Filed under: movie review | Tags: action, alan moore, graphic novel, superheroes, watchmen
Watchmen
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino
Rating: Major R (graphic everything)
Release Date: March 6, 2009
Basis: Graphic Novel by Alan Moore & Dave GibbonsI had really high expectations for this movie as did I’m sure most people who had read the graphic novel (and probably most who didn’t). I had done quite a bit of keeping up with the filming and news regarding how the adaptation of it would look on screen so I wasn’t really in for any big surprises. Or so I thought. Some have called ‘Watchmen‘ the greatest graphic novel of all time. I wouldn’t necessarily say that but it would be one of my top three so far, since I have only recently gotten into reading them.
I think by now most people have at least some idea what the film is about since there has been an enormous amount of publicity surrounding the film whether it be from the lawsuit that almost prevented it from being released or from all the trailers and buzz on the web. But just in case you didn’t know the basic idea for the film surrounds a group of ex-superheroes who ban together again after one of them is murdered. Each one of their stories gets told and through the telling the mystery slowly begins to unravel.
The Comedian/ AKA total a-hole
There were a lot of things I liked about the movie. Obviously visually it was amazing. The whole tone of the film and it’s setting was perfect for the storyline and it had some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in a while. Of course there was quite a bit of gore which I expected and appreciated since toning that part of it down would have been disappointing. The acting wasn’t bad at all and I liked the fact that it really showed the human side of superheroes while most similar movies don’t. That was the purpose of the graphic novel I think, to show that realistically we might not want people to exist with super-powers. Just like the rest of us, they have the ability to do good and evil so with that kind of power given to them how would it be controlled.
Unfortunately, as with most all movies where a great deal of hype is involved, this one had some flaws. I can easily see how someone not familiar with the graphic novel would have been totally lost through most of the first part. It was a bit confusing going from past to present rapidly and not really explaining things until towards the end. But perhaps the creators of the movie expected that most people seeing it would already understand the story and follow along easily. I can understand that too because in the theater opening night I was surrounded by mostly the geek crowd (my peers) and most people were clapping at the end and hung out afterwards to talk about it.
What's with the horns?
My biggest problem with the movie (other than Dr. Manhattan’s penis being it’s own character and making many appearances & that horned tiger thing) was that it took itself extremely seriously. There were meanings inside meanings inside meanings and one of the final sequences where things start to come together had at least 6 epiphanies within a few minutes. That was enough to either make you really confused or really annoyed. I got to the point where I was just thinking to myself “just let it be over with already”. After the countless “ah hah!” moments by the end I was just ready to go; I think that had some of the really deeply dramatic themes not been revealed at once it would have been easier to swallow.
I totally get that the graphic novel was supposed to make its reader think and really dissect it’s imbedded metaphorical and even political themes but in film form viewers who aren’t total graphic novel nerds could easily have been overwhelmed. The graphic novel was meant to be read over and over so that one could truly appreciate it’s depth but when you watch a really long movie it’s much easier on an audience to have things more simple.
Final Kiss
I’m not saying that I would have done things differently because honestly I don’t know how, while staying true to the original story they could have done any better. Perhaps that is why they originally called this a movie that couldn’t be made.
Bottom Line: VISUALLY STUNNING BUT TRIES TOO HARD
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i agree completely with this review. i actually preferred the movie ending over the comic ending but i still had some problems with the movie, namely Bubastis, the horned tiger thing. in the comic he was a result of the genetic testing that tied into the squid ending. without the squid in the movie, there was no reason to have Bubastis. his death meant nothing because the audience had no idea who or why he was even there.
Comment by Ian 03/15/2009 @ 1:24 am