Watchmen

[Remo D]

What--nobody else posted on this at all?

The long-awaited, long-suffering "event" film of 2009 has arrived at last in the form of Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN... which, of course, is the film adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed graphic "anti" superhero graphic novel.

Okay, let's get the "debate" material out of the way so you'll know where I'm coming from. I haven't read the novel, but I'm about to. Alan Moore refused credit on the film because he supposedly hated the adaptation. Then again, he hates ALL of the film adaptations of his work. Then again, I'm the guy who liked THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN movie (and that novel I DID read). Popular wisdom has it that WATCHMEN is a scrupulously faithful (though judiciously pruned) adaptation that only makes one significant departure from Moore's original narrative towards the end--a departure which fans seem to find understandable and forgivable, and which does not wreak havoc with either the narrative or the agonizing moral questions it raises.

As a pure cinematic experience, WATCHMEN is visually stunning and boasts compelling storytelling from beginning to end--although it's nearly three hours long, it fairly well flies by. You know the basics: it's an alternate-reality Earth in which Richard Nixon still holds the presidency in the 1980s. The ramifications of the Cold War make global nuclear annihilation a near-certainty. And thrust into this chaos are various members (and generational offshoots) of a team of costumed crimefighters (heroes to some, unwelcome vigilantes to others) "serving and protecting" since the 1940s. Their powers are Batman-esque, consisting of personal training and scientific gadgetry; with the exception of Dr. Manhattan, who has been transformed by a lab accident into a being of pure quantum energy, capable of experiencing the past, present and future simultaneously.

I could go on, but I doubt anyone needs me to run down the characters or rehash the premise any further--awareness of WATCHMEN is at an all-time high already.

The cast is uniformly excellent in their portrayals of the tormented heroes, but it's Jackie Earle Haley (yep, from THE BAD NEWS BEARS) as the deeply disturbed "Rorschach" that takes top honors: for all of his pain, he must serve as the conscience of the entire film through both word and (excessively violent) deed. "I'm not locked in here with YOU... YOU'RE locked in here with ME!!!" Couple that with the exploits of the equally troubled Comedian (whose death, of course, kickstarts the story) and you're more than ready to celebrate the one actual sequence of "superheroics" and appreciate what it does for Nite Owl and Silk Spectre!

Enjoy it while you can--because it's all building up to a dilemma no normal human being could be expected to shoulder successfully.

Zack Snyder pleasantly surprised me by proving that a remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD didn't have to be an act of blasphemy. But while he had his biggest hit with 300, I must confess that I wasn't nearly as caught up in the Spartan epic as the rest of the moviegoing public seemed to be... I found SIN CITY more successful when it came to adapting Frank Miller visually.

But while I wasn't comparing Synder's WATCHMEN visuals with Moore's graphic artwork at the time, I had no problem pegging this as Snyder's absolute best work to date. It's easy to see why the story was considered "unfilmable" for the longest time: even if you COULD do justice to the graphic depiction of the depths to which these characters are dragged, how could you possibly convince an audience to endure the results?

This is how.

[Darth Tanner]

Well, I saw this last weekend and could've posted about it then if I weren't such a lazy bastard:) Still I'm surprised nodoby else commented on this one yet either....

I have to agree that this was probably Zack Snyder's best film yet. Like Remo, I haven't read the source material but I plan to eventually. Yes, it is close to three hours....but the film moves along at a nice pace without any padding. Plus there are certain moments (particularly the opening credits and the prison sequence) that are just brilliant. Aside from that, I have nothing to add to what Remo already nicely said above. I'll have to say that this is the best movie I've seen so far this year, but the year is still young. Which reminds me.........

Tomorrow I'm off to see the new LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Yes it's another remake, but at least its horror and the trailer made it look pretty intense. So we'll see.

[MuC]

saw it the night after plowing through the graphic novel...i enjoyed myself quite a bit and think they did a good job bringing it to the big screen...the change in the ending didnt bug me...i think it fit with the movie better then if they had attemped to do the original ending...next up is going through the watchmen motion comic, which from what ive watched is pretty damn kool...

[mickey brown-eye]

The Actor that portrayed Rorschach deserves numerous rewards. He made this movie for me. He kicked a lot of ass.
The movie kicked a lot of ass
I am not familiar with the Graphic novel, but what was with that super stupid Anime Tiger that did nothing but look out of place and then die?

[Chris Slack]

Great film! I never imagined Jackie Earle Hayley had such acting chops. I really need to read the book now.

[Irrylath]

I thought it was alright. It was very pretty visually. LOVED the beginning. Rorschach made the movie for me. I think it was too long and wasn't good enough to make me mentally gloss over the pain in my kidneys.

[Evil Red]

Blue Cock = YEAY!

[DylanDog]

I saw it last Tuesday at IMAX where it look fantastic. I was about 3 rows back from the screen and some scenes, particular where Dr. Manhattan was huge and reaching down through the roof or the Mars landscape, look great from that vantage point.

Overall, as a long time fan of the comic book, I was very pleased with how it came out. I knew as soon as it was announced that the "Tales of the Black Freighter" parts, as much as I loved them, would have to come out. So that didn't bother me. And as MuC said, I actually liked the movie ending better than the comic. However, since the original ending was removed, I think that they should have also removed Bubastis, who now seemed terribly out of place (as mickey brown-eye mentions). I'm not sure why they left him in there. Maybe they want a reason to be able to make the action figure down the line, to appease comic fans who want all the characters from the comic? Whatever. He should have been removed.

They definitely ramped up the sex and violence from the comic, most of which I didn't really mind, except for the alley fight with Night Owl and Silk Spectre. My memory may be betraying me, but I don't remember them killing anyone or being particularly violent in the book and I've always felt that they should be the ones the audience is sympathetic towards so a hurt, but don't kill, style would have suited them best.

There were a few other minor changes, but nothing that was really a big deal. They really did a great job of adapting this one. Although Alan Moore has said he'll never watch it, I'd really love to know what he'd think of it if he did. I think he'd be pleasantly surprised.

[Irrylath]

Blue Cock = YEAY!

bwahahaaa.

[mickey brown-eye]

Blue Cock = YEAY!

I was very disappointed by the blue cock, it being obviously digital. Way too much hype on poor ole' blue balls IMO.

[AchimbaProphet]

Blue Cock = YEAY!

I could have done without that ten foot tall blue junk all up in my Imax experience.

[Evil Red]

I could have done without that ten foot tall blue junk all up in my Imax experience.

*note to self: Go see Watchmen at IMAX.

[IRONDICK]

*note to self: Go see Watchmen at IMAX.

I am actually going to go see the IMAX version today....I had no idea that our local theater had an IMAX screen.

[Latte Thunder]

I'll keep it short since the movie left me with very little impression.

The graphic novel qualifies as my favorite comic of all time. Number one with a bullet. That said, I liked the result of the film. It wasn't bad and it wasn't great. With the exception of Silk Spectre 2, I thought the cast was dead on and everyone did a great job and even though I know I shouldn't root for Rorschach, I couldn't help it.

The visual element got absolutely everything right but I knew it would since they couldn't help themselves and posted set shots at every given opportunity leading up to the release.

And for the record, I liked the ending of the movie better than the comic, if you ask me, it just made more sense. But if you notice, the name of the device is S.Q.U.I.D.

Cute.