8 Films That Would Have Worked Much Better As TV Shows
7. Watchmen
Watchmen is ready made to be a twelve-part mini-series. Each issue of Alan Moores medium-defining graphic novel has its own story focus and visual call-signs (thanks to artist Dave Gibbons), making each stage in the story of retired superheroes in an alternate, on-the-brink-of-war eighties feel distinct. Audiences are generally unsure about Zack Snyders 2009 adaptation. Coming in three different cuts that embellish the wider alternate world to varying degrees, it did a good job at telling the story in broad strokes. Sadly much of the books subtlety has been lost in translation, coming mainly from the approach to structure. Spending about half an hour on the first issue, then cutting down others to five minutes, certain key sub-plots are either turned into montages or axed completely. Imagine what more time would have allowed. Straight adaptation from print to screen is a risky business - masterpieces are often masterpieces because of their suiting of material to medium - but with Watchmen theres a precedent for success; in 2008 a Motion Comic bringing each issue to life in thirty minute chunks with simplistic animation proved a hit with fans. Thanks to Snyder we know its possible to visually create Moore and Gibbons' style on screen, so why not take the Motion Comics approach and add the substance as well?
