Watching the Watchmen (Review)

So since I've posted so much about it, I figured it would be only right for me to post a review of the Watchmen movie. Here's the short summary: Watchmen is an excellent adaptation. Some things work well, some things do not. Overall, it left me with the same feeling the book did: Appreciative and mildly uncomfortable. In terms of other films, it reminds me most of the Harry Potter films. There's a good amount of dots not on screen which need to be connected, but it isn't a glaring issue because most people in the target demographic have more than a passing familiarity with the source material. Overall: B. Spoilers abound after the jump. Things I Liked: The Opening Montage - I thought this was a fantastic way to quickly plunge the audience into this alternate world. It establishes the history quickly, and hits the important parts to be filled in later, as well as details great for fans or repeat viewings. The Acting - I thought all of the main characters were surprisingly well-acted given this is the most unknown leads in a movie like this since Star Wars. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian were both standouts in my book. The Characterization - I thought the script nailed the characters for the most part, though I think Laurie could have used more screentime to properly emote. And I think Dan Dreiberg's Nite Owl II is almost perfect. The Visuals - I thought they captured the feeling of Dan Gibbons' art incredibly well. The art direction was spot on. Things I Didn't Like: The Violence - I thought the violence was too over the top and gratuitous. Notebly the "solution" to the Blair Roche case was brutal to watch. I think setting the guy's house on fire would have been just as brutal in my head, but not anywhere near as bad on my eyes as the hatchet. Also, I have no idea why Dr. Manhattan was so bloody in taking people out. Adrian Veidt - If any of the characters got slighted, it was Adrian Veidt. The movie didn't do enough to establish him as a hero, and what we did see of him only hinted very strongly at the "twist" at the end. The graphic novel has a fantastic slow reveal that I'm not sure is possible in the movie. The Abridged Version - I think if I saw the theatrical cut again, I could easily pick out which other parts of the novel were filmed and ended up cut. Many of it extended versions of scenes already in the movie, which makes some scenes feel truncated. The Ending - I feel somewhat like I should complain about the lack of squid, but I don't think any real ending to the novel works on screen. Nixon - The guy who played Nixon, as well as the ageing make-up were both terrible. Totally took me out of the film. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've seen the movie.

Comments

[tom]

i liked the first 2 hours of the movie but the ending ruined it for me. i was able to accept that they had to cut things out. laurie's disdain for being a hero and the bit about jon wanting to be a watchmaker were two things i missed. cutting that information about laurie made her character in the film really flat and one dimensional. her lack of depth made the revelation that the comedian was her father rather pointless in the movie.

the ending bothered my because in the book, jon makes the decision to leave earth for another galaxy. he sees what humankind has to do to each other in order to survive and says, "screw this, i'm off to create life in another galaxy." in the movie, he has to flee the galaxy since he's the one who's been framed for the destruction of the earth. he's not given a choice.

as far as veidt goes, he really came across as a cold, arrogant jerk in the movie. the interview with him at the end of one of the chapters in the book makes him seem much more genial and affable than the actor's performance in the film. throughout the movie he's made to seem like some sort of an evil genius, not a hero.

overall though the majority of the film was good. it's just the ending bothered me (not b/c of the lack of a giant squid, but rather because it missed the point on many of the characters).

[Josh M.]

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I'm new to the whole Watchmen universe. Just today I finally finished the graphic novel and not even two hours later went to see the movie because I HAD to see what this would look like in live action. I'll tell you what: I was impressed.
I thought the flow of the story and the correctness of the film was well done and followed the book pretty well. Throughout the film I even saw many scenes following the book frame by frame, word by word. I liked that a lot. Only thing I didn't really like was how they left out a lot of important back story to some of the characters, Miss Jupiter mainly, but, I can understand that because if they followed EVERYTHING in the book to the exact detail, the movie probably would have wound up to be about 6 hours long. But, I suppose that's where extended edition DVD's fall in, which you know will inevitably be released.
As for the acting - I thought they did a good job selecting the people to play the parts they were representing. I think that each actor presented a very true persona of their character, especially Rorshach (he even looked like his counterpart from the book when he takes his mask off.) Only big problem I had was the guy who played Veidt (Ozymandias) - I think that A: He acted too much like the typical evil scientist and B: they should have chosen someone a lot more buff.
Biggest problem I had with the film was the ending. I think they completely twisted it around and, as a result, lost a lot of the awe and deepness that the book portrayed. (And yes, the lack of squid is one of the main factors that pisses me off.)
Overall, I think it's definitely a movie worth seeing, even buying, if you're a fan. And if you haven't read the book yet, I'd recommend that strongly before you go to the theaters or whatever to see it in action. I give it 4 stars.