John and I went to see WATCHMEN at the AMC White Marsh IMAX this afternoon, and I was disappointed that more club members didn't decide to check out the 12:30 show. Mr. Diggin was in attendance (hey, Tom!) and we talked a bit about the movie afterward. I'll let Tom share his views at the March club meeting. As for me, I was a little underwhelmed.
It certainly wasn't the technical wizardry that turned me off. The movie looks great; director Zach Snyder and his crew of FX wizards have captured exactly how the most celebrated graphic novel of all time should look on the screen. Which, I think, is the big problem.
I'm a huge fan of the original Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comic; my son got me the ultimate hardcover edition for my birthday, and while I have been savoring it, he pretty much swallowed it whole, sort of a preparation for seeing the film. He loved the book, and liked the movie, but he agreed with my feelings. Snyder has basically recreated the novel; he's copied it, scene for scene, line for line, and in many cases, almost shot for shot. That kind of approach doesn't leave much room for inspiration. It really stifles the film, IMHO.
I think Snyder just plain lacks the vision. You can't say he was afraid of offending the author, because super-curmudgeon Alan Moore, who also created From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, had already blasted the filmmakers for daring to make the film. (He basically considers his works unfilmable.)
I can't help comparing Snyder to Peter Jackson. Jackson did something very similar -- he dared to adapt a genre legend, one that many folks felt was impossible -- but he breathed new life into a classic, insinuating his own imagination into The Lord of the Rings, extending scenes and deepening characters. By contrast, there's absolutely nothing in WATCHMEN that wasn't first done (better) in the graphic novel.
With one very important exception. I have to admit that Jackie Earle Haley did a fantastic job as Rorschach, the psychotic in the trenchcoat and inkblot mask. You could tell that was a real actor working under that mask -- something I hadn't seen since Hugo Weaving in V FOR VENDETTA (by coincidence, another Moore work.) Haley really buried himself in the role, and when he ripped his mask off to face Dr. Manhattan at the end, you could see the anguish of a scarred lifetime running across his face. It was an Oscar-caliber performance in an otherwise forgettable cast.
I'm really interested to hear what the rest of you thought of the film, and believe me, if you loved it, say so -- I loved the graphic novel, too. I guess I was just expecting a little more than a simple retread on the screen. I'd give WATCHMEN 6 out of 10 stars.
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A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday. Just as opening credit sequences seem to be going the way of the dinosaurs, WATCHMEN comes through with a dynamite opening montage detailing the origins of the Minutemen -- the forerunners of the Watchmen -- and it's all set to the tune of Dylan's "The Times, They Are A'Changin'." A great opening that I wish the rest of the film had lived up to. In addition, the closing credits are the shortest I think I've seen in the modern everyone-and-his-mother-in-law's-key-grip-gets-credit age. And there were a lot of people to thank, too. John and I looked at each other and said, "That was fast," as we were standing up and the MPAA R rating flashed across the screen. When was the last time I was there long enough to see the rating? Whoa!
ReplyDeleteI went to see this on Saturday evening with some friends at the Senator. It was a great turnout there.
ReplyDeleteThe movie? well, I liked it on the whole. I will start by saying I haven't read the comic, but was around when it first came out and had also heard that the movie followed it as you said, shot by shot/line by line for the most part. I am not sure what is wrong with that, I think if it had been changed/expanded there would be a lot more uproar then just what there is now about what has been changed.
Man it was a violent film. And I loved Rorschach - the character came across really well and that does the actor some justice. Owlman 2 (I can't remember his name) reminded me of Chevy Chase from the 80's.
I agree with you on the beginning montage. It was right on and the Dylan song fit perfect. I could have done without the hallelujah song when sex was being had. I found that cheesy.
I am glad I saw it on the big screen. I can't wait to see it in Blu Ray.
Someone who has never read the graphic novel might have a better time with it, I guess. I can ALSO see someone who hasn't read the graphic novel being as confused as hell. There were points when I was simply reminded of Gus Van Sant's PSYCHO remake, and that wasn't a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI liked everything about the movie except the length. I don't care how much they had to put into the feature; it was just a tad too long for me.
ReplyDeleteThe opening was great, but it just dragged on forever. The attempt to cover major periods of music from the 60s to the 80s got so tedious that at one point, I even said to my friend "The only thing missing now is a Jimi Hendrix song" and of course they threw one of them in. No original music what so ever. I immediately recognized Phillips Glass opening music from Koyaanisqatsi, as well as the opening movement from Mozart's Requiem.
The mutants 10 seats to the right brought their twin 18 month old crumb snatchers. Fortunately the movie was loud enough to drown them out most of the time. But what it couldn't drown out was the mutant couple behind me who kept giggling every time they saw Dr. Manhattan’s pecker and joking about it constantly by commenting how it swung from side to side when he walked. Of course "Mr. and Mrs. Swingin' D i c k" had no clue that Mozart or Phillip Glass was part of this equation. I just pray that they never get a chance to breed. The only problem is that it would put teachers out of a work.
Damn, we can't have that, can we?
ReplyDeleteI saw Watchmen on Friday night because I was out with some friends including one who HAS to see movies on opening night...sans Undead Hillbilly who FYI refuses to see it :). We went to the Pikesville Valley Center where the guy was shot during X-men 3. It's never crowded thankfully, so I had no problems getting my aisle seat even arriving 5 minutes after the listed showtime. But we did have a crying baby in the theater and lots of other kids who giggled and ewwww'd at the sight of a naked Dr. Manhattan.
ReplyDeleteI re-read the graphic novel that same week as the movie. None of my friends had and they followed the plot okay. I was somewhat surprised because I thought the same as Johndalf did re: non-book-readers finding the film hard to follow. Actually they liked it because it was very original - probably thanks to how close it did follow the novel.
I did not like the movie because I was so caught up in the book and the written characters that it felt like the actors were just impersonators - a pale imitation of the real thing. In this case, I simply enjoyed the reading process more than watching it on film - especially the mystery aspect. My subsequent read makes me really appreciate how well the original was crafted and how once I knew what was going on, I could see how important the puzzle pieces were that previously seemed insignificant or confusing to me.
And even though it was faithful to the source material, most of the differences seemed dumbed-down for a movie audience.
Most importantly, they got rid of the money shot. Veidt's execution of his master plan in the novel wasn't just out of left field, it was from another galaxy. It was logic taken to an unbelievable, "WTF just happened?" conclusion. Whereas the film version seemed too insular - it made it seem like a run-of-the-mill villain master plan.
Less importantly, the added-on Nite Owl 2 'Nooooooooooo!' and ensuing fight with Ozymandias at the end was silly - it appeared to be a calculated attempt for us to vicariously vent our anger at Ozymandias.
After seeing Blade Runner just a week before, I thought that Dr. Manhattan's speech about all of the magnificent things he has seen and done like walking on the surface of the sun was very similar to Batty's final speech in terms of grandeur and human limitations. Not a complaint, just an observation.