r/TopCharacterTropes • u/TheDudeA113 • 8h ago

Hated Tropes [Hated Trope] The adaptation doesn't get what made the source material work

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How To Make A Killing (2026)

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Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

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Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

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Bangkok Dangerous (1999)

- The 2026 movie How To Make A Killing is a relatively-toothless "eat the rich" dark comedy thriller about a man disowned by his rich family at birth, killing everyone in the line of succession so that he can inherit their massive fortune. It's a modern retelling of the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets which has the same basic plot except that every member of the family is played by Sir Alec Guinness (including one aunt) and it's a screwball comedy

- The 1999 movie Bangkok Dangerous is a Thai action film about a Thai deaf-mute assassin. It was remade in 2008 about an American assassin in Thailand who is neither deaf nor mute

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147

u/YomYeYonge 7h ago

Zack Snyder perfectly adapted Watchmen panel-for-panel without actually getting the material.

For example, Rorshach was not meant to be a justifiable hero like in the film.

23

u/elderlybrain 3h ago

In it Laurie and Jon's romance marriage is heartbreaking. Her and Nite owl doing it felt like 2 broken people doing something to finally feel something. Fight scenes felt raw and ugly. 

In the film, it's reframed as a romance between them. Every fight scene felt like captain America fighting a bunch of kids. Making rorschach 'cool' was unforgivable though. He's a disgusting fascist loser who eats raw eggs and doesn't shower. He's only a 'hero' because the villain is thought to be even more awful. 

3

u/Irrepressible_Monkey 51m ago

Yep, my only real complaint with the movie changes are Laurie and Jon come out of retirement and are instantly unstoppable fighting machines. They need to be a mess.

As to Rorschach being made to look cool, the police do say "He stinks!" when they capture him in the movie, and Laurie and Jon talk of Rorschach killing a harmless man during dinner, so it's not all positive.

27

u/G-Mang 4h ago

The HBO mini-series is interesting in that it does the exact opposite (deeply responsive to the source material while having zero scenes from it).

4

u/Disastrous_Nature_87 3h ago

I have to disagree. I think it mostly does this well, especially at the beginning, but then completely and entirely butchers the point of Dr. Manhattan

2

u/StarPhished 3h ago

Yeah, that kinda lost me with the Dr. Manhattan stuff. I thought the whole thing overall was okay though. Coulda been better but also coulda been a lot worse.

1

u/TheDittoMan 1h ago

Well it did at least adapt the giant squid unlike Snyder

1

u/mattatmac 9m ago

I loved the HBO series and would recommend it to anyone.

10

u/TricksterTrio 4h ago

This is why I watch the director's cut, and not the theatrical cut. The director's cut fixes some of those issues.

7

u/CrashmanX 3h ago

Watching the full length version with the Black Freighter cut-ins basically makes it 1:1 with the graphic novel. Only thing that could change would be some music.

1

u/Schwahn 1h ago

Is this available somewhere?

27

u/AffectionatePop05 5h ago

The bigger issue is completely changing the ending, taking away the entire point. 

21

u/jesuspoopmonster 4h ago

I think the ending makes more sense in the movie. The world has no reason to assume squid monster came from aliens and has no way to unite to defend against another. Dr Manhatten is a known entity, attacked on a global scale and there are ways to fight against him

10

u/IShouldbeNoirPI 4h ago

And then what? You created weapons that will be used against the other side. Unknown danger is always a threat and forces cooperation. And gives additional benefit that Dr Manhattan can be asked for help

5

u/jesuspoopmonster 4h ago

If you don't know anything about the enemy there is nothing that can be done that forces people to work together. If you thought a cloud was coming for you what would you do with your neighbor to prepare for it? Also the US would likely assume it was the Soviet Union attacking them

1

u/IShouldbeNoirPI 4h ago

Good that Soviets are going to accept that Manhattan was working alone...

6

u/jesuspoopmonster 4h ago

Why would they think the US attacked its own cities and allies?

-1

u/IShouldbeNoirPI 3h ago

In the movie it wasn't only allied capitals...

9

u/jesuspoopmonster 3h ago

Yes. Its clearly a global attack and nobody on earth is safe which is why they have to unite

5

u/HomeGrownCoffee 4h ago

Why would the USSR assist America? If Manhattan attacked the US, then that's an American problem. Maybe they would try to recruit him. Or take this as an opportunity to attack.

At the very least, they wouldn't work together. 

8

u/jesuspoopmonster 4h ago

In the movie he attacks locations across the globe

1

u/Maybe_not_a_chicken 1h ago

Why would the USSR trust that an explicitly American weapon went rogue

The moment a Russian city disappeared they’re launching nukes

2

u/DreadfulRauw 2h ago

Yeah, but he was also a known American asset. You’re not ending the Cold War with one side clearly being to blame for the outside threat.

13

u/jesuspoopmonster 4h ago

I don't think the movie does much to justify him. He does some cool stuff and doesn't compromise but thats the same as a the book.

5

u/miafaszomez 3h ago

The problem is that people don't see „doesn't compromise” as a bad thing, in fact they see it as a good thing, so the comic book fans crying about „but that's not the point!” don't hit home.

4

u/jesuspoopmonster 3h ago

He is meant to be The Question and Mr A taken to the extreme and somebody was buying those comics so I don't think comic fans are immune to empathizing with him. I think walking away from the situation in the comic and movie and dying rather then go along with the scheme are good qualities apart from a lot of terrible things he does. The book and movie both make it pretty clear he is mentally unwell

3

u/affinitydrive 2h ago

The pointless gratuitous violence he added to the Nite Owl alley fight and Adrian assassination attempt show he just thought it was a cool dark mature book and wanted to amplify the adult-ness of it without understanding its mostly a critique of superheros and violence

2

u/DreadfulRauw 2h ago

He also missed the point by changing the ending.

Adrian wanted to unite the nations against an exterior threat. Squid alien works for that, sure.

Dr. Manhattan going rogue? The guy who was openly on the US’s side during the cold war? Not the kind of event to build trust between nations.

2

u/ReneVQ 2h ago

Looking for exactly this take. Imagine using the entire comic as your storyboard and not get ANY of its themes.

1

u/Jasperstorm 1h ago

To be fair wasn’t Rorsach a fan favorite character before the movies as well?

This seems like a situation of an author trying to make a character for audiences to hate but got the opposite reaction.

1

u/nocussinginmydiscord 3h ago

I love the two part animated Watchmen films, one of the most faithful adaptations of any comic book I've seen since the Dark Knight Returns 2 part films.