Watchmen Film

[Revan]

Hello all....

I watched the Watchmen film last night. And I thought it was really good. Probably the best adaptation they could have done. 

I have read the Graphic Novel and was impressed how much they kept it as close to this as possible (without the film being 7 hours long)

I just wanted to know what people thought of the film. Those who have read the comic, what did you think? and those who have never read it at all.

Massive Spoiler Below, comic and film:

Spoiler

Also what did you think about the changed ending? I thought that in order to do the actual ending with the genetically altered squid would have taken a lot more time to explain in the film. I think it was a needed change. When I heard that they had changed the ending, I was expecting them to save everyone before Veidt killed millions of people, I thought it might have been too controversial for film. But they did it.

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So what did you think?

[Nacho]

Is it that "good adaptation" as "300" was of the battle of the Thermopile? Because then, I will save that 5 euros for something better, like sponsoring the massive plantation of daisies in the Gobi desert or something like that...

[veryweirdguy]

It was...okay. Saw it last night.

It was...okay.

I'm a huge fan of the comic, and have been anxious about this since like the first trailer.

Ultimately, my feeling is that Watchmen found it's ideal medium just over 20 years ago. This was an...okay movie. It was the best film we're gonna get from this source material - I don't think they could have done a better job.

Watching it though, I just thought the book has so much more depth. Notably:

Spoiler

The psychologist is in it, but we don't get his full arc.

The newsvendor and kid are there when the "incident" happens, but not before at all, thus kind of diluting their appearance.

Hollis doesn't make an appearance after his first scene, elimating one of my favourite emotional moments.

The Mars scenes seemed to be resolved much more quickly.

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And so on and so forth.

In conclusion, it was...okay.

Definitely worth seeing for the conversation, and to form your own opinion.

The best thing to come out of it is that it has caused lots of people to buy and read the comic. And hopefully that causes comics to be more appreciated by a couple more people.

[m0ds]

Not seen it yet, but I'd really like too.

Action movie that's an 18?
Set in the 80's?
Sex and strong violence?
Xmen type people??

AWESOME!

[Trent R]

I'm way excited for it. My bro introduced me to Watchmen a couple years back, and I've been waiting to see it since I saw the first trailer (on an IMAX screen no less!). I don't feel like I have any expectations of it--good or bad--so I'm sure I'll enjoy it no matter what.

~Trent

[LGM]

VWG. Keep in mind there over an hour of footage missing from the theatrical cut. All of your complaints will be resolved in the DVD release that will be just shy of 3 hours and 40 minutes long.

[Play_Pretend]

I just wrote a list on another board of about 50 things that were cut or changed unnecessarily while they were cramming a brilliant book into a half-arsed movie...I mean, I understand how hard it would be to make it work as a movie, but I was seriously disappointed.  The wire effects, blood and gore, and crappy CGI just dragged it down even lower.

[veryweirdguy]

LGM! You are correct, I read about that soon after posting here, and it indicates a couple of things I mentioned being included in the extended cut (plus, of course, things like the Black Freighter.)

HOWEVER, I don't think these will turn it into an amazing film. It felt long in the first place, and I don't think an extended version could be sat through in one setting. Not by me anyway.

I don't even mind that things were missing, it's just the things that were half-baked that bothered me.

ALSO I forgot to mention that the film makes it seem more like there is a clear "badguy" at the end, where the comic leaves the reader to decide who is right and wrong.

Some of the music choices were bizarre. Ride of the Valkyries while Dr Manhattan strides through Vietnam was cringeworthy.

The ending wasn't bad, it brought about the same outcome basically, but I felt there was no need to change it. But that might be my squid fetish kicking in?

I thought Adrian was kind of miscast. He was a bit weak and puny to be a believable hero who has trained his body to such peak position. But oh well.

But I don't want to focus on the negative, as I feel my past two posts have been moanarific. SO: things I liked:

Some of the actors! Notable Rorschach and Doc Manhattan. Dan wasn't bad either.

The opening credits! Very cleverly done to fill in a lot of backstory in a different way from the comic - this is how I feel a lot of the film should have bene made, adapted for the medium of film rather than translated directly. Whoops, sorry, I moaned again.

Some music! I really enjoyed hearing All Along The Watchtower and The Sound Of Silence through cinema speakers. Man, I wish I had big speakers.

Background stuff! A lot of background elements were clearly there for the comic nerds, such as copies of Hollis's book "Under the Hood."

In conclusion, it was...okay. I definitely think you all should see it. And then read the comic, if you haven't already. Or even if you have.

[Scummbuddy]

I agreed with everything Revan, this thread starter, mentions.

As for veryweirdguy...

Spoiler

The newsvendor and kid are there when the "incident" happens, but not before at all, thus kind of diluting their appearance.

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Not really /hide worthy, but...

Spoiler

The newsvendor and the boy are seen at least once before. The newspaper truck pulls up and throws out a new edition with a news headline that moves the plot along.

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And I saw it on IMAX and it was amazing. I'm going on Sunday to see it again.

[Raider]

I saw the Midnight showing and I have a few ideas about it.

First off, the cinematography was beautiful. Larry Fong always does good (Cost of Living, 300) It really captured the feel of the graphic novel. I feel it was a little TOO close to it. Copying word for word and shot for shot isn't really my thing.

The soundtrack was atrocious! The Sound of Silence was the only thing that sort of fit, but having well known songs like that break the suspension of disbelief, in this case all I could think of was The Graduate when that song came on.

The balance of humor and violence was done well though, it's just a weird blend of childish dorky costumes with nudity and gore. However the costumes we well adapted from the GN so no complaint there.

I found that the audience in the cinema really ruined my experience, clapping and cheering in random scenes that appealed to them, overpowering the dialogue so no one could hear anything.

Cool film though, in an arty geeky way.

[Revan]

Nice mix of comments coming through, which is what I wanted when I started this post.

A couple of things: some of you have mentioned the soundtrack, yeah I thought at points the music choice was bad, and perhaps more time should have been spent on its selection.

I cant wait for the DVD, to see if they manage to hold together the entire film when its over 3 and a half hours.

I can understand a lot of peoples disappointment in the film , especially if you read the comic way before hearing about the film. I my self read comics all the time. And had heard of Watchmen being this cult classic and a must read before you die. But it wasn't until I heard there was a film coming out that my interest peaked. Also got it at Forbidden Planet (comic shop) for under £10. I read it and steered clear of the trailers so it wouldn't give anything away for me. I finished it at the start of February, so I didn't have long to wait for the film.

Overall a mix of comments from every one, keep them coming. Also those who have posted on the wall saying they are going to see it, please post back again when you have and we can see what you thought...

Also remember Spoiler pages, if you think it might spoil the film or comic.

Spoiler

For example the fact that Veidt is the costume killer, or the change of the ending, or the squid. (veryweirdguy on ur  second post  )

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[ManicMatt]

Too long.

Genius.

Disapointing ending.

Why did I need to know so much backstory about the guy who dies at the start?

Kept me interested for a film without much action in it.

A blue penis!

Different.

BIG spoiler:

Spoiler

Why did Rosarch have to die, why?!! I loved that character! He was so cool and twisted! And okay so the evil mastermind type guy who killed few to save many.. well I'd still liked to have seen him perish. And Dr Manhatten, that guy scares me.

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I think I'd say I enjoyed it, and I think I'll get it on DVD, especially if there's more footage to see. (And I'll watch it in 5 parts thanks)

[veryweirdguy]

Spoiler

The newsvendor and the boy are seen at least once before. The newspaper truck pulls up and throws out a new edition with a news headline that moves the plot along.

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Spoiler

This is true! I noticed them, but they wouldn't really be noticable to someone who wasn't looking for them - a casual viewer. Maybe.

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Or maybe not. I've been trying to look at the whole thing from the perspective of someone who hasn't read it, but it's proving far too difficult.

ManicMatt:

Spoiler

The idea is that Adrian has to live the rest of his life with doubts, wondering whether he made the right decision, although it didn't come across too strongly.

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Anyways, The wonderful Jess Fink put up a review here which is pretty damn agree-able-to-able.

[Makeout Patrol]

I saw it last night, having never read the book, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Superhero movies have been absolutely incredible over the past year - first Iron Man, then the Dark Knight, and now Watchmen. I think Watchmen was the best of the three.

Can I comment on how incredible the opening credits were? After this I am never going to want to watch another movie where the opening credits are just text on a blank screen ever again.

I have heard a lot of complaints about the music, but the only part that made me pause was 99 Red Balloons. Everything else was, I thought, perfectly appropriate.

I have always meant to read Watchmen and just haven't gotten around to it, but it's pretty much at the top of my to-do list now. What a fantastic movie.

BIG spoiler:

Spoiler

Why did Rosarch have to die, why?!! I loved that character! He was so cool and twisted! And okay so the evil mastermind type guy who killed few to save many.. well I'd still liked to have seen him perish. And Dr Manhatten, that guy scares me.

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Spoiler

Never would have worked. That would have been far too neat a Hollywood ending. A black-and-white "this guy is evil so good has triumphed" ending would not have worked at all for this movie - the ending is there so that you can decide who was right and who was wrong. Rosarch had a completely black-and-white view of morality, and as a result he could not continue to exist in that world.

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[Revan]

Im impressed with Makeout Patrol. getting sooo much from just the film. Rorschach's character is very black and white. no grey what so ever.. He was apparently based on a character created by Steve Ditko called 'Mr A' who was also right/wrong no middle ground, uncompromising principles and incorruptibility.

Also a line from the comic was left out of the film, a line that captured Rorschach completely, he is referring to the material that makes up his mask, but it's an obvious parallel to his own belief system:

"Black and white. Moving changing shape... But not mixing no grey."

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Also, Rorschach is a loose adaptation of 'The Question', and many of the other characters are adaptations/parodies of Charleton Comics characters.

[nihilyst]

I found it very good. And as Makeout Patrol has said, the opening credits were fantastic. Brilliant stuff!

[Darth Mandarb]

I have never read (or even seen) the graphic novels so I went in to this movie blind.

So what did I think?

It was WAY too long.

I know the comic-purists will blow-up at this statement ... but there was way too much "fluff" in the film.

The entire prison scene was totally unnecessary.  It was nothing other than showing how bad-ass the heroes are.  It was cool, don't get me wrong, but not necessary for the over-all story of the film.

Almost every scene with Carla Gugino was also not needed (over-all) for the film.  They could still have revealed the "big secret" without taking 30 minutes of un-needed back story of her character.  Not to mention they weren't that interesting (her back stories) and slowed the pace of the film (in my opinion).

All the "relationship" scenes between Dr. Manhattan and Silk Specter were tedious and too involved.  I suspect this was the point, but I found it slow and somewhat boring!

I hate to say it, because he was the most interesting character by far (for me), but the back-story scenes with the comedian weren't really necessary either.

Though:

Spoiler

I loved the scene in the bar is Saigon when he killed the pregnant woman ... as morbid as that was it really showed a different side of "super heroes" that I really dig.  He's not really a good guy ... he's a thug hiding behind a mask of legality who isn't in it to save humanity, but because he's an adrenaline junky who enjoys the killing.  I really like this aspect of the story!

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Don't get me wrong, I love a long and involved story ... but I think, for a theatrical release, the movie could have been every bit as good at 120 minutes as opposed to 180 minutes!  I think a video release version with all the extra scenes would rock!  Sitting at home I'd love that!  Flesh it out ... hell, make it 4 hours long.  I can pause it and get up to have a piss without worrying about missing something!  The story is interesting enough to warrant the length. 

The problem is, from my experience, the average film-goer doesn't have the attention span for that much material and it only appeals to people familiar with the source materials.  For me it's not an attention span thing ... it's that I always get a nice big drink before going in and, inevitably, I have to use the restroom after about 90 minutes!

I know that fans of the novels will not appreciate my statements ... but I'm looking at this from the perspective of somebody who had no connection with the source material.  And as such, these are just my thoughts on the film.

edit - I forgot to mention that I liked it!  It was visually appealing and the acting wasn't too over the top!  I just felt it was too long!

[Snarky]

But you knew that it was going to be almost 3 hours long, right? And you know that if you have the drink you'll have to go to the bathroom halfway through, so... maybe forgo the drink this time?

I thought it was pretty fantastic that they'd managed to make a movie that was both fun and stayed true to the comic. Not everything worked, but mostly those were things where they were trying to stick too closely to the comic (except for the portrayal of Ozymandias and some of the ultraviolence: those were just poor choices), so I didn't mind.

[Ponch]

Never read the comic book, so take that into account when you read my thoughts.

I liked it quite a bit. As a child of the 70s/80s, I liked the music choices a lot. 99 luft balloons fit both as a song about the apocalypse and a nice pop choice for Dan and Laurie's first date. Also, that was the first time I've seen Cohen's Hallelujah used in a scene that seemed to fit the message of the song (really, what the hell was that song doing in Shrek?).

Overall, it was a bit too long, but I liked the casting choices. The guy who played Rorschach should get some kind of award. He really embodied the righteous, psychotic hobo that no conspiracy plot should be without. Same with the guy who played the misanthropic yet all-American Comedian. I would have liked to seen more of that guy. His patriotic nihilism was unsettlingly entertaining. But I guess the director needed that extra screen time to get more neon blue penis on the screen. In a non-penis showcasing role, Matt Frewer really shined as the Comedian's old arch-nemesis. Also sans-penis was the girl in the black outfit and the bob haircut in the opening credits. Movie needed much more of her and her girl-kissing, crime fighting ways. Much, much more. It helped offset the rave party glow stick Dr. Manhattan was carrying around.

One of my friends is a big fan of the comic and was distressed that they changed the ending. He explained it to me (in great, nerd-anguished detail) over lunch and, wow, am I glad they went with the ending they did.

Overall, a solid B+. (With extra points because this movie utterly defies becoming a franchise. Too many of those these days. Nice to see a story wrapped up  with a big "The End" when the credits roll.)

Just my two cents,

- Ponch