This movie has received many mixed reviews. Some say they like that it followed the comic as much as it did and some say it followed it too closely at times. One director turned down making the movie stating that it needed to be done as a five hour mini series, and even creator Alan Moore refuses to see it. Either way it’s not the comic, it’s a movie, and a good one at that. While it might not be a “great” movie in the common sense of the word, it’s a very entertaining movie that is a feast for the senses.
Set in an alternate 1985 where the government has shut down costumed superheroes, one such superhero is brutally murdered. Rorschach, a fellow hero as well, begins the hunt for the murderer while making sure to warn his colleagues of the predator in their midst. A major side plot is one of the heroes’ growing detachment from humanity and the eventual harm he could cause to his race. You also get to see his glowing blue penis more times than you probably would like. On top of that you get to see a soft core porn sex scene, just to caution or let you in on that little tidbit, depending on whether you like that sort of thing or not…
The movie is sort of threaded together by Rorschach with the voice over narration that only he supplies. I felt it was kind of weak and didn’t much care for it, but it did serve its purpose in giving the movie a sort of continuity throughout. What really makes this movie shine is its visuals. The movie opens with a sort of history lesson, it features stills that lead into how things came to be as they currently are. I’m not sure how to describe these as they aren’t really stills. It’s very reminiscent of photographs in Harry Potter; The scene is set so there isn’t a ton of movement but there still is some to a degree. The difference in Harry Potter is that most of the time the people in the photos are moving in real time, while in Watchmen the people are slowed down giving them a dreamy quality. Set to really good and fitting music, it makes the intro my favorite part of the movie. And on the topic of music, some of the fight scenes are set to VERY non-traditional music for a fight scene, but it’s unique and I think it works fantastically well.
My last note, that with me being such a girl I have to add, is that there is an incredibly romantic scene between Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan that will pull at any girl’s heart strings, but especially ones who come from a broken home. This movie is a must see, even if it ends up being just to find out you don’t like it. But there will probably be at least one thing you like, I mean come on… who doesn’t like soft core porn sex?
The Movie Lady
themovielady@comicattack.net
I’ll also go out on a limb and state that I enjoyed this movie! My only real beef with it is that the characters appeared to have super powers; running up walls, taking an inhuman amount of blows, having their faces broken in concrete and getting back up again to dish out some pain. I understand this was a directorial choice, but wasn’t the whole point of ‘Watchmen’ that the characters are human, not super-human? While it definitely looked cool, I think it lacked that element.
I haven’t seen it, and I will not. I’m content to let the book be my Watchmen experience. So far, I’ve heard nothing remotely close enough to make me run out and get it.
I really enjoyed it. I haven’t read the book yet, but I enjoyed the style of the film. I especially liked the opening montage to the Bob Dylan song; I thought that was fantastic film work.
Andy…they’re just normal guys? I thought they were supposed to be normal guys too…but yeah, they do seem to have an excessive amount of strength for “normal” people. Especially the ones who aren’t The Comedian (who I would expect to be pretty strong).
What impressed me the most, besides some amazing CG work (Manhattan looked totally normal within the film, and the glowing effect was great), was the soundtrack. They really went all out with the music, and I plan to pick up the CD when I can.
Great article ML…i’m probably one of 4 people who have never read the entire book so when I asked a friend of mine who had he said the movie followed the book about 85% but he still hated the movie. I didn’t understand that but being that I did see the movie I just thought it could have been cut about 35 min shorter and been a much better film. Visually the movie is great and I think the story was told pretty well and i didn’t mind the voice over too much..it gave me that Blade Runner feel
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie but all the trailers and what not looked good. The big blue weiner, lol.
Billy, I’d say definitely read the book. If you don’t know someone who has it, the public library should.