The squid is a means to an end.

Fans are getting up and arms about the Watchmen ending that is being prognosticated by early screening attendees and the man of the fanboy hour,  Zack Snyder.  I’m assuming that those who have any vested interest in this post have presumably read the graphic novel, so technically I’m not spoiling anything here.

I have posted an array of angry rants peppered with valid points from all across the blogosphere :

“No squid. Manhattan and Ozy build a device that mimics Manhattan’s power and Ozy uses it to blow up a bunch of cities and frames Manhattan. Manhattan realizes that this is best for the world and so when Rorschach storms out… well we know what happens to him. Dan’s scream in the snow is a reaction to that. After that it wasn’t too clear on the final shots. They did not mention a kid going for a journal or disguised Dan and Laurie visiting Silk Spectre I.”

The jury says…

Second, I think the last bit in this article, which postulates that this ending may be a fake one, meant to mislead audiences might be accurate, because contradictory information HAS been released in the past few months. Patrick Wilson (the actor who plays Nite Owl II) has said that the ending is entirely faithful to the book, so there actually be a giant squid in this film after all.

One more thing: Ozymandias destroying various cities all over the world using ATOMIC ENERGY goes against his goal of PREVENTING nuclear holocaust. This ending sounds like a fake-out in my opinion.

But, if it looks like Manhattan’s doing, the US would be blamed for it, and WWIII would break out anyway. And that’s just the most obvious problem with this ending…

I must be one the few “hardcore old-school” fans who doesn’t care a bit about the squid and might actually prefer it be left out, provided the spirit of a “uniting threat” (which is the really important part, as far as the theme and plot go) is left in. But was there really, truly any indication that the New Frontiersman possibly publishing Rorschach’s journal, thereby undoing everything that Veidt has worked so hard to accomplish is getting left out, too? This last thing is a major deal breaker for me. The “cliffhanger” ending is, IMO, one of the greatest endings to any story/piece of literature. It was really powerful for me to be left eternally hanging, not knowing what might happen. I could have sworn that there was earlier confirmation that this was in. Also, why include the journal at all (I’ve seen it in shots from the movie} if you’re not going to do this? Does anyone have any idea what the deal is with this?

For those of you that care and actually read through this entire post - what do you think about all of this? Do you give a shit if the squid is in the film?

You can't win 'em all Zacky

Personally, I never really liked the squid, felt it came out of left field within the context of the story, being so grounded in reality and all. I understand that developing science is a major component in the story, but the squid is a stretch and may be jarring to a modern day movie-goers. I don’t care how advance our CGI is, a squid is a fuckin’ squid, it’s going to look like something out of a cheesey b-rated sci-fi flick. No matter what the early indication, via trailer, is showing I still won’t judge the film until I see the end product myself.  We must all bear in mind that this is still another artist’s interpretation of a graphic novel, situations might and could be altered for a smoother transition to film.

My opinion, fuck the squid, Rorschach’s journal is a hundred times more integral to the novel, if this element is missing, then fans should start swinging fists.

Via [Aint it Cool]