Watchmen Review
Watchmen
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: David Hayter and Alex Tse
Starring: Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jackie Earle Haley, Carla Gugino
If you ask any comic book fan what the medium’s crowning achievement is, there’s a 99% chance they’ll bring up Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen. A twelve issue mini-series that was published back in 1986, the story manages to take superhero archetypes and build them into a layered meditation on justice, war, government and human nature. If you don’t read comics, it’s hard to explain what makes it such a landmark graphic novel, and indeed, even looking back on it now it’s hard to fully appreciate the context in which it was released.
The critical praise of the comic, along with many of Alan Moore’s other properties, has made Watchmen ripe for adaptation on the big screen. However, due to the complexity and tone of the comic, not to mention the extremely high expectations that come with it, a movie version has always been an insurmountable challenge. Somewhere along the line the project fell into the lap of Zack Snyder, director of 300, who decided that he just had to give it a shot, for fear of letting someone else screw it up. His vision of Watchmen is about as close an adaptation as is humanly possible and a staggering achievement on many levels… but does it risk alienating more casual viewers?
This is a complex and ambitious film, and one only need to watch the opening credits set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” to realize just how far-reaching it is. The movie takes place in an alternate version of 1985 where Nixon is still president and superheroes are real. They helped the United States win the Vietnam War, and now help keep the Russians in check. But when the superheroes go too far policing their own people, the government is prompted to outlaw their activities. It is this scenario that finds a mysterious assassin knocking off the members of a former superhero group called the Watchmen. Masked vigilante Rorschach is hot on his trail, and during his investigation he visits former comrades like Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan and the Silk Spectre, flashing back to the lives of these heroes, who are revealed to be just as flawed as the rest of us.
The fact that this movie even got made is a testament to the clout that Snyder holds in Hollywood. It is extremely faithful and uncompromising (perhaps to a fault), which in this case means making the most unconventional and non-commercial superhero flick possible. One of my biggest worries was that the movie would sacrifice substance in favour of style, and this is most certainly not the case. Although the action scenes are amped up a little too much, the fact remains that there is very little action to begin with. This is a noir-esque mystery thriller and a character-driven drama and that just happens to feature characters who wear costumes. The order in which things are told gets shifted around a bit, but it’s surprising just how much of the story and the original dialogue are preserved here.
The special effects are fantastic, particularly anything involving the god-like Dr. Manhattan, who is the one member of the Watchmen with true superpowers. Although his character rarely shows emotion, the subtlety to the CG for his facial expressions is amazing and completely sells him as believable.
The acting is surprisingly solid on all accounts. I rarely found anything corny or unintentionally funny, which is one criticism I have been hearing a lot. Sure Jackie Earle Haley is a little over the top as the gruff and tortured Rorschach, but it completely suits the hard-boiled detective role he is given. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is intense and borderline psychotic as The Comedian, while Patrick Wilson manages to walk a fine line as the meek, Clark Kent-esque Nite Owl. Even Malin Akerman, who resembles a young Cameron Diaz, doesn’t derail the film. (I will say that Carla Gugino in her old lady make-up was kinda lame, however.)
With so many impressive components to this film, it’s almost not fair to nitpick some of its flaws. However, it is far from perfect, and I did have some problems with it.
For one, the action scenes didn’t sit well with me. Snyder seems to go on auto-pilot as soon as there is any sort of physical confrontation on screen, resorting to the same speed-ramping techniques that he used in 300. I realize that these are supposed to be superheroes, but somehow it didn’t suit the style of the movie — it felt too high-tech and Matrix-y for me. I understand it was necessary to help sell the movie, but in some cases it felt really inappropriate. Do we really need to relish in the violence and “fight choreography” involved in an attempted rape?
Some of the musical choices were baffling and, at times, goofy. In theory, I’m not against inserting popular music into the proceedings (the comic book used a number of popular songs as well) but some just don’t work, such as the funeral scene set to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” or the “99 Luftballoons” during a dinner date. I guess this was Snyder trying to remind us that it’s a period piece, but it just felt too random.
Then there’s the issue of the movie’s length. The movie feels like a lumbering beast of a film, partially because there is so much slow-motion, and partially because it just tries to pack so much into the two hour, 45 minute run time. The strength of the original story prevents it from getting dull, but I do think the story could have been abbreviated a little more and tightened up in places. There are points where the movie feels a bit too full of itself, too showy, and I think those who haven’t read the comic will be checking their watch and/or rolling their eyes.
Either way, it’s a lot to digest in one sitting, and it’s a movie that will require multiple viewings for most people to fully appreciate. In some ways it’s unfortunate that The Dark Knight came out last year because it deals with a lot of the same issues in a much more grounded and natural way. It also made the issues relevant to today’s audience, whereas Watchmen just kind of adapts what is there on the page. Technically speaking, Zack Snyder has proved that Watchmen is filmable, but I don’t know that he proved it was worth filming. An adaptation of a masterpiece does not a masterpiece make, and Watchmen will never be as groundbreaking on screen as it was on paper. That said, it is still unlike anything else that has ever been committed to celluloid before, and for that alone, it deserves praise. — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: Sin City, Blade Runner, Southland Tales
Comments (51)
I thought the last half of the movie felt rushed and incomplete. it felt like it ended way to quickly for me.
Posted by cronenfly on March 7th, 2009“If you ask any comic book fan what the medium’s crowning achievement is, there’s a 99% chance they’ll bring up Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen.”
Superhero fans, maybe. Comic fans, no way. Watchmen wouldn’t even crack my top 100.
Posted by Wintle on March 7th, 2009good review sean…but, and I would say this to the other 3 quadrillion reviewers this weekend, do we really need to hear even a single sentence telling us who wrote watchmen and what it was….
Hell I get annoyed when reviewers talk about a well known director, every fucking review you read…do we need this:
“…directed by Ridley Scott, known auteur for such films as gladiator, blade runner, and the first Alien”
Reviews on the web (including youtube) are getting to be more repetitive then reality tv. The GHOST HUNTERS have to say the phrases “LET’S DO THIS” and “WE’RE GONNA SEE WHAT WE FIND” every 3 nano seconds by contract. They also have to define what an EMF is every 4 picoseconds as well.
Posted by Bob The Slob on March 7th, 2009Cronenfly: I didn’t find that. I still think it could stand to have been a bit shorter, but I know that would have probably pissed off a lot of people.
Wintle: True, that is probably an important distinction. But I do get the feeling that your opinion of Watchmen is lower than most?
Bob The Slob: Just because you know what something is, doesn’t mean everyone else does. Trust me, there are a lot of people out there who have no clue what Watchmen is and why there is so much hype for this movie.
Posted by Sean on March 7th, 2009I’m not disagreeing with you sean, I’m just saying that 40 billion reviews and commericials and shows and previews and what have you say the exact same thing over and over. Even with the stuff I didn’t know about before hand…it annoys me.
Still good review.
I gotta admit, I wouldn’t have minded it being longer…and I thought the music was well placed.
Posted by Bob The Slob on March 7th, 2009I agree with most of your points Sean but I have to be less forgiving, the acting wasn’t awful ( like the spirit) but I never felt any anything close to dramatic acting, thats where the music just boils my piss, everytime we came close to dramatic tension snyder would cut it into a montage and kill it for me, the two actors who really impressed me and got me involved until Snyder started fucking around was Jackie Earle Haley and Billy Cudup.
I have never read the graphic novel and approached it knowing I might have to work a little harder. It’s all surface with Snyder the bloke has no soul, but like 300 Snyder has amazing trailers and I think from now on thats the only thing I can look forward to.
What is shocking to me is that Dr Manhattan looks excellent, meat and two veg included but the make up for Carla Gugino was shit, like an 80s tv mini series
Posted by Lee on March 7th, 2009how can they fail to get that right.
Sound of Silence is the song that frames the chapter about the Comedian’s funeral. That’s why it was used. No one seems to remember that…
Posted by loquaciousmuse on March 7th, 2009I disagree Wintle. I think Watchmen is well regarded among fans of the medium as a whole.
You can name a hundred better works than Watchmen? I don’t believe you.
Posted by Rusty James on March 7th, 2009Watchmen is certainly well-regarded by many, if not most, comic fans. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I can appreciate why so many do, and I wouldn’t dispute that it is one of the most celebrated comic works of all time. However, I don’t think the vast majority of comic fans would consider it the pinnacle of the medium.
And yes, I can name 100 comic works I find superior to Watchmen. In my sleep.
Posted by Steven on March 7th, 2009An overly marketed comic that didn’t sell when it was published in the 1980’s being marketed as the 99% chance best something-or-other? You’ve got to be kidding. Overly hyped, poorly written and unsuccessful, there’s no surprise it took so long to get adapted to movie form. It’s main, and apparently only, claim to fame seems to be that it was the first big British success in the comic medium, and possibly the last. In American comics they would have had the pregnant woman shooting the assailant in glorified style, or whereabouts, a la Tarantino. I’m not knocking Alan Moore per se, but he doesn’t know comics and America if that’s what he thinks they’re all about. Superman and Batman were never Man-trips to the Americans, as Wonder Woman and Black Canary were never Woman-trips. He shouldn’t kid himself.
Posted by Roberto on March 7th, 2009@ And yes, I can name 100 comic works I find superior to Watchmen. In my sleep.
Restating the claim and adding “in my sleep” really just makes it that much more dubious.
Such as…
Posted by Rusty James on March 7th, 2009And Roberto, your post is like a text book example of how to sound like you don’t know what your talking about.
Here’s a point for point rebutal to your post: nope, nope, nope, nope nope, nope, nope etc…
Watchmen’s been continuously in print and selling well for 25 years. And claiming that it was the last successful brit success is as close to an indefensible statement as I’ve ever heard.
Did realize while you were writing your post that you’re simultaneously arguing that it was the first big british success and also that it wasn’t successful?
I don’t usually point to financial success to back up my personal opinions. But in this case your claims are just objectively wrong.
Posted by Rusty James on March 7th, 2009Just finished watching, while the comic was great and perhaps relevant for its time I personally think that Moore has a few issues he needs to work through when you review his works collectively. Anyway back to the movie I loved it, I was a little disappointed that the flashbacks weren’t longer and the background wasn’t really given for those who haven’t read the comic. You really can’t look at this in the same vein as other Superhero movies or comics since it was more of a political statement in art. Those not to careful in watching will miss the Batman comic ads behind the first Nite Owl during the opening montage and miss the point that these people took the characters out of comics into real life albeit an alternate reality and then tried to answer the question what would the mindset be of someone who would put on a costume. I to felt the end was a little rushed and the mystery was solved and then we get the punch line. The fight scenes did remind me of 300 but weren’t that bad considering that there were few of them, big beef was not building the character of Veidt/Ozymandias explaining his back story and how he was as strong as he was. I still miss the squid.
Posted by Nick on March 7th, 2009The 3 hour cut will most likely deal with more of the back story of the characters and such.
Posted by swarez on March 7th, 2009I’m not really a big comic book guy, so maybe I’m misunderstanding where the Watchmen sits in the grand scheme of things. But in the end, that’s not important. The important point is that Watchmen is a big deal within a certain subset of people, and completely unknown to the rest of the world.
Posted by Sean on March 7th, 2009My dad agreed to take me to see this but i’m thinking of calling it off because of the sex scenes, he’s cool with violence but the sex might be too much and it might be embarrising to sit through with him. I really want to see this on the big screen, but I don’t know, what do you guys think I should do?
Posted by Drew on March 7th, 2009If you’re not mature enough to sit through a movie with your dad that has a sex scene, then you’re not mature enough to see R Rated movies. Sorry. They’re R Rated for a reason.
Posted by Slushie Man on March 7th, 2009Nice review, I agree with the main points you brought up.
Posted by dom_g on March 7th, 2009Sorry, Rusty, I didn’t realize you were expecting an actual list. I agree with you that my statement was rich in vitamin-hyperbole, so I decided to sit down and type until I hit 100. It was fairly easy considering the subjective nature of the criteria, being comic works that I personally consider superior to Watchmen. I tried to limit myself by grouping together some works that could be broken down into multiple selections, ie. Locas by Jaime Hernandez, and I’m fairly certain I avoided anything less than four issues long, or the equivalent in whatever form they appeared in. I doubt anyone cares enough to read the entire thing, so hopefully these 10 will suffice.
The New Yorker cartoons of Peter Arno.
Posted by Wintle on March 7th, 2009Willie and Joe by Bill Mauldin.
Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Peanuts by Charles Schulz.
Sick, Sick, Sick by Jules Feiffer.
Black Jack by Osama Tezuka.
Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff.
Corto Maltese by Hugo Pratt.
King-Cat Comics by John Porcellino.
Achewood by Chris Onstad.
I’m mature enough to see R Rated movies, and I can sit through a sex scene with him if its not insanely explicit. Think about it, would you sit through a porno with your dad at any age? (BTW, i’m not saying watchmen is going to be like porn, i’m just trying to make my point.)
Posted by Drew on March 7th, 2009Hey Wintle, thanks for taking the time. I didn’t realize above that you and Steve were the same person.
I appreciate your love for the old standards, I’ve got a hardcover volume of Terry and the Pirates on my shelve and I’m just waiting for the right lazy afternoon to crack it open.
But are you really comparing New Yorker Cartoons, daily news paper stips, Jules Feiffer and collected graphic novels? I will not pretend I’ve heard of Peter Arno but are you really saying that he worked in the same medium as Alan Moore? I don’t know, Maybe New Yorker comics used to be really different once upon a time.
And I really love the Lee / Kirby run on FF but c’mon.
Posted by Rusty James on March 7th, 2009No, “Rusty”, I’m quite correct. As are Sean, Wintle and Drew. You might last through it, Drew, but the theme may not be appealing to you. If you really want to see the movie but don’t want to see certain scenes, then just close your eyes when it’s not for you and those scenes will pass. This has been known to work. Awesome list, Wintle, and you’re perfectly and timelessly correct about Stan Lees and Jack Kirbys Fantastic Four, as you obviously know all too perfectly well, and all the rest. 8D
Posted by Roberto on March 7th, 2009Just so you guys know i’ve read the graphic novel and loved it, and i want to see the whole thing, i’m not going to close my eyes, i’m not THAT young guys. I will deffinitly see this on my own at some point, and I will probably see it with my dad next weekend.
Posted by Drew on March 7th, 2009I don’t know what you, Sean, Drew etc were all collectively right about “Roberto” but it wasn’t Watchmen being unsuccessful in print.
Posted by Rusty James on March 7th, 2009I agree it was pretty good. Wasn’t expecting much, but those action scenes were close to some Matrix shit. And the jail scene… epic, lol!
Posted by joe on March 7th, 2009I liked the movie, but I definitely thought the movie was a bit long. A 3-hour movie that definitely felt like 3 hours.
One thing that annoyed me a lil was Snyder using a lot of zoomed headshots-to zoom out to start a scene with a song playing in the background.
It’s absolutely faithful to the graphic novel with it’s streamlined adaptation, but I think could of paced it much quicker. And yes, I’m with joe when saying that the jail scene was epic, hehe.
@Drew – Watching sex scenes with parents is always uncomfortable for them. I went to see A History of Violence with my parents which was hilarious in retrospect. The sex scene in this movie wasn’t that bad though, eh? Much more humorous in the graphic novel.
Posted by Pr1mal on March 8th, 2009It was pretty humorous in the graphic novel
Posted by Drew on March 8th, 2009I was really bored in parts of the movie. The dark knight was 2hr 20 mins long but it felt like 1hr long I would have been fine had Dark Knight been 5 hrs long, this certainly felt 3 hrs long though. I wish I had not read the comic before watching the movie, not that I thought the comic was so good that it ruined the movie for me, it was an okay comic but knowing how it was gonna play out really ruined the film
Posted by John Locke on March 8th, 2009Drew,
Posted by rus in chicago on March 8th, 2009I’m old…I remember renting “Red Foxx in a Brown Paper Bag” when I was a teenager because my Dad and I loved watching Sanford and Son. I had no idea Red Foxx was a legendary blue stand-up performer. I was incredibly embarrassed and uncomfortable watching Red Foxx talk about anal fucking hoes in the alley, but my dad laughed and laughed as my mom bitched and bitched. I tell you this because I’m glad I have that memory because it was one of those first moments my dad and I enjoyed something as men and not father and son.
By the way, my buddy and I vetoed fighting the crowds and seeing Watchmen for a few weeks. I made the mistake going and seeing Sin City opening night base on cool trailers and a cool book and wanted to bolt in the first ten minutes. Zack Synder is a hack, and at almost 3 hours I need the ability to stop the movie and take a crap if the movie is crap.
My prediction: record second week drop on word of month and Watchmen will be this years SPEEDRACER!!!!
Posted by rus in chicago on March 8th, 2009No it will probably be another Friday the 13th which broke two records in the same week, biggest opening for an R rated movie and biggest drop for a film in a single week 81%.
Posted by swarez on March 8th, 2009I’m one of those “casual viewers” who went to see this. I deliberately stayed away from the comic before seeing the movie and coming in to it without having read the comic gives you a different perspective. It certainly is visually powerful, intense and uncompromising. And it looks amazing.
My biggest issue is with Synder’s choices as a director. Even without having read the comic, it’s obvious he’s trying to be too faithful to the source material. Synder’s love affair with the Matrix-inspired speed up/slow down effect gets old fast. I completely agree that there is very goofy music choices in the movie. There is some downright clumsy editing in places. Much of the over-the-top violence – which I know comes directly from the pages of the comic – is just pointless after awhile.
Overall, I thought it was an interesting, technically brilliant film that’s flawed because it’s just too hung up on being faithful to the original.
Posted by Andrew on March 8th, 2009I didn’t know anything about the story or the comic and I had a great time at the theater. The only thing I didn’t like was the big blue dong in my face every couple of minutes. Other than that, I really liked it.
Posted by The Het on March 8th, 2009Andrew, the music choices were “goofy”…why because they are really songs that actually existed in the time period? and god forbid we dont make everything 100% dark and humorless of God’s favorite film THE DARK KNIGHT.
Posted by Bob the Slob on March 8th, 2009I really didn’t like the comics, so i don’t think the movie would be more interesting, and by some of these reviews i don’t have any interest lol
Posted by Movie Man on March 8th, 2009I enjoyed Watchmen very much. It was like the novel put to screen with some subplot omissions and a changed ending. There’s very little that I think there is to complain about. It’s just the usual feeling that I get when seeing a movie adapted from source material that I’ve already read. A lot of fun, but no surprises. Highlights for me were Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Lowlight was Nixon’s ginormous nose. I swear I saw it wiggle.
Posted by Mason on March 8th, 2009Thanks for the review, Sean. Combined with John Locke’s comment that he wished he hadn’t read the comic beforehand (and the fact that it costs 35 euros) it has convinced me to just go see the damn movie!
Posted by Bas on March 8th, 2009The music didn’t work for me because not only did The Sounds of Silence come out in 1965 and not 85, our world is not the one of Watchmen. I would have much preferred a regular score to all of Snyder’s choice bits because it was one of many things that took me out of the film.
Haley was amazing, however.
Posted by Dave on March 8th, 2009All your comments are interesting although, with other movies ive made the mistake of reading reviews first. I know now you will all say well duhh that the point, but NO!!. Too many times have i put off a movie due to reviews then later on in my life find it at a video store and watch it and it turns out to be the exact type of movie i like. You must know there will allways be people who hate things, everyone is different. And you can never say a movie is shit when you didnt see it, and if you have seen it and still think its shit then fair enough. But anyone else dont you get put off by reviews i havnt seen it myself but intend to despite what people say. Every movie has fans. No one likes all the same stuff. Anyway i pretty much skimmed throught this site finding the good things about the movie and a few people have had some nice things to say about it like i really want to see this prison scene.
Posted by Xerferic on March 8th, 2009I saw it and I loved it. I had only read the beginning of the GN on purpose cause I like to be in the dark with stories I am unfamiliar with.
I don’t understand why everybody gets worked up over the blue penis and graphic violence.
The movie is rated R and it says why.
If you saw 300 and are surprised, then you are also stupid. Hell if you saw the trailer and are surprised you are stupid. And if you are pissed cause your kid saw it and wasn’t prepared then why the hell are you bringing a kid to a movie that is made for people over 17?
Dr.M was a near perfect character and changing him for the prudish American audience would have been a childish FCC like move. I am an adult and I can handle it. Although I seem to be in the minority. If you want pointless shock value watch the shitty Saw movies. The violence and nudity in this movie fit the tone perfectly.
I do wish they had fleshed out Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias better. For being so important to the story they spent very little time on his character development. And I do think the music could have been approached a little better. Maybe just using it in the background instead of so loud over the whole movie.
All in all I am looking forward to an extended cut on BR and hope they filmed the original ending to include on the Directors Cut. I give it a 9 out of 10. The one point taken off for the fact that it has arguable flaws. But all in all a very enjoyable movie that met my expectations.
Just a tip. Never expect too much. You will always be disappointed. The right person to make a film usually doesn’t get the chance. This is a case, at least for me where I don’t think it could have been done better and I think the director did great with a very complex story line. This will be one of the only films I will spend 30.00 for a Blu-Ray on.
Posted by Luke on March 9th, 2009I really liked this movie, and I have to take this chance to rescind all of the shit i was talking about it in anticipation. Like the comic book, it didn’t take itself too seriously. The music choices weren’t bad, obviously culled straight from the book itself. it was just that they were a bit too heavy in the mix/placement (esp. all along the watchtower). the big blue dong was a big plus in my book. the graphic violence was completely appropriate.
this flick completely redeems snyder for 300.
Posted by Joel on March 9th, 2009Good review Sean. Saw the film on Saturday on Imax. Ironically for something based on a classic novel, I actually felt that many of the film’s problems were inherent in the source material. I like the world created and themes explored by Alan Moore, but I don’t find the main plot or resolution very satisfying. I seem to be alone in finding V for Vendetta a much better book.
I also felt that the problems with 300 were with the source material (that and Sin City seem all style and little substance to me), so what I really wanted to say here was, I’d like to see Snyder create his own world with some original material. Fight scenes aside, I was actually really impressed by his visual flair. Maybe (in tone at least) he could create something as beautiful as Bladerunner given the right material?
Posted by Liney on March 9th, 2009Since I havent read the actual graphic novel, I cant say how well this movie is comparable to the original. Just considering the movie story, I feel a bit unsatisfied. None of the characters play a strong role. I thought that the action scenes would be similar to movie 300, but it was not even 25% near to that. My $20 ticket was a total waste!
Posted by Richard Eggert on March 9th, 2009Penis-related spoiler alert:
Having a blue dong that mimics the David-like quality of Dr. M’s in the novel is one thing but a blue dong that is 8 inches long and originates out of his lower abdomen is another. It was distracting. The male nudity in Borat was less distracting.
If it was CGI, which I think it was, they could have dialed it down a bit. If it was supposed to be a reflection of Crudup’s wang for his ego’s sake, then he should be studied for science. It looked horrible. And I don’t think he had any balls.
End of penis talk.
As for the movie, I enjoyed it overall. But it felt long. Really long. And that’s on the director. There were things in there that they could have cut to make it have a quicker pace without destroying the source material.
Posted by Brett on March 9th, 2009“My biggest issue is with Synder’s choices as a director. Even without having read the comic, it’s obvious he’s trying to be too faithful to the source material.”
The studio actually wanted something really stupid and he made it closer to the original, so he’s a champ in my book. Also, if you’re not close to the source material, it’s not Watchmen.
Posted by Paul on March 9th, 2009“That said, it is still unlike anything else that has ever been committed to celluloid before, and for that alone, it deserves praise.”
That’s the main reason why I really enjoyed it.
1. The fight scenes were spectacular although I’m afraid the slow-mo might be unbearable during subsequent viewings (which is what I think about 300). I’m a big fan of the new wave of gore that is part CG and part practical. Rorschach chopping that pedo’s head was perfect.
2. Dr. Manhattan is the best looking CG character I’ve seen–and Crudups performance was equally perfect.
3. Great use of the music! I foresee myself rewatching the Dr. Manhattan origin story on BD many times (made ten times greater by Philip Glass’ best piece on Koyaanisqatsi).
4. Jackie Earle Haley wins.
Negative aspects:
1. I agree with Sean–it was definitely 20mins too long. They should have cut a few bits like Rorschach collecting the rose from The Comedian’s grave (and if half the slow-mo was gone that’d definitely help the runtime). Also the sex scene should have been chopped down considerably and was completely ridiculous (even though I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard in the cinema so I’m actually glad it was in there).
2. This may be the only comic book film I’ve seen that was made better by knowing the source material first. Five people (who I’d bet anything hadn’t read the novel) walked out right after it zoomed out on Mars because they obviously couldn’t take it anymore.
3. Malin Ackerman was the only weak link in the cast. While not nearly as weak (and not at all as annoying as Katie Holmes in Batman Begins) she definitely brought down Crudup’s awesome performance during their arguments.
“I like the world created and themes explored by Alan Moore, but I don’t find the main plot or resolution very satisfying.”
I often feel that Moore spends too much time exploring themes and character in Watchmen while neglecting plot altogether but I still think the GN; while being a bit dense, is a great achievement. The main thing I find trying is the Black Freighter aspects. Since that story isn’t “real” I just want to move on to what is “actually” going on.
“Just a tip. Never expect too much. You will always be disappointed. The right person to make a film usually doesn’t get the chance. This is a case, at least for me where I don’t think it could have been done better and I think the director did great with a very complex story line.”
That’s my philosophy. I’m glad I went in thinking it would overuse voiceover and be too event faithful to the comic (like showing Rorschach burn the pedo rather than anything else) so luckily I was pleasantly surprised.
Posted by Ryan M. on March 9th, 2009“I like it, but i hate this”
“I hate this, but I liked this…”
“I thought this could have been better, but this was done really good…”
jeSUS…. were you entertained? did it take you away from your mundane existence and bring you to a world envisioned by someone else and completely enshroud your broke, busted and can’t be trusted self??
if you were entertained, then give some kudos. opinions are so damn funny. of course not all people will like the same thing, but if you intentionally went to go see a 3 hour, R-rated movie AND paid your $10, then I think you had some sort of idea what you were in for, and if you didn’t leave in the first 30 mins to get your money back, then you stayed becuz the movie was good enough….
10/10 stars… blue schlong in all.
I laughed my ass off for most of this movie. It was hilarious, entertaining, story driven, action packed and even the slow-mo scenes felt right. I love how the director creates his work. Matrix shmatrix… This movie deserves a fargin sequel.
you fargin iceholes.
And yes the scene in jail with little midget wanting revenge with his two fatso pals waiting for Rorschach’s cell to be opened. Gotta love the way he dealt with them. =)
“Sorry, but you’re in my way of progress…” as the arms go. hahahaha….
and BAM! gotta love the boots nockin with Night Owl and Spectre…. gigitty!!!! I wanted to help pilot the ship (and maybe peak over my shoulder and watch). =D
“This movie is gonna be the next Speedracer”…
O.o wtF?
You need to be slapped with Manhattan’s blue hotdog.
Posted by RichPea on March 10th, 2009Best movie ever
Posted by Ole A T on March 11th, 2009Loved everything.
Grate work
I was severely disappointed with this movie. I was one of the many who had not read the series and, because of the trailers, was expecting an action packed super hero beat down of a movie. Instead I sat through almost three hours of sub-par drama with a dash of violence. This movie should have been an hour shorter than it was to make it more compelling and well paced. I realize that a shorter movie would upset many of the readers, but that’s why they make directors cuts. The only true Hero in the whole movie was Rorschach, and we all know what happens to him. Watchmen was visually stunning but the lame story, soundtrack and plot-holes, coupled with the slowness of the film made it hard to watch. I hope the comic books were a lot better than this.
Posted by Chris on March 13th, 2009I was entertained by the movie, even though I felt some of the violence was excessive in an attempt to be edgy and some of the slow-mo action felt a mite overdone.
Otherwise, I think I liked how the movie made the attempt of adapting the comic. There’s some stuff in there that was quite original.
Posted by Ho-Hum on March 14th, 2009Chris>
Also Rorschach isn’t a “real” hero. He’s a sociopath who will torture and harm innocent people if he thinks that they *might* know something.
None of the Watchmen were supposed to be “real heroes.” And if I were to label one of them a “true hero” I’d easily place Nite Owl there. Rescuing people from a burning building is about the only admirable thing that was done by any of the characters in the movie.
Posted by Ho-Hum on March 14th, 2009Leave a Reply