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DVD Review: Watchmen - The Complete Motion Comics

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Watchmen: The Motion Comic [Animated Series] (2008)

Months before the release of Watchmen into theaters, Warner Bros. - specifically their Warner Premiere division - made the first chapter of something called “Watchmen Motion Comics” available as a free download through iTunes.

The format of the video was just what is sounds like, literally the panels of the Watchmen graphic novel put in rudimentary motion and with voice work. It was quite interesting to watch but the future episodes, which weren’t released for quite a while after the first one, weren’t free and so I didn’t continue watching them.

But now Warner Premiere has released all 12 chapters on the two DVD set Watchmen - The Complete Motion Comic.

Unlike the big-screen movie adaptation there’s nothing new or altered from the source material here. Most every panel, including The Black Freighter sub-story and everything else, that appeared in the graphic novel is brought to motion. Dave Gibbons’ artwork is rendered faithfully, with moving limbs and objects being the only alteration.

It’s interesting to watch the whole story unfold like this. I can’t say it’s preferable to reading the printed novel. It’s not. But despite its exact duplication it does provide an alternate way to enjoy the story and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Occasionally things seem silly, but those are few and far between. For the most part it works and is certainly something that fulfills its primary duty as a promotional tool for the feature film.

More than anything, this “version” of the story makes it seem filmable. It’s one thing to look at the amazingly dense graphic novel and say it can’t be translated to film. But this does just that, without any interpretation. The five hour running time of the 12 episodes is just about how long the movie would need to be told. It doesn’t seem like so high a hurdle. While watching it hasn’t impacted my feelings about that feature film, it does make me view the opinions circulating around its making differently.

The two-disc DVD contains only one special feature, a 10-minute featurette on the making of Warner Premiere’s next DC Comics animated feature, Wonder Woman. There’s no finished footage in the segment (which is a bit surprising) but instead it’s made up of cast and crew interviews, with rough sketches from the film giving a glimpse of what it will look like as well as plenty of background on the history of Wonder Woman in the comics.

Originally posted on:Chris Thilk

Posted Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6:01 PM by ChrisThilk | with 0 comments

DVD Review: Marley & Me

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Marley & Me (2008)

When the movie was about to come out you probably weren’t able to go anywhere or watch anything without encountering an ad for Marley & Me. The ads played up the antics of the dog whose name is featured in the title or, because it was coming out around Christmas, showed you a cute little puppy with a bow around his neck. The campaign caught a lot of flack after the movie opened because it’s very much not a “cute dog” movie that’s great for the whole family but instead features a bevy of very adult issues and themes.

And that’s what I really dug about Marley & Me.

Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson play a young married couple whose life we’re following through a handful of very real moments both good and bad. From the enthusiasm of starting their life together through the tragedy of miscarriage to the joy of starting a family to struggling with jobs and self-identification issues, these are all moments that a lot of people have gone through. To their credit, Aniston and Wilson do their level best to not be overshadowed by the dog or the kids and not only do the pair provide some laughs but also some very real drama.

There are a handful of those expected “cute dog” moments within the movie but they’re honestly few and far between. More often than not, actually, the kinds of antics the dog engages in that in other movies would be played for laughs are in this one used to move the story along by providing a point of tension and/or bonding between the humans in the film. That’s a pretty unique role for the dog - which is setup to be the focal point of the movie - to play and it’s a credit to the screenwriters that they managed to create a movie that works as more than fluffy entertainment.

I’m not saying Marley & Me is a cutting portrait of disillusionment. It’s not. The characters - based on real people since the movie is based on a non-fiction book about life with and around this unruly dog - are more or less optimistic and use the tragedies and hardships they face as launching pads for doing it better the next time. So if you’re into dark character studies that deconstruct the suburban mythos you’ll be disappointed. But it also doesn’t shy away from showing that life, even with a larger-than life mess of a dog, isn’t always sunshine and flowers.

The DVD release of Marley & Me comes with a whole batch of bonus features that range from pretty interesting to mildly entertaining fluff.

Deleted Scenes - Pretty self explanitory. Nothing relevatory here but there are some interesting character moments.
Gag Reel - Not the traditional gag reel you might expect. This is a pretty highly polished montage of people mugging for the camera.
Finding Marley - The search for the dog.
Breaking the Golden Rule - Wilson and Aniston discuss breaking the rules about never working with animals and/or babies.
On the Set with Marley - About working with the dog.
Animal Adoption - Again, you can guess what this is about.
Purina Dog Chow videos - A couple features about a video contest Purina, a promotional partner in the movie’s marketing and featured prominently in the movie, ran when the movie was about to hit theaters.
When Not to Pee - Yep.
Trailers

I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised by Marley & Me. I expected a mildly entertaining romantic comedy, but the realistic portrait of struggles of the characters that the movie actually contains wound up being not only far more entertaining but far more interesting than I presumed it to be.