Watchmen Movie Thoughts

[Marcus Dublin]

Well I just finished coming back from the movie theater so the film is still fresh in my mind.

Here are my overall thoughts on the movie:

Direction: Zack Snyder is clearly talented and a director on the rise but he needs to learn a bit of restraint. What worked so well for him in 300 seems over the top and out of place in Watchmen. Instead of letting the story flow he seemly set of up one exaggerated sequence after another, it felt like I was watching 3 different films in one. Now I don’t mind a “little bit” of the stop and go techniques use in 300 but someone should have pulled him aside and said that a little goes a long way! Aside from that I liked that the film was rated R and really pushed the violence, sex, etc. The film had a dark and mature tone that helped keep things grounded, this was essential since you had people running around in weird suits.

Production values: God does this film look gorgeous! This is one of the best looking films I’ve seen in a while and will make one hell of an addition to peoples DVD or BlueRay collections. The team behind the film really brought to life the look and feel of the graphic novel, you can tell that every penny put into the look of the film was well spent!:thumb:

Music: Tyler Bates is a good composer and did a great job for 300 but the score/songs for this movie felt out of place, if anything it felt like a remix to the 300 soundtrack with a bunch of extra songs thrown in. I would have preferred composers like Phillip Glass, Enrico Morricone, or Medwyn Goodall to Tyler Bates. That being said I’m still going to pick up the soundtrack since I’m a film score lover and collector. I’m sure the score will work as an enjoyable stand-alone piece, it’s just too bad it didn’t sync with the film.

Acting: In my opinion everyone did a fantastic job realizing the characters from the graphic novel, especially the actors who played Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, and Rorschach! They’re almost exactly how I envisioned these characters in my head and it was great to see them up on the big screen. With that said the only weak link was the actress who played the Silk Spectre 2. She simply felt miscast and out of place, especially when compared to the other actors involved.

Story: I’ve read Watchmen more times that I could remember so I knew what I was getting into. That said they kept most of the guts of the story and simply cut back on much of the exposition found throughout the graphic novel. Hell I didn’t even mind the altered ending that has been so talked about, to me it felt right and in some ways better than the ending found in the book.

One thing that I really miss that I felt was necessary to the story were the street vendors. The vendors gave you some insight as to how the world was viewed from an opposite angle, it would have also given the movie a human connection to the people in the city. This is one of the things the book did so well imo.

I also miss the origin story of the villain in (“won’t spoil this”) question towards the end, I think it would have been worth having a good 10 minutes or so explaining how he came to be in a compelling manner. This would have added greater depth to the character and really helped people who didn't read the book understand him a bit better.

In closing I felt that the Graphic Novel was done justice and hiccups aside turned out to be a fantastic film! Overall score 9 out of 10.

-Marcus

So what say you, what did you guys think?:think:

[YdoUwant2know]

Just went and watched it myself. I guess for starters I should say I have not read the graphic novel. I was never really into that short of thing growing up, though I am starting to wish I had been.

All and all I really enjoyed the film and found it to be very entertaining. For the most part, I think Marcus hit it right on the head. There were a few parts where it felt like I was watching 3 different movies at once. Each was enjoyable, but not having the background information on a lot of it, it was kind of annoying when you were trying to piece it all together.

Visually, I think the only word that really fits is wow. The visual effects they created were just amazing.

Muscly, for the most part it was alright, but every now and then I sat their thinking "are they really using this song?"

Overall, a good movie that is definitely worth seeing.

[Hearshotkid02]

I saw the midnight opening last night... And the more I think about it, the more problems I have with the movie :( It is definitely worth seeing, don't get me wrong. I, for the most part, enjoyed the hell out of the movie. I was really pleased with how much of it was kept the same as the graphic novel. However, what they changed and took out hurt this film TREMENDOUSLY.

Rorschach was done near perfectly! As was the Comedian. But am I the only one that feels like the CG for Dr. Manhattan was either good or really bad? I felt like for a lot of the end, he seemed rather fake looking compared to earlier in the movie. Coulda just been me though, I dunno. I also thought that the movie looked, overall, a little too 'fake.' The visuals were amazing for the most part, but I just didn't think it looked enough like the real world, which the book was firmly planted in. I hope that makes sense to someone other than me.

I'm gonna go a bit into spoilers... So here's some spacing, skip to the next post and pay no attention to this if you haven't seen the movie, or read the book and still want to for that matter....
















































I really didn't mind the new ending at first. But the more you think about it, and compare it to the book's, the more it just sucks. The new ending doesn't make me think that it would bring peace to the world. It makes me think just the opposite. With the US's super weapon blowing up cities, I would think that would provide Russia with a perfect time to strike while the US was still dazed. The book's use of the 'squid' as an outside source of power that nobody had ever seen made so much more sense. That and without the genetic engineering in the story, that antennae cat made NO sense...

Ozzy really should have had some back story/flash backs of his own. Without them, it really didn't surprise you or make you go "WTF? Why him?!" when his plan is unveiled like in the book.

Lastly, I seem to remember in the book most of the political news came from the paper stand owner. Without this segment in the movie, or any kind of story about the citizens of the city, it really didn't make you feel the destruction as potently as the book did. It simply made it feel like... "Meh, shit happens." Something like that, at least for me.





















































Ok, sorry about the rant, just needed to get it off my chest. The more I think about the movie, the less I like it and the more I think Zack Snyder almost completely failed with the exception of Rorschach and the Comedian :brick:

[seven]

I loved Rorschach. I didn't really care for any of the other characters too much. I liked the premise of the movie and enjoyed it all in all. I only read one of the books way back when I was a teenager and lost track of the other 11. It makes me want to pick it up and actually commit to reading it. I do remember reading the comic and going "That Rorschach is freaking awesome."

It was decent enough and worth a once over.

[eboy]

Went and saw this last night and really enjoyed it actually. I'd read the comic too.

Think I'd give it 4 stars out of 5. :)

I know a lot of people didn't seem to get the music choice.

Alan Moore bookended chapters with lyrics and lines from certain songs and they had relevance to what had just happened or what was going to happen in the following chapter. So yea, Snyder is just being very faithful to the source material. I can understand why some people wouldn't understand the choices. They were a bit sledge hammered straight on top.

But I think some of the scenes were great with the music. Dunno, maybe Snyder doesn't have the finesse to pull off all the scenes with it. What works in a book, doesn't always translate well to film.

[Marcus Dublin]

Funny Watchmen Skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTU9xuliC0o :lol:

[wim]

Hahah marcus, nice, a smurpf on steroids!

[Styx]

ok, ive seen him today and i must say, its one of the best superheromovies i ever see.
i never read the comics, so i cant say how near the movie is to the comics.
but its a great movie.
great characters, great story and great soundtrack.
the end is definitely NOT the end i expect (and this is good, i hate it to know the end of a story, because its to obvious).

little question.
in one scene is the song "99 red ballons", in the german version of the film they use the original verion of this song "99 luftbalons".
in the english (american whatever ^^) version is there the english version of the song or the german original? ^^

[seven]

@Marcus: That's freaking awesome. LMAO

@Styx: I didn't pay attention that much because either version is interchangeable over here. I'd say if it's ever played on the radio it's about 50-50.

[blankslatejoe]

I think I was mostly satisfied with the film, but not overwhelmed. I feel like the director nailed most of the important plot points, but missed out on a few big ones. Casting was pretty great all around. I felt like Veidt was the weak link visually (he looked too scrawny/thin) and silk spectre was the weak link acting wise (she was a bit awkward, but looked perfect for the part). Rorschach was just about perfect, particularly when he had his mask off. Nite owl was also pleasantly well done.

Spoilers/gripes:

1: I didn't dig the street vendors being replaced by the president/advisers for exposition. I feel like the street vendors gave you a more down to earth view of the craziness/paranoia/riots. Highlighting the global conflicts from the confines of a black room only separated it from the reality of the streets.

2: I felt like the wall of TVs with nixon at the end was a failure. It should have been a mix of stations, to show a unified global voice, instead of an isolated USA voice. The director missed out on the 'I DID IT!' panel from the comics that resonated so much.

3: I feel like the Silk Spectre2/Nite Owl 2 first kissing scene was mishandled. They had a little of the clumsiness there, but in the books an interview with Ozymidiaz/Viedt was on the background TV, and he was doing all these crazy gymnastics and the commentators were going on about how he was the perfect man--perfect intelligence, perfect physique. Aside from it emphasizing how perfect Viedt was, it was a nice counterpoint to the 'real/everyday' man of the story, who was having trouble getting it up, and was a bit out of practice.

But those are all minor things..you can tell the filmmakers love the source material and were trying their best.

[Kickflipkid687]

Loved the cinematography, but idk. Not one of my fav. movies. But I didn't read the comics and kind of just went along for the hell of it.

[Styx]

@Marcus: That's freaking awesome. LMAO

@Styx: I didn't pay attention that much because either version is interchangeable over here. I'd say if it's ever played on the radio it's about 50-50.

i just was wondering, a song with german lyriks in an amerikan movie? ^^
i see that never before.
anyway, a good movie, i will see if i get the comics in german.

[Hearshotkid02]

The English version of the movie had the German version of 99 red balloons I'm pretty sure.

[Styx]

Marcus: waaaah, the video is no longer availeble.
did you know from whats website is original was?

Hearshotkid02: thx man. its funny to know. ^^

[seven]

i just was wondering, a song with german lyriks in an amerikan movie? ^^
i see that never before.
anyway, a good movie, i will see if i get the comics in german.

I agree that it is weird for American's to embrace songs that are in another language than their own. However, 99 luftbalons did come to the states first as a hit song in the 80s with the original German lyrics prior to the translated English version. I prefer the German lyrics myself. :)

[mr_ace]

saw it earlier tonight, and i really loved it.

i havn't read the graphic novel, the old-school cartoon art style really turned me off towards it. i cudnt really get into the story with the visuals, so i didnt really have any pre-conceptions going in, other than a very basic understanding of the initial premise.

i thought it was stunningly beautiful, i loved the world, the characters, Rorschach was so awesome. despite being 3 hours long, it wasnt boring at all, and i loved the gritty, film noir style, and the narration was great.
i must say, i really thoroughly loved it. im gunna re-watch sin city too cus it got me in the mood for dark comic adaptations

[walrus]

Just got back from seeing it myself. It's been several years since my last rereading of Watchmen, so not all of the original is fresh in my mind... but the new ending worked for me: It was like a different path in the woods taking you to the same destination. It got the same points across that I remember from the original but without introducing a whole new subplot. I always loved the concept of the original, and miss it, but I felt this worked well.

And overall, I found that it captured my memories of the original quite well. From the various layers, the overall feeling, the take on the characters, the works. And so much of the dialogue was either accurate, or at least felt like it should have been accurate, and that totally worked for me too. The character that worked least for me was Silk Spectre 1, not 2: Every time I saw her onscreen in the film's "present," I couldn't help but think "Young actor in makeup to make her look old." 2 was never a favorite character, but I felt like she captured all that I recall about the character, good and bad.

I hope no one is scandalized by this admission, but when I saw that they were releasing "Tales of the Black Freighter" not as part of the movie but as a separate DVD, I was really happy: "Great, now I can pointedly skip that DVD!" I never cared that much for that part of the original and am glad to be able to skip it. :)

[temmink]

Having not read the comic but reading a lot about it in the lead up to the movie I didn't have that much of a vested interest in the changes either way, I looked at it like it was the first time I had seen the material and was really happy with it aside from a couple of very minor bits. I agree with walrus about the Silk Spectre 1 old makeup, seemed lazy and poorly done. Other than that a few of the speed ramping scenes were a little bit of a sore point, mainly the first one, I was into the story enough after that for it not to bother me so much. In regards to the ending, I don't think the comic book's ending would work on the screen, face it, the squid would look dumb. This was a necessary and I think positive change. I understand that the street vendors were important in the comic and I believe that they will be more involved in the Directors Cut which has another 40 minutes of footage or something apparantly. All movies suffer for the quality of cinema seats, movie's just can't be 3 hours long and be successfull in the mainstream. I wouldn't complain if they started using intermissions again for longer movies though, I think with this the full version as Snyder intended would work better if you had a break to absorb what you had seen so far in the middle.

For me, 9/10, only minor quibbles and I think it took the comic book movie paradigm another huge leap in the right direction.

[zeke3d]

my one word description of the movie, "wild". I really enjoyed it, one of the best superhero movies to date, up there with the matrix, and though I have broken the habit of having to buy dvd/blue rays, this one is definitely a must have for me! go see it in theaters!

[Amethyst]

OK, I went and saw the movie and I'm still digesting it............:)

[mxdirector]

i read this whole thread, and alot of the complaints seem to stem from what they didn't include. thats a little unfair isnt it? its a 2 1/2 hour movie, its as long as it could be (my bum was numb , i hate cinema chairs)

the only complaint i have is the music, there were too many full songs in there, and half of them (actually i think all of them) werent even from the 80s.

also it was nice to see night owl take the lead, and night owl was alot better in the film. although i do think rorschach did suffer a bit, it didnt really talk about his life too much.

but over all, best comic book movie i have seen, and the best movie in a long time.

[Hearshotkid02]

You liked it more than Dark Knight or 300? Not gonna argue opinions, just curious really.

[mxdirector]

You liked it more than Dark Knight or 300? Not gonna argue opinions, just curious really.

of course, but to be fair its based on the best graphic novel of all time, its hard to go wrong with it. infact the movie was nothing more then putting the comic book on screen, half of the shots were exactly the same, the pace was exactly the same. if the movie suffers from one thing, its that the director didnt add much to it.

[Robert Samurai]

A friend of mine suggested that I read the novel before going to see the movie. Unfortunately, I never picked it up when my wife and I went to see it.
With that said, I did enjoy the movie. I really loved the story and liked the nature of the ending (how Veidt carried out his plan; I know nothing of the original ending). The visuals were great. I really liked Rorshach's mask for some reason, more so than the CG of Dr. Manhattan.

My only gripes are that I agree with Silk Sr not looking quite right as the older version. Somes scenes were just a tad bit too long, particularly a few that had no dialog or major action. I understand the nature of how the characters are superheroes with only the Doc having "abilities", but I wished there was a bit more uniqueness with the heroes (other than Rorshach) when in action.

My Wife happens to be into video games and action flick rather than chick flicks, but she didn't like Watchmen much at all. For the length of the movie, there could have been a slight bit more of raw entertainment for me, but the story kept me engaged. She wasn't much into the story so it turned out to be quite boring for her.