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Watchmen Review (no spoilers) - What did you think?
Watchmen is a movie that is unlike other movies, much like the graphic novel was unlike other books... Or graphic novels.

The writer of Watchmen, Alan Moore, does not appreciate or agree with the movie, however, I don't think Alan Moore would appreciate anything that could come from Watchmen, even if it was from his own hands.

Watchmen is something that makes the viewer think, and it is not customary for (American) audiences to do such at a movie. As such, the director, Zack Snyder deserves MAD PROPS. He manages to stay truthful to the book while also embellishing factors that would allow the typical moviegoer(and person who hasn't read Watchmen) to enjoy the movie.

Another unique factor with Watchmen is that is goes in depth for many characters-- more than just one or two. No characters are left out. Narration comes from two specific characters, however character development, growth, and history, comes from many characters, including some characters which might seem superfluous until later (as they are not technically main characters).
The movie pulls all this off in a way that, even if you're not sure of what's going on, you can get the jist and follow along pretty easily. All the characters interactions apply to eachother in some way, shape, or form, and the movie pulls this together very well-- dare I say a little better than the book did.

Watchmen was a novel ahead of its time, and as such the movie follows. I'm not sure if I could appreciate the movie fully for what it is without reading the book first. Despite it being amazing(for lack of better words), they're both hard to digest and even with the book I didn't understand many parts.

The movie seems to be less confusing, well put together, with many of the meaningful scenes still kept in tact, as well as beautiful imagery and the gorgeous symbolism of many scenes from the book.


Some scenes, in my personal opinion could have been done differently, however, when it comes to cinema, things must be changed to appeal to wider audiences.

For example, something that might be disconcerting to some viewers is the fact that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, and continually gives itself pot shots through music choice and some angle/scene selection. There's nothing quite like 99 Luftballons playing right after a character dies, or a sex scene that so effortlessly mimics an <i>actual</i>, real life sex act so well it hurts not to laugh.
This may turn some people off, but I thought it was quite refreshing: Watchmen's a serious book with an ultra serious plot, but sometimes you just have to ask why it has to be serious all the time? The very fact that Watchmen is a superhero movie demands that it be made fun of somehow(from the standpoint of the movie industry) and the Watchmen movie pulls it off well enough for people who haven't read the book to not lose too much interest(at least in my opinion-- I'm biased, since I've read the book).

The novel had a severe lack of comedic breaks, and the movie manages to make some out of thin air. It's corny, but it works. At least it did for me.

Zack Snyder, I believe, did one of the best jobs I've ever seen of keeping both audiences happy. Where others have failed, I truly think Watchmen succeeds on all fronts.
He keeps the characters together, the histories played out well, the unneeded scenes out and the extremely confusing scenes making a bit more sense. The Watchmen movie could've been done a thousand and one different ways, but I'm glad it was done this way.

Can't wait to see the DVD's extra features-- willing to bet there are a billion deleted scenes and some sort of special extended edition, such as Lord of the Rings. =P

----
Now for some things I didn't like about the movie, for those who have seen it.
May include possible spoilers.

- Did anybody catch the 300 reference? That was pretty lame. (Comedian's apartment number is 3001 and in the fight the 1 gets knocked off, leaving you with 300 in the very beginning of the movie). I could've lived without that.

- Is it just me or did 99% of all foreshadowing just get tossed out the window? The ending seemed like it came out of nowhere. If I had not read the book-- actually, it didn't even make much sense either way. It's just like. BANG THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED. "wait, what?"

- Almost all background on Ozymandias wasn't there. Which is understandable I suppose. However, Bambastis (the cat thing) was never, ever explained, and seemed to just be there because someone on the movie crew liked him. I know in the book Bombastis was rather important, but being as that task was basically nullified in the movie, seeing a huge hybrid lynx/tiger/cat/thing just makes me go "wtf? Where did that come from?"
It even seems like they forgot to add the cat in scenes until the very end. I never saw Bombastis watching TV with Oxy, did you?

- They never explained Rorshach's mask. On one hand this is a sort of cool mystery feature, but on the other hand, when you've a universe fundamentally based on reality, having some dude's mask that randomly changes is sort of weird. Then again, they did amp up everyone's strength abilities in the movie so I guess putting the "super" back in "super hero" wasn't so far off the mark, and having some sort of magical costume is expected.

- BULLET TIME WAS OLD IN 2001 WHY WHY WHYYYY

- I was HEAVILY DISAPPOINTED this line did not make it into the movie:
User Image
Right after Nightowl II and Silk Spectre II save those people from that fire.

WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK OF WATCHMEN?!






User Comments: [6]
Lanackse-Kanvae
Community Member





Sat Mar 07, 2009 @ 09:45am


Actually the V for Vendetta movie was very much like the graphic novel.

**holds up her copy of the graphic novel to prove that she's not bullshitting**

I also love thinky films when my brain's in the right gear. You might enjoy some of Akira Kurosawa's works since his films are pretty thought invoking even if in a round about way.


CSquared
Community Member





Sat Mar 07, 2009 @ 01:24pm


I loved it. I've only read up to the seventh comic of ten, so I don't know how the comic ends, but what I'd read was so similar to the film, it almost terrified me. It certainly made me j**z a little all the time. XD

Seriously, the dialogue in most cases was almost perfectly that in the comic. So much so that I could quote along with it under my breath. I was also rather disappointed that line didn't make it in, actually. But so many wonderful parts did. Like the conversation between Rorschach and Big Figure. It annoyed me slightly that he wasn't an auld feller, but no matter.

And I am so glad that they put the conversation about Captain Carnage in. ^_^

It is rather a shame they didn't explain Rorschach's mask, and it annoys me they changed how he became Rorschach, but I suppose it would have been too much like Saw to have it how it was in the comic. But ah well, they couldn't put everything in. It was excellent, and beautifully accurate to the comic.

Not to mention the fact that the girl I'm attempting to get with was there with us. Sitting next to me. And she loves Rorschach as much as I do, so every time I squee'd, she did it right along with me and frequently grabbed at me. ^_^

Overall, I'D GIVE IT A FIVE. OUT OF FIVE. O_O


[Q]
Community Member





Sat Mar 07, 2009 @ 03:24pm


@Lans
I haven't read V, but I did see it. It's good to know it was true to the book-- I loved the movie.
Thinky movies aren't bad at all, but you have to agree that you have to go into a movie knowing it's a movie to make you think, otherwise you're just going to sit there dumbfounded. In example, I went to Knocked Up expecting some shitty comedy and I got a really interesting romantic drama and I was sitting there going "Wow I really didn't want to watch this."

If I had not actually read Watchmen, I wouldn't really know what it was about aside from "Some sort of action movie about super heroes or something disappearing... or something."
I'm not sure if I'd understand or even like the movie based on the trailers, but then again, how do you even put together a trailer for a movie so complicated and make it fit into something that's sort of digestible? D:

I'm really anxious to see what someone who hasn't read the book thinks about the movie.

@CSquared
You're right. The dialogue was spot on and that was really surprising. Especially the beginning with Rorshach's journal. When I saw the trailer I thought they had taken out words, but in the film the whole passage about politicians and whores wanting to be saved was there, and that was enlightening.

I read Watchmen around a month after Dark Knight's trailer came out and have been loaning it to friends ever since, so my memory is sort of foggy on a lot of parts, especially since I will honestly agree I really didn't understand half of that book. But the friend I saw the movie with pointed out the difference in how Rorshach became Rorshach and showed me the comic pages when we got home.

I think the change in the movie was more effective. Not only is the comic version too much like Saw, but it's also sort of a passive agressiveness, which doesn't really fit Rorshach's creation.... The movie version is very violent and more personal, he does the deed himself and sees it to the finish, rather than walking away before the deed is done. I think it's more fitting for Rorshach to be created that way.

I was squeeing at all the Rorshach parts too. And I shed a tear at the end... Same as when I read it. ;_;


Travesty
Community Member





Sat Mar 07, 2009 @ 06:19pm


I saw the movie last night and as I was leaving the theater I heard someone muttering something about "conservative propaganda." Having also seen and read V for Vendetta by the same author I was all "lol wut?" But I suppose there are different ways of interpreting it politically.


CSquared
Community Member





Sun Mar 08, 2009 @ 03:06am


Yeah, I suppose (regarding the way Rorschach dealt with the fella) - except that my comment was entirely ironic. Considering that Watchmen came a long time before Saw, it's not fair that they'd have to change it. And he didn't walk away, as such. He stood outside and watched to see if he'd get out. He didn't. The psychological torture is a large part of what makes Rorschach what he is. He's an intimidating son of a b***h. He's the kind of guy that you really don't want to meet in a dark alley at night. Honestly, I thought the comic scene fit him better than the movie. Not that the movie didn't fit, but I wasn't so satisfied with it.

But yeah. The end. It made me want to cry. I certainly wanted to punch Jon for it. I did like the pattern of the blood, though. ^_^


[Q]
Community Member





Sun Mar 08, 2009 @ 03:14am


Haha yes, "It's a pretty butterfly".

And yeah, Watchmen did come long before Saw but as it stands Saw the movie came before Watchmen the movie, so in terms of movies, it's still like Saw. And I know a lot of people (myself being one of them) haven't heard of watchmen until recently. So the whole time concept might be beyond them.

When I was reading the book, I thought "Wow that's a ripoff of Saw." Despite the fact I knew when the book was written. You can't really escape first impressions, regardless.

I guess the way Rorshach was born and which being better is arguable. I like both too, but I'm glad they changed it for the movie. The fire thing is very like Rorshach but at the same time if Rorshach was BORN that day he wouldn't really be fully ROrshach yet... If that makes any sense at all.


User Comments: [6]
 
 
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