The Watchmen cast is set. I guess.

Well all the hype and rumors of the Watchmen sporting an A-list cast have been laid to rest when the official cast was announced. With names like Jude Law, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Gerard Butler, it seemed like The Watchmen was going to star some major hollywood talent, but the official cast came out to be a lot more realistic.

Dr. Manhattan: Billy Crudup
I've said before that this role isn't really about who the actor is but about how the studio decides to go about having a naked blue guy walking around on screen the whole time. Billy Crudup is a nice pick because he has a very unique voice, something I would consider a must for Dr. Manhattan. (I mean he is kind of just a 'Blue' Silver Surfer without the board. Personality and all) I just wish it wasn't plastered in our brains as the Mastercard commercial guy.

Rorschach: Jackie Earle Haley

This is the most important role to the movie, and how Rorschach is handled in the movie will probably be what makes or breaks it as a success. He's not exactly a low-name guy, but most of the general public probably has no idea who he is. He received an oscar nomination for his supporting role in the 2006 film Little Children.

The Night Owl: Patrick Wilson

Not-so-coincidentally, Patrick Wilson was the leading role along side Haley in Little Children. Wilson hasn't blown anyone away with his acting talent, at least not yet anyway, but it's fitting to have a low character actor play a low character. The Night Owl isn't really a significant role, in fact, at one point I figured they'd cut the character out altogether.

The Silk Spectre: Malin Akerman

I made a crack in one of my Watchmen posts about how any ditzy hollywood actress could fill the female roles in the film, and heres perfect proof. Akerman, whose only well-known role was in the 2004 film Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, has been casted to play the Silk Spectre. I was very shocked to hear Kate Winsletts name being rumored around this role, but not surprise to see she didn't go for it. Winslett seems to hand pick her roles very carefully, and this would have been a step back for someone of her caliber.

The Comedian: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

This seems to be his first big role on the big screen. Can't give much input on him other than his facial features match the Comedians and he's a regular on Grey's Anatomy.

Adrian Veidt: Matthew Goode

Alright, this is the one casting call I have to question. If anyones seen the 2004 film Chasing Liberty that starred Mandy Moore and apparently this guy, then you're already wondering why he'd be casted as one of the most diabolical villains in comic book history. Secondly, I know Veidt was born in Europe and then traveled to America after a year or whatever, but this actor has the Deepest British accent I have ever heard. I know he's going to use an American accent, or a Bitrish-Americanized accent, but it still doesn't seem right to me.

Frank Miller's 300

Due to college courses, lack of funds, and part laziness, I ended up being one of the only people I know not seeing Frank Miller's 300 in theaters. So for the most part, this review is completely past it's prime, but for those interested, here's my thoughts.

The story of the 300 Spartans is an old one, with some historical accuracy to it. Frank Miller's graphic Novel distorted some of the historical significance, but he did manage to keep most of it in tact. The story follows the 300-manned Spartan army into the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persians. The Spartans were heavily outnumbered. (Obviously there were no statiticians around or scribes to get down all the exact numbers at this time in history, so I've seen different numbers for the Persians ranging anywhere from 1200-1600 men. Let's just say the Persians outnumbered the Spartans by a lot.) The reason this story is remebered is because the Spartans won the battle of Thermopylae despite the huge odds against them. The Spartans were well-trained warriors who used their strategy and expereince in battle to outweigh their opponents. The Spartans eventually were defeated but their victory in Thermopylae is what's remembered most.

That brings me to Frank Miller's Graphic Novel and Film. Miller (on the right in the Photo) is a comic book legend, ranging from Daredevil to Batman to 300 to Sin City, he's accomplished a lot in the industry. With the success of Sin City it was no surprise that Miller wanted to make 300 into a film as well. The Graphic Novel was printed on extra wide pages so each page looked more like a painting than just mere comic art. The most fascinating part about the movie would have to be how Miller and Director Zach Snyder managed to make it look so much like the graphic novel. Every camera angle, the mood, the sepia tone skyline, it all looked and felt just like the pages in Millers book. However their is a draw back to this, because Miller made the movie almost verbatem to his book, I already knew what was going to happen at every scene. There were no surprises in it for me at all, but this is a minor problem, because I'm the only one I know who read the Graphic Novel before watching the movie.

The movie itself was a cinematogrophy masterpeice. There were a few times where I could have sworn I was looking at a painting and then all of a sudden one of the characters moved and I remembered I was watching a movie again. The storyline is decent, although at times it's hidden throughout all the action. The acting was good, and it was pleasing to see Miller & Snyder go with a no-name cast rather than going the "Troy" route and casting someone like Brad Pitt. (Not knocking Pitt though, he's the man) This was overall an impressive action film with some of the most brutal fighting you will ever see. It's a good thing Frank Miller's not done making movies. I have high expectations for The Spirit and Sin City 2.

Ratings:

Movie: 8.9

Graphic Novel: 9.1

Amazing Spider-man #539-542: Back in Black

Peter Parker's life seems to be a constant struggle at times and right now, things are no different. Amazing Spider-man #539-542 shows what happens when Peter Parker can't take it anymore.

During the Civil War, Peter Parker announced to the enitre world that he was Spider-man. This of course was enevitably going to lead to someone trying to kill him, because we all know that Spider-man has many enemies. The enemy who took the first shot would be the Kingpin of crime. The Kingpin put a price on Parkers head, and the bullet that was meant for him, hit Aunt May instead. After that, Parker swore that he'd kill the man responsible.

This arc does a great job of showing Peter Parker with pure hatred in his heart as all he wants to do is bring pain to the men who did the shooting. He throws away his traditional red and blue suit for the more villainous black suit of his past, hence the title of the arc "Back in Black." Parker spends most of the arc beating up thugs trying to find the man who issued the hit on him while Aunt May barely stays alive throughout the arc. Once he finds out its the Kingpin who did it, he sneaks in to the prison that Kingpin is being held in and beats the living crap out of him. Spider-man walks away from Kingpin warning him that if Aunt May dies, that he'll be back to kill him.

This is one of the best arcs to come out of Amazing Spider-man in years, and it's some of J. Micheal Stracynski's (Writer) best work on the character as well. It's fitting that this is going to be his last work on the book. Ron Garney's artwork is also to the point and spot on with the characters as well. Garneys depiction of the Kingpin during and after Spider-man beat him into a pulp is absolutly priceless.

Rating: 9.1/10

There is another issue to this arc, so issue #543 will be a part of Back in Black, but the climax was met in 542. #543 will presumably be just a 'set-up' issue for Marvels next big Spider-man series "One more Day."