You are my new arch enemy!

Yeah, still have to get used to the fact that movies in theaters here are dubbed.

Maybe Trek will do a Terminator crossover.



it's possible

You should stop reading comics. You're like obsessed with them. They are clearly affecting your sanity.

Whatever Picacho or whatever Pokemon is your avatar.

You don't like sexy ladies? What are you, gay?

maybe.

I suspicioned, you loving Sex and the City and all.

Segue Bitches

Bisexual Connections To Watchmen

I think we've easily got a lock for biggest review thread since TDK.

Dr. Manhattan's penis didn't distract me a lot. I was like "oh look, a penis" but it got old fast.

One thing I haven't heard discussed in a single review is the not so subtle nod to post 9/11 NYC and Ground Zero at the end of the film. Pulled me out of the film for a second but I guess it fits into Ozymandias' story.

Is this film set in the 80s or today?

1985.

Thanks. The ground zero comment threw me.

A-


To put it simple: I think Zack Snyder nailed it. Could there be a better director for Watchmen? Probably, but I don't think the adaptation would have been that much superior. Thing is, we're dealing with very complex material which was written very much for its time and while dealing with an Alternate Reality, was still contemporary at the time. This is by far not easy to transport into our day and age, while not changing the setting. On top of that, we're dealing with a slew of very unlikeable characters who still have to come across as somewhat likeable and not be all-hated by the audiences. Moore pulled it off in the graphic novel and Snyder more or less succeeded with the same task in the adaptation.

Some might try and blame Snyder for his overstyled direction, the hyper-real shots and the gloomy and ever-dark scenery. To those I just recommend to think about the source material, or, even better, read it. As far as the visual aspects goes, Snyder pretty much captured the Watchmen comics and I don't really know how anyone can blame him for overusing the visuals here. In this film, they are just where they belong. The look of the film is prety much the main thing it has going for it. The cinematography is beautiful with some of the most remarkable shots I have seen in a long time. The visual effects are terrific, simply because most of them are simply not very noticeable, een though you know that 75% of the film was probably shot in front of the green screen. And I've gotta add that I simply LOVED the music and the songs chosen for the film. Must be my favorite compilation of songs in a movie in years since most of them fit the scenes JUST right. If anything, I can safely say that Snyder absolutely succeeded at capturing the different eras of this alternate reality on screen. The 40s as well as the 80s. That also brings me to one of the finest parts of the movie - the opening credits with the flashbacks to the Minutemen and the beginnings of the Watchmen. So beautiful, so well-done with so many details to be caught during several repeat viewings - and the accompaigning music as wonderful as ever.

The rest of the film is often uneven. I loved every scene with The Comedian. Despite many great characters and Rorschach owning almost every scene he's in...I must say that to my huge surprise it was Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comedian who impressed me the most with his turn. His Comedian is obviously an asshole, a sadist and a killer...but he also has this very deeply human side to him that is almost touching. I think Morgan pulled off this complicated role very well and made more than a cliché out of his character despite limited screentime. Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach is obviously pretty cool as well. I loved him in the maskless scenes. The prison stuff was gold. Patrick Wilson...I've never liked him much, but he didn't bother me much here. Malin Akerman didn't do much for me, but Carla Gugino as her mother was great in the few scenes she was in. I really can't wait to see the director's cut. I hope there's more Minutemen stuff in there. Matthew Goode was pretty effective as Ozymandias. But as Ihave said, the film's uneven. I wasn't convinced my Dr. Manhattan's pseudo-philocophical discussions. It worked better on paper then on the screen. The whole Mars segment towards the end was weak too.

Someone has already said it before and I have to agree - I'm really surprised how much action the studio was able to cram into the trailers and TV spots. Because for its 163-minutes running time, there's barely any action in the film. I'd say it totals maybe 12-15 minutes overall and it certainly felt like some of it was just added so that it simply DOES have some action. That said, the action was superbly done. I don't remember the last time I've seen such a violent film. The back alley fight was vicious as well as the prison scenes. It certainly topped 30 in that department, IMO (maybe also because the violence seemed a tad more realistic here).

I was surprised, stunned actually, by how faitfhul it remained to the source material (and the basic outline of the ending). To those claiming that in the process of doing so, Snyder forgot to actually make a film - I'd ever so slightly agree. Yes, the movie somewhat lacks an identity of its own as the medium. But it is probably as good of an adaptation as one can get. It gets the theme across, gives it a worth visual style and gets the cast (mostly) right. It is a feast for the eye, with complex topics, leaving a lot up the the viewer's own thinking. It's is not a very "entertaining" film, but it is a good one. It's grim, gloomy and dark, but not just for the sake of being all that - it actually feels just like the graphic novel projected onto the big screen. Here we've got the first great movie of 2009 and I can't wait to see its longer version.

And just for record: I liked it more than 300 and Sin City.

ok it's close enough to friday:

F

I may elaborate more later, but its' late, so here's my key points.
Things I hated:
1)MALIN FUCKING AKERMAN!
Things I wasn't a huge fan of:
1)The shortened version of the physc examination with the black shrink guy,
2) The lack of the smaller characters, (lesbian lady, newspaper guy, the kid reading Black Freighter, the newspaper editor)
3) The unnecessarily long "love" sequences and extended parts in the set up that made the whole movie too long.
Things I was pleased with/loved: (basically everything else)
1) visual effects
2) style
3) story
4) faithfulness to the GN
5) mostly good acting
6) The change in ending
7) the action sequences (despite their unnecessary brutality)
8) Rorshach (even better here than in the novel.)
9) the "origin story" and time sequence with Jon.
As a fan of the GN and regular movie watcher: LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT
As a "critic" and reviewer of movie looking at it in a technical sense: LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT
A great roving outrageous complicated fantastic, visually orgasmic epic of a film, the deserves considerably more praise than its' receiving.
9/10 (would be 9.5 if it weren't for Snyder's huge mistake: Malin Akerman.)

D+

A disjointed piece of crap. Trying to be poignant while showing a blue penis? Fail.

Zack Snyder is a poor man's version of Quentin Tarrantino. You can be over stylized as you want, but is it difficult to tell a coherent story. What a load of shit this film was. Horrible performances from everyone involved, and the lack of intellect behind the camera is noticeable on every level. Great action sequences and fantastic cinematography are wasted on some of the most inept film experience I've ever witnessed.

And telling people to read the comic book so they can understand it, is a cop out.

And remaining close to the source material isn't always exactly a good thing.

If anything, Zack Snyder is a middle class version of Bob Zemeckis or even Ridley Scott. His first three features were a 1) Zombie film, 2) Sword and Sandal epic, and 3) Superhero Neo-noir.

Quentin Tarantino waited much longer to break out his stylized genre of choice. Tarantino would then be for some a low-rent version of Marty Scorsese. Snyder and Tarantino don't share much in common at all.