Who's watching the Watchmen?
Corny, I know. But whatever. My efforts to see this movie were...well, efforts. No one, and I really mean it, no one that I met in person enjoyed this movie. I talked to six different people (I'm sure there were more, but six have stayed in my head) and four of the six walked out early. All six complained of Dr. Manhattan's penis. Yes, Dr. Manhattan is nude in both the comic and the movie. I got over it fairly quickly. All of these people told me the Monday after the movie was released. I'm a very avid Totally Rad Show fan, and I almost always base my expectations off of those guys. But, it comes out every Tuesday after school.
So, I had to spend two full days at school listening to how awful the movie is. I got the comic book on Thursday, so I knew next to nothing about Watchmen except that it was very critically acclaimed. Hated by movie-goers, and loved by comic book fans. Apparently there was a criticism between the movie and the book, and how close in nature they stayed to it that lowered reviews, but I'll get to that later.
Needless to say, those two days were very nerve-racking. Having been requested to review the movie, I finally wanted something positive to say. I wasn't going to let a huge blue penis get in the way of me enjoying a film that I felt I could respect. However, the Totally Rad Show goes prevailed, and all three of them approved of the film. Jeff Cannata and Alex Albrecht went so far as to say that they loved it. However, they brought up something that really threw me off guard.
If you have read the comic, then the movie so closely follows the comic that you are not being presented a story, but instead are being shown how it is executed. So, I had to take this into consideration. Having unexpectedly obtained the graphic novel on Thursday of that week, I managed to read all of it besides the final fifteen pages. So, I went in being shown how the story is being executed aside from the final ten to fifteen minutes.
That right there, is my bias. The movie literally has frame for frame shots of the comic. I can open up a page in the book and point at a frame and say," That exact frame is in the movie. That EXACT frame," and I can do this more than just a few times. Watchmen is the closest, and most true book to film adaptation that I have ever seen, and as far as I know, that has ever existed.
Unfortunately, it is a film, and due to time restrictions the movie had to be shortened. But, every major scene is in the movie. Every fight scene, every very important line. All of the memorable moments that will make a fan of the comic book smile, are right there in the movie.
Now, how did I feel about the movie? I loved it. I do not see how it could have been done any better, aside from finding a different actor for Miss Jupiter. The Totally Rad Show guys also pointed it out, and they were the ones that brought it to my attention. She is not the worst actor, but so many of her lines seemed forced. But, the performances of both the actor who played Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan made up for it tenfold.
Bottom line is that this is a great movie, but it's a movie for people who think. It's a movie for people who appreciate a good, dense story, and most importantly it's a movie for people who are going to sit there and pay attention for the entire three hours. The biggest complaint I got from people who viewed this film was that it was too long, too slow, and they didn't understand it. Oh, and that they didn't want to look at Dr. Manhattan's huge blue cock the entire movie.
Well...
1. I felt that this movie was not too long. It did not feel long. I was entertained the entire time, even having already seen the material on paper. I knew exactly what was going to happen the entire time up until the last ten to fifteen minutes, and aside from my girlfriend making a comment or asking a question, it had my full attention.
2. Did not feel slow to me at all. The pacing was perfect in my opinion. Every line held significance, and every scene was significant to the progress of the film.
3. This is where I am biased. However, I saw this movie with three people who had not read the graphic novel. I had to answer maybe two questions altogether, and they all understood the movie. Why? Because they paid attention. Hell, my girlfriend almost fell asleep (she was tired, fuck off), and she still understood it. I cannot comprehend what there was to not understand.
4. No. The thirty seconds of huge blue dick was not two hours and forty-three minutes of huge blue dick. Nice try.
So, there you have it. This movie will make you think, cringe, smile, and maybe even cry. And frankly, if a film can convey such actions, then for the most part I feel that it's done a good job. Still, Alan Moore is not happy.
So, I had to spend two full days at school listening to how awful the movie is. I got the comic book on Thursday, so I knew next to nothing about Watchmen except that it was very critically acclaimed. Hated by movie-goers, and loved by comic book fans. Apparently there was a criticism between the movie and the book, and how close in nature they stayed to it that lowered reviews, but I'll get to that later.
Needless to say, those two days were very nerve-racking. Having been requested to review the movie, I finally wanted something positive to say. I wasn't going to let a huge blue penis get in the way of me enjoying a film that I felt I could respect. However, the Totally Rad Show goes prevailed, and all three of them approved of the film. Jeff Cannata and Alex Albrecht went so far as to say that they loved it. However, they brought up something that really threw me off guard.
If you have read the comic, then the movie so closely follows the comic that you are not being presented a story, but instead are being shown how it is executed. So, I had to take this into consideration. Having unexpectedly obtained the graphic novel on Thursday of that week, I managed to read all of it besides the final fifteen pages. So, I went in being shown how the story is being executed aside from the final ten to fifteen minutes.
That right there, is my bias. The movie literally has frame for frame shots of the comic. I can open up a page in the book and point at a frame and say," That exact frame is in the movie. That EXACT frame," and I can do this more than just a few times. Watchmen is the closest, and most true book to film adaptation that I have ever seen, and as far as I know, that has ever existed.
Unfortunately, it is a film, and due to time restrictions the movie had to be shortened. But, every major scene is in the movie. Every fight scene, every very important line. All of the memorable moments that will make a fan of the comic book smile, are right there in the movie.
Now, how did I feel about the movie? I loved it. I do not see how it could have been done any better, aside from finding a different actor for Miss Jupiter. The Totally Rad Show guys also pointed it out, and they were the ones that brought it to my attention. She is not the worst actor, but so many of her lines seemed forced. But, the performances of both the actor who played Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan made up for it tenfold.
Bottom line is that this is a great movie, but it's a movie for people who think. It's a movie for people who appreciate a good, dense story, and most importantly it's a movie for people who are going to sit there and pay attention for the entire three hours. The biggest complaint I got from people who viewed this film was that it was too long, too slow, and they didn't understand it. Oh, and that they didn't want to look at Dr. Manhattan's huge blue cock the entire movie.
Well...
1. I felt that this movie was not too long. It did not feel long. I was entertained the entire time, even having already seen the material on paper. I knew exactly what was going to happen the entire time up until the last ten to fifteen minutes, and aside from my girlfriend making a comment or asking a question, it had my full attention.
2. Did not feel slow to me at all. The pacing was perfect in my opinion. Every line held significance, and every scene was significant to the progress of the film.
3. This is where I am biased. However, I saw this movie with three people who had not read the graphic novel. I had to answer maybe two questions altogether, and they all understood the movie. Why? Because they paid attention. Hell, my girlfriend almost fell asleep (she was tired, fuck off), and she still understood it. I cannot comprehend what there was to not understand.
4. No. The thirty seconds of huge blue dick was not two hours and forty-three minutes of huge blue dick. Nice try.
So, there you have it. This movie will make you think, cringe, smile, and maybe even cry. And frankly, if a film can convey such actions, then for the most part I feel that it's done a good job. Still, Alan Moore is not happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment