3. Watchmen - The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Watchmen comic book is so full of deep characters and narrative complexities that a film adaptation was an incredibly intriguing concept. When Zach Snyder, of 300 fame, released his version on the world, its fair to say it was a bit underwhelming. Aside from changing the ending to something seemingly less ridiculous, but that in the end just didn't make sense, the film lost a lot of the subtleties of the book. Instead of being a deconstruction of the superhero genre, it was just another good looking but depthless film. Its not terrible, just another movie that doesn't capture the majesty of its source material. One sequence that manages to both capture the depth of the book while also being something unique in its own right is the opening credits sequence, detailing the history of superheroes from the initial Nite Owl to the present day, showing how the alternate world has diverged from our own. A sequence of slo-mo zooms, it is the only part of the film where the ideas are truly original; twisting iconic images with the film's world like with The Comedian on the grassy knoll and Dr Manhattan at the moon landings or expanding upon the events in the in world book, Under The Hood. Accompanied by Bob Dylans amazing The Times They Are A Changin, the sequence is really great, even with the weak film its tacked onto.