For more than a year, I've done my best to avoid seeing "300."
From the first time I saw its TV spot, Zach Snyder's movie gave me unavoidable unappealing vibes. They were the same vibes I get after seeing spliced highlights of a Jet Li or Jason Statham movie...or "War," the Li-Statham movie. The guaranteed superfluous action and skimpy screenplay would probably be fun, but with so many other titles available, such releases fall into oblivion, possibly to be passed over in the grocery store bargain bin 6 years down the road.
I love graphic novels and I love graphic novels by "300" creator Frank Miller + their adapted films ("Sin City"), so what was it that convinced me to see this loud, dumb, overhyped movie? A graphic novel.
Alan Moore's "Watchmen" is a towering achievement in the illustrated genre. The story of retired superheroes lured back into caped action is the most layered graphic novel I've experienced, and though I prefer Art Spiegelman's "Maus," Moore's work takes spandex to unprecedented levels of success.
For his next film, Snyder is adapting "Watchmen." IMDB has a few pictures from the set, including the inspired casting of costumed Patrick Wilson ("Little Children"), Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous"), and Jackie Earle Haley ("Little Children"), and the sets are perfect comic-art hyperboles of city scenes. The material is there and the look is appealing, but what about the director?
Though I've never seen it, Quentin Tarantino said that the first 20 minutes of Snyder's 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" remake was the best piece of filmmaking that year. Then in Spring 2007, the blue-screen-friendly "300" was a surprise commercial and quasi-critical hit.
Make that a strong emphasis on the "quasi." The Miller-ized version of the Spartan warriors who refused to concede to Xerxes' Persian army owes too much of its feel to "Gladiator," yet has little of the Oscar winner's charm. Even the most intimate landscapes are overly computerized and the painful dialogue turns "Are you not entertained?" moments into B-movie messes. Though the fight scenes feature the most intriguing slow-mo outside of a slam-dunk contest, Snyder's movie opens itself to the kind of parody employed by "Meet The Spartans," becoming an unintentional comedy in itself.
Fortunately, early signs of "Watchmen" appear bereft of such testosterone schlock, and with the expectations of filming a beloved work of literature, Snyder can hopefully put his "300" riches aside in the name of quality directing. If not, the graphic novel community will burn him.