Watchmen Movie

[Reply #80 on:]

haha, friday...

Oh you guys, i'm seeing it THURSDAY.

I'd be seeing it tomorrow if I won those darn tickets like I was supposed to.

[Reply #81 on:]

You mean like, the tickets to a preview screening tomorrow which I won? Was it anything like that, Faze? Was it? Like that? Like those preview tickets? Faze?

[Reply #82 on:]

Oh SJM, you're seeing it tomorrow? As in Wednesday? I'm seeing it thursday! I think it's only out friday in the states, so we're seeing it 1-2 days before them. How cool is that? Don't you think that is cool other people who are only seeing it Friday? hmm?

[Reply #83 on:]

You act like 2 days ever mattered.  The movie already existed.... doesn't matter what time you saw it in... as long as you understand the context.

Silly children.

[Reply #84 on:]

But I get to see it before you ^_^

[Reply #85 on:]

Did you?

[Reply #86 on:]

I'm going to see it with my friend on saturday.

[Reply #87 on:]

No, I didn't give you permission. You can't.

[Reply #88 on:]

Sure I can. Go watch some men, chay

[Reply #89 on:]

I've got something for you to watch chay, right over here!

[Reply #90 on:]

I have my ticket.  March 5 @ 12:01 AM.

[Reply #91 on:]

THREE DAYS!

*FANBOY SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

[Reply #92 on:]

the iPhone/iPod Touch app is pretty cool.

[Reply #93 on:]

You mean like, the tickets to a preview screening tomorrow which I won? Was it anything like that, Faze? Was it? Like that? Like those preview tickets? Faze?

[Reply #94 on:]

Sure I can. Go watch some men, chay

You're the last person I'd expect to go see this.

No wait... Alan Moore is the last person I'd expect to go see Watchmen. Ironic? No. It's not.

Friday...wooooot!!!!

[Reply #95 on:]

So this douchebag at the New Yorker gave Watchmen a negative review because it had no comedy...


What do you expect? The Comedian is dead.

[Reply #96 on:]

i see what you did there.

[Reply #97 on:]

So this douchebag at the New Yorker gave Watchmen a negative review because it had no comedy...


What do you expect? The Comedian is dead.

WATCHMEN is so dark that it makes The Dark Knight look like an episode of TAXI in comparison.

My wife read only a few pages of the graphic novel because it was so dark and depressing.

[Reply #98 on:]

Final Thoughts before seeing the movie at the midnight opening:

I hope to God it doesn't suck...

[Reply #99 on:]

I'll put this in a more relevant thread:

[Reply #100 on:]

Wednesday... I could very likely go see it on Thursday... only if I remember to plan ahead.

[Reply #101 on:]

So this douchebag at the New Yorker gave Watchmen a negative review because it had no comedy...


What do you expect? The Comedian is dead.

WATCHMEN is so dark that it makes The Dark Knight look like an episode of TAXI in comparison.

My wife read only a few pages of the graphic novel because it was so dark and depressing.

People were saying it was too faithful to the book...

Thank God.


Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xlixMYekpk
All the clips released together

[Reply #102 on:]

My impressions (which shall also end up in the review thread).

Over all, it works. I love the original books, and the movie clearly tries very hard to stay true to the spirit of the story. The themes, characters, and general ideas survive the transition mostly intact, and I can say that, as an adaptation, it felt quite successful to me. Oh, there are changes, yes, and a few rewrites to scenes which I feel didn't work anywhere near as effectively as they did in the comic, but overall, it's still definately Watchmen.

As a movie, however....

Firstly, the good points. It is, for the most part, pretty well acted, with Roarshach (who's going to win a new generation of fans with this film) and Nite Owl being standouts. Roarshach for just being Roarshach, and Nite Owl/Daniel for just being exactly as button-down and repressed as he needs to be. And the  Doc still makes me want to cry. The film definately commands attention, with plenty of high-impact fight scenes loaded with slow-mo, really giving the violence a lot of oomph. Speaking of violence, this is not santized Hollywood comic book violence. Bones splinter, limbs shatter, bullets tear bodies apart, and Dr Manhatton rips people to pieces in quite a gruesome fashion. This works for Watchmen, of course, as the effect of violence on people is never flinched away from. It's not exactly realistic, but it's certainly not glorified and that, I think, is the best way to do it. And mad props for no quick-cut fast editing, which usuallys makes me some combination of dizzy and angry. By and large, the music is appropriate sounding period music, with the best example being the opening credit montage set to Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are a Changing'. It's a great scene-setter, demonstrating the Watchmen universe quite well. The plot is pretty intact, with one major change, but (and this may be a controversial opinion, but anyway) I feel it works quite fine within the context of the orignal story.

Show spoiler

Instead of the giant squid, Ozymandias uses Dr Manhattan's powers to unite the world.

It's more a detail shift than a cast rewrite, and it allows the film to avoid a subplot and still accomplish the same goal within the narrative.

Now, onto the bad. Ozymandias is probably a bit micsast and misued. The actor playing him is way too thin and weedy.

Show spoiler

Worse yet, I feel they overplayed their hand on making him creepy way too early on in the piece. Moore's version never tipped his hand until the last act, and while Adrian isn't mwahahahaing his way from the opening scene, there is a definate air of menace which I found unwelcome. He was fine in the last scene, but leading up to that...

. That may just be my impressions of the book colouring the movie, but never-the-less, it stuck out for me. The middle act sags. Like the comic, this film moves between the over-all story and spending time going into the background stories for these characters. While this worked quite well for the first act, with the Comedian and Dr Manhattan's rendered with just the right amount of revulsion and pathos (I've always liked Jon's story, anyway), Roarshach's story is very abbreviated, and suffered for it, which is the main problem with the middle act. Everything is squished and compressed and a lot of detail and nuance is lost. Worse yet, the main story vanishes into the background, and a lot of the feeling of impending doom is lost. The story wobbles back to it's feet in the last act, and still manages to take the gold in the final leg, but the middle part still left a bad taste in my mouth, as the comic fan inside me mourned for what was lost. The sex scene between Dan and Laurie was excessive. I shouldn't be checking my watch and thinking 'is this still going?'

To wrap up:

Watchmen, for me, worked. It's as good an adaptation of the source material as could be expected, I think, and while a lot of the detail is lost, it still manages to deconstruct the superhero mythos (now currently riding a wave of popularity due to film) fairly successfully. It tells a very human story in a fantastical setting, and that is what I've always loved it for, so overall, despite it's flaws, I think I shall declare it a success. It's not as deep and well put-together as I sometimes feel it could have been, but for the most part, it entertains, provokes, and enthralls. Only hardcore absolutionist fans with a similar approah to compromise as Roarshach will be disapointed, I think.

[Reply #103 on:]

@weiner: That's the best thing I ever saw.

[Reply #104 on:]

Coldangel's journal, March 5.

Slackjaw - I just got back from seeing it. Was gonna write a detailed review but I'd have been repeating everything you said.

Altered ending did make sense. Was peeved in parts by certain omissions, but it's a movie after all. Couldn't reproduce source material in its entirety. Nevertheless, one hopes for an extended special-edition DVD.

[Reply #105 on:]

Loved it!

spoiler heavy review/thoughts ahead.

Really really enjoyed this film. I think it was a very good adaptation, it didn't deviate to much from the book (Except for the squid, but as SJM said, they alternate worked well in the context of the film, and it would be too hard to get in all the necessary subplot to fully explain the squid).

Good
 - Rorschach. He was brilliant. I think the actor did a terrific job, when he was unmasked he was brilliant, and the end part with Jon in the snow was absolutely tragic. I really feel for him
 - Music. The music was really well done, as SJM said the opening credits with The Times they are a changin' was good.
 - Opening credits. Again, they were really good with the music, and it helped fill in a few blanks and explain stuff quickly, and it was pretty shocking to see the girl putting the flower in the gun, only to see them all go off.
 -

Not necessarily bad, but not as good/niggling issues
 - Little unnecessary changes. There were a few things that the changed that didn't seem entirely necessary. One big one, was the fact that Rorschach didn't set the child murderers house on fire... what gives?! That was going to be awesome, instead he cleaves his head a bunch of times... I was disappointed.
 - Missing Bits. Obviously they couldn't put EVERYTHING in, and i won't full pass judgement till i've seen the directors cut, cause i felt like some things WERE going to be in it, like Hollis Masons murder, when Rorschach and Dan are in that bar towards the end, i think you do see a Knot-tops head just below frame that dan seems to notice, but you don't see anything more of it, so hopefully in th directors cut, that in it.
Also, it was nice that you did see the two Bernard's at the end, but I'm hoping when they splice in Black freighter, they give those two more lines.
- Ozymandias. Lame. Lame Lame Lame. Too young, too skinny, made him too much a "Cleanse the world!" psycho to early on. Needed to make him seem more arrogant and harmless i thought.
- Not enough Babastis!

Those are more random scattered thoughts then a proper review, but i've got to see it a few more times.

[Reply #106 on:]

I noticed in the released footage on Youtube that they changed the layout of Old Jupiter's house place and made her younger. I rathered her as the withering grandma in her death bed, thank you very much. Were there other changes like that? Little nuances that most people on only a single reading of the graphic novel will pick up?

[Reply #107 on:]

Ozymadias looks about 30... when he should look about 50. Captain Metropolis is pretty much removed from the story, As was Hollis Mason which was kinda a bummer, but i think he'll have more in the directors cut. Also also, Rorschach gets his face back a lot sooner, he's got it back by the time Night Owl and Silk Spectre catch up with him.

[Reply #108 on:]

Thank you, Chay.
You reassured me for this film.

[Reply #109 on:]

*skips over reviews* shutupshutupjerkjerksyousuck

I just wanted to say, I'm doing a quick read of of the graphic novel again, skipping over the long texty bits and black freighter stuff just as a refresher.

Raw shark...!

[Reply #110 on:]

Raw shack...!*

[Reply #111 on:]

The world will look up and shout save us and I'll whisper RARRRRL

[Reply #112 on:]

skips thread

Going to see this in a couple of hours... it's odd, because unlike the rest of you, I haven't read the source material. I always meant to, but never got around to it.

[Reply #113 on:]

That's good! It'll be good to hear your perspective on lots of things. I thought the title seqeunce was really good at summing up a lot of stuff they couldn't explain in depth, but that may just be because i've read it.

[Reply #114 on:]

Can't wait to see this one, it's going to be The Dark Knight of 2009. They're really raising the bar as far as superhero movies go.

[Reply #115 on:]

Man, it was fucking GREAT!

I read some reviews that were less than stellar and some pretty critical of WATCHMEN but I feel it translated to the Big Screen quite well.

Spoiler tags for now:

Show spoiler

Okay, the Squid didn't make the movie but they managed to have the same result with that change.

Night Owl II (Dan) had a special relationship with Rorschach.  Rorschach let Dan know, in his own way, that Dan was the only real friend he ever had.  Dan's reaction to Rorschach's death shows an almost-brotherly love for the little psych case.

Ozymadais let NOII beat him to a bloody pulp for allowing Rorschach to be killed when it's already been proven that NOII isn't a match for Ozymadais was a heart-tugging moment for me.  The little psych case probably died thinking nobody would give a damned about him - I wonder if it would have made a difference to him if he knew how much Dan cared about him?

The ending was changed so that Laurie and Dan weren't on the run with fake ID's but helping rebuild New York by staying there and implying that they'll continue being Vigillantes. Who knows, they may reform The WATCHMEN.  (It is also implied that Sally Jupiter has moved in with Dan and Laurie at the end.)

As for Ozymadais - let's shoot down some gripes.  The man is the most brilliant man alive and one of the greatest physical specimens ever.  It's stated that he's a vegetarian, so that implies that he takes better than average care of his health.  He also probably also isn't above plastic surgery to keep his youthful appearances.  As for being "weedy and small", believe me when I say that carrying around 250 pounds of bulky muscle doesn't mean some guy who weighs 180 pounds can't fight and win.  Ozymadais knows how to fight and has trained himself to use explosive speed to counteract brute strength.  He easily defeated the Comedian, then hardly broke a sweat fighting Night Owl and Rorschach.  He has about the right size to use cominations of Judo and Karate very effectively.

Also, I appreciate that they didn't make Nixon or his administration look like evil goons.  We were in a war and Nixon knew that unleashing Dr. Manhatten on Viet Nam would bring a rapid surrender.  That's what you do when you're at war - try to win the damned thing. Little guilty pleasures were seeing Elanor Cliff and Pat Buchanan doing a Point/Counter-Point style of talk show (Buchanan was Nixon's speech writer in real life and was the VP in 1985 in The WATCHMEN universe).

Comedian was one fucked-up sum-bitch.  WE know that from the graphic novel but he killed a woman pregnant with his child in cold blood, he was the gunman on the grassy knoll and the rape scene showed he was one sociapathic bastard.  (I would have loved to seen a one-on-one fight between him and Rorschach.  Comedian's size, strength and fighting expereince against Rorschach's would be a pretty good match-up.)

Rorschach's sense of honor is only rivalled by that of Worf's (Star Trek fame).  Despite the fact he personally doesn't care for most of the WATCHMEN, he had the attitude that attacking one meant attacking them all.  Breaking into Dan's home is one thing, breaking into a maximum security military base to warn Dr. Manhatten and Silk Spectre II is a different thing.

I have to agree that they should have kept the orignal scene where he gives the child murderer a hacksaw, then setting the place on fire instead of hacking the guy to death with a meat cleaver.

At the end, just before his death, I got the impression that he welcomed death because life was difficult for him.

The psycharatrist - Dr. Malcolm Long - due to time constraints they had to cut his part to one much smaller than the one in the graphic novel but he still came across as a decent guy who really wanted to help Rorschach.  He knew that Rorschach would spend the rest of his life imprisoned but also knew that all the men in prison because of Rorschach deserved their fate.  Placing Rorschach in a mental institution wouldn't be a death sentence for Rorschach and with therapy, maybe Rorschach could become something of a normal person. 

It's a pity that his part was so reduced because Rorschach changed his views on life forever after telling him the story about the brutal murder of the six year old girl and how it made Rorschach the remorseless vigillante he became.  That's probably the largest part of the story that didn't get filmed but at over 2.5 hours long, the movie was already pretty damned long.

I like WATCHMEN better than The Dark Knight, probably because of some nostalgia.  I bought the graphic novels when they came out in the 80's and have fond memories of geeking it up with fellow comic readers about the next issue and (Damned, I admit it), Dr. Manhatten's blue wang.

[Reply #116 on:]

Thank you, Ralph. I was worried that I would be disappointed by this, but you completely reassured me.


FUCK YEAH WATCHMEN TONIGHT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Reply #117 on:]

Awesome. Watchmen has earned...

[Reply #118 on:]

Lol.

Sounds like everything I expected to see.... I wanted to go and see it this weekend... but that probably won't pan out.  Oh well... patience is a virtue, right?

[Reply #119 on:]

i'll probably have to wait until next week to see it, or I may just wait to see it at the cheap theater downtown