Sunday, March 8, 2009
I Watched the Watchmen
I thank you all for your input on my previous post. I went back and forth all of Friday and most of yesterday on what to do about this. And I got a wide range of feedback, all of which got my serious consideration. I also consulted some friends that had seen it so that I would know exactly what to expect when I got there.First off, the movie is visually stunning. Really, truly a work of art. The effects were amazingly realistic, the likes of which I had not seen in a film before. George Lucas could learn a thing or two from Zack Snyder. Seriously.
My concerns were the nudity, the violence and the sex.
I don't know how intense the sex scene was because I knew ahead of time when it would start and I now know that there were 12 vents in the ceiling of the theater we were in. So that took care of issue #1.
The nudity, oddly enough, turned out not to bother me either. For one thing, it's CGI, not the real deal. For another, it was only really obvious if you were looking for it. I know that sounds weird, but while it was unnecessary, it wasn't particularly offensive to me. That helped with issue #2.
The action sequences were fewer than I was prepared for, but the violence was incredibly brutal. Incredibly. And each row of ceiling tiles was approximately 50 across. But I only averted my eyes for one particularly gory splatter-fest scene where a guy gets his hands sawed off. The other times, when a girl's leg gets shattered by a bullet or when people explode and their blood and guts are hanging from the ceiling, that was all right.
The graphic novel Watchmen was declared by many in Hollywood to be "unfilmable." While I don't agree with that assessment, I do think it was a very complex and difficult story to bring from comic form to the big screen. The performances were very real and compelling. Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley had the biggest challenge, since theirs were the characters most highly anticipated by fans of the graphic novel. They did not disappoint. In fact, I'd venture to say that they exceeded expectations, and I was expecting a lot.
Unfortunately, I think Zack Snyder missed the mark in adapting the story to the big screen. He is a major fan of the graphic novel and this film is certainly an homage to it. In fact, there were many times that it looked as though they had used the comic as the storyboard to the movie. But there was far too much back story given. While it is all very interesting in a 13 episode comic series, some of that does not lead to good filmmaking. Some of the backstory should have been left out in order to bring forward the present story, which is that a "hero" is murdered and they need to find out who and why.
Zack Snyder has reason to be proud this weekend. He did the impossible and made it beautiful. But he also proved that the story does not translate well to the big screen. At least not without risking angering millions of fanboys that were ready to lynch him if he diverted from Alan Moore and David Gibbons' original work.
Bottom line: If you're a fan, you're sure to enjoy it and I hope you'll tell me your thoughts. If you haven't read the novel then, well, I don't know. I'd still say read the book first.
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It's so interesting because I had never even heard of this comic or the movie, until 3 days ago. I had no idea that it was so big!
ReplyDeleteIn fact, on my new favorite website, where I am a star, Snuggie Sightings, the owner is encouraging people to reenact Watchmen things in their Snuggie. And we know how I love to promote Snuggies and nudity.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I have never heard of this comic either. I hope to see the movie once they've got clearplay sorted out. It isn't so graphic that clearplay would eliminate most of the movie and all we see is 20 minutes of nonsense?
ReplyDeleteThe hubby and I saw it on Friday night. I hadn't read the book so I didn't know what to expect. We both thought it had its moments. It had great special effects and was visually stunning, but MY GOD was it long. I didn't hate it or love it.
ReplyDeleteYes! I also had no idea it was sooo long, though I didn't mind the length at all. Dr. Manhattan coud have looked like the Silver Surfer, but I guess they have their reasons for his nether regions. I haven't read the graphic novel yet, but I plan on buying a nice edition of it someday to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI liked it. There were a few moments I where I wanted the pace to pick up, but overall I enjoyed it. Did you see Hugh Jackman's "Wolverine" trailer. It looks fantastic!
Ah! I was hoping you decided against seeing the film. I stopped watching R movies. After seeing a few that had scenes that I can still see in my mind right now (Sideways, Brokeback Mountain, The Good Girl), I knew I needed to stop altogether. I just can't handle all the violence, sex, swearing, etc. It's not entertaining to me and that is ultimately why I go to the movies...to be entertained.
ReplyDeleteGeez, I'm so out of the loop...I have no idea what Watchmen is. It sounds like the kind of movie my husband would like (not because of the sex or violence but it sounds like a superhero movie, which is his kinda thing). I bet if he's heard of it, he'd totally know what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteSo Robert took me to the movies to see Watchmen last night and based on your blog post I thought I could handle it. I have no problem with the sex or the nudity, but boy did I freak out over the violence. I always cringe a little over that stuff, but WOW! I left after the scene with the dogs and the little girls shoe. (Is that enough to describe the scene?) I could not watch or listen to another minute...so I went to TGIFridays to get a head start on dinner. Robert joined me a little while longer (he's going to go back to watch the end without me). So I just had to tell you that you have a much stronger stomach than I! Hope you're having a great week!
ReplyDeleteChristi