While it’s no surprise that a macho director like Snyder would turn to Watchmen for the chance to crank out some desperately masculine brutality, it is deeply unsettling that a respectable, seemingly progressive guy like Lindelof might be in the same over-dramatic camp. But more disturbing than the soulless copycat feel of the film’s narrative was the overwhelmingly festishized violence of Snyder’s visual style. The film, which was mostly maligned by fans and critics alike, tried so desperately to emulate the art of the original comic book, that it appeared more like an extended video game cutscene than a motion picture with ideas of its own. Perhaps that’s a hopeful sign, especially in considering the pitiful 2008 page-for-page adaptation from Zack Synder. When the New Testament came along, it did not erase what came before it. Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. Damon Lindelof recently confessed to his fans on Instagram, in an effort to absolve some of his original sins in adapting this precious work to the screen, “this story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built…but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It’s hard not to use biblical allusions, when talking about the devoted fanbase of Watchmen.
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