plagued many superhero movies in the past, and the lack of it is, in part, why the latest Batman movies were so successful. Let’s not revert back to bright crime-fighter outfits, and let’s hope that G.I. Joe also manages to avoid this pit. Of course, attempting silly gimmicks to explain away aesthetics can often hurt too, especially when trying to sell it to fanboys. Take the latest information about G.I. Joe’s Destro:
…according to the script review we read a while back, Destro’s mask in the film is made of nanotechnology, and allows Cobra Commander to control his mind.
If that’s the explanation for Destro’s mask that makes it into the final cut, then we can congratulate the producers on castrating the one great villain in the series, and seriously damaging the film’s credibility for a whole generation of young boys.
There’s a thin line between authenticity and believability, and it’s one that film producers need to carefully think about before putting a script into effect. Merchandising may not be the only offender in the equation, but it’s an easy culprit to spot. As always, changes to the original source material need to be carefully considered, but in the face of films targeting a viewership comprised of now-grown adults, the elements on film need to not only make sense, but be wholly believable unto the background material itself.
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