Rumors have been swirling 'round about some of these guys for a while now, but this morning saw the first official announcement of a cast for Zack Snyder's Watchmen adaptation. There's some good, some bad here, so hit the jump to get the skinny.
Jackie Earle Haley is Rorschach/Walter KovacsSeems like a great choice to me. He's got the creepiness and the dispassionate stare down pat. Also, he's a great actor but unrecognizable enough where the audience won't guess Rorschach's secret identity the moment he walks on screen without the mask. Good choice!
Billy Crudup is Dr. ManhattanSure! I can't say I'm a huge Crudup fan in general, but I'm betting he can pull off the emotionless demigod act pretty well. He's also got the features for a nice bald blue head. Good choice!
Malin Akerman is Laurie Juspeczyk/the Silk SpectreWho? Ok, lemme go to IMDB.... Ah! She's got Entourage, The Comeback, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle under her belt. Can't say I remember her from those, but that's fine, I don't need my Watchmen to be recognizable as long as they're good actors. What I do need is for my Watchmen to not undermine the premise of the story. Ackerman is young and hot, Laurie Juspeczyk isn't young and hot. Watchmen, very simply, is about retired superheros. People who had some glory days but are now past their prime, literally and figuratively impotent in a world that has tossed them aside. Impotence is not something 29 year old Akerman brings to mind. Bad choice!
Matthew Goode is Adrian Veidt/OzymandiasArgh! Where did Snyder cast this film, summer camp? This baby-faced 29 year old is supposed to be a retired superhero, the smartest man alive and the founder of a multi-billion dollar global corporation? Veidt needs to look like a man with some life experience if his decisions in the story are to be believable at all. Goode ain't got it. Bad choice!
Patrick Wilson is Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl IIOh, how torn I am here. I really do love Patrick Wilson. He's a great actor. Really great. And he's probably the sexiest man alive, if I may say so in my humble hetero opinion. Unfortunately, Dan Dreiberg is NOT the sexiest man alive. Dan Dreiberg, more than any of the other ex-heroes, has let himself go. He's aging, he's fat, he's impotent... This is the guy who illustrates most precisely the post-adventuring hero. Even putting on weight isn't going to hide Wilson's sculpted cheekbones, dreamy blue eyes, sensual lips and... Um. Bad choice!
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is The ComedianYeah, fine. Ok. If the whole cast is skewed young, at least this guy looks the part. Would be nice if he were older but the most important thing this character does is die and I'm tired of saying bad choice so I'm gonna go ahead and say Good choice!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
[Please go read additional commentary at FilmWad, because I stole all their pictures and if you don't give them a click I'm gonna feel reeeeeaaal guilty!]
3 comments:
Ugh, this has always been one of Hollywood's primary problems with making comic book movies. They refuse to acknowledge an established world (and particularly an established age). EVERYTHING skews young. Even a movie titled "superman returns," (in which our title character is well established, leaves earth for a few years and then "returns") features an actor that looks younger than Tom Welling on Smallville!
Everything has to be sexy or it won't sell. sigh. I'll never sell.
God damn the book is about retired superheroes, that's pretty much the goddamn point. At what point did the country turn on these guys if they're all in their 20's? "Niteowl caught humping girlfriend in back of car, public outcry abounds! Superheroes outlawed!"
Harvey Keitel could have made a good Comedian especially since the Comedian on that poster looks like him.
Dr. Manhattan could pass since he can control all matter and I always thought he tried to make himself look good. But Veidt, Night Owl, and the Comedian, are so badly cast it's not even funny.
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