I think there was a lot of untapped potential in the Silk Spectre, in terms of thematic possibilities. Female superheroes have always gotten such a shaft in the overall main culture, it might have helped the character some to include something like that, instead of making her just a bitter unsatisfied woman with mommy issues.

Though that probably wouldn't have mattered if they kept Akerman, so whatever.

lol

That's the new Fergie song?

Hmm, Zing didn't love it.

Just got back from the second viewing.

The Hallelujah sex scene isn't as awkward the second time around.

The Comedian becomes almost lovable for some reason. I found myself less repulsed by his actions.

Everything I loved the first time, Dr. Manhattan's birth, the credit sequence, the prison scenes, I loved them as much the second time around as I did the first, if not a bit more.

I actually think that The Comedian is an almost moving character. Very human.

I definitely found his humanity this time around vs basically seeing him as The Punisher on Tuesday.

You people stop bad mouthing the Punisher or he will blow you up mid jump with a rocket launcher!

I loved his lines to Dr. Manhattan after shooting the pregnant Vietnamese.

Did anyone else notice the nod to Kubrick as the movie starts with the stark yellow background against the Warner Brothers logo?

quite lovely.

I found myself wondering what a Terry Gilliam Watchmen would have looked like and I've decided, Zack was the right choice.

Um, I would guess that that was an homage to the fact that yellow is the color most associated with the graphic novel.

Though I did like the War Room.

Not the fucking colour itself Jon but how it was presented.

It's one of those movies that I like a lot now the basis of fun and event film feel, but as the effect wears down and I don more of a critical hat it might not hold up as well. But as of now, yeah, it's good entertainment and I enjoyed going along for the ride. Snyder clearly understands the film's comic blockbuster geekdom and glady gives us the fun blockbuster what we want, even if it passes into the ridiculous or over the top. When All Along the Watchtower plays as Nite Owl and Rorschach land their ship in the antarctic, you know he's relishing in fun filmmaking, even if admittedly the guy isn't that skilled a director.

While I liked watching the film just for stuff like Rorscach's awesomeness, it does lack a little dramatic momentum and could use some editing... there's a bit too much Comedian flashbacks and exposition with the characters. They could've cut a good 40 minutes off if they let their mysterious superheroes be a bit more... mysterious. But I guess all that needed carrying over from the source material

But on that note some issues...

The smartest man on earth making his top secret password a book sitting on his desk

Dr. Manhattan not foreseeing the talk show blitz/Janie thing

The Hallejiah sex scene Though it was SO ridiculous that I just sort of went with it

The Silk Spectre in general... a bit too spandex fantasy plastic pinup, a bit lacking in charisma or memorability. Other than that I was fine with the casting.

3.5/5

He could no longer see the future because of tachyon interference.

I thought he couldn't see past the cataclysmic event but could up until then. He told Spectre what she was about to do like 5 times. Or was it sometimes distubred and sometimes not... maybe didn't catch that part

BJs Grade: (have not read the graphic novel/book)

A/A-

outstanding, soundtrack was perfect, i liked the arctic scene the most, fallowed by the prison scenes, and Ozymandias was my favorite character, the dude that played him ruled. With a 2nd viewing I could see this becoming one of my favorite films of the decade.

Adrien was using tachyons to cloud Dr. Manhattan's vision. They move backwards in time or something and only affect Dr. Manhattan.

The movie was really great. I do wonder if I would've enjoyed it more or less without having read the book. Hmm. I did miss a few things, mostly dealing with the end. Everything before then is handled almost exactly like the comic.

My expectations were low with the ignorance on the graphic novel and early reviews, but they were fortunately surpassed. I thought I'd be lost and going WTF for almost the entire film, but no, though I missed a few details and had no clue about that huge mechanical shit on Mars, what the hell is that? Best parts of the film; opening credits, soundtrack/score (though it's more of a compliment to Koyaanisqatsi more than this film), Rorschach, and every shot of New York. It really worked more as a superhero drama, and as a sucker for action, I found out that I could live without those action scenes because they were poorly done and added not much to the film.

B+

I also agree that the soundtrack was pretty dead on. I mean, some of the song choices were brilliant.

For transparancy's sake, let me divulge my history with Watchmen - - I haven't read the graphic novel, I haven't read any of the intervening politics in bringing it to the screen - - in fact, I've tried to hear, see, and smell as little as possible about this story - - all in preparation for this day when I get to experience it as a full-borne film...

Yow!

Watchmen is a pretty wacked out reality. (...and I say 'pretty' and all the other words in that phrase, in their exact dictionary meaning.)

What with the parallel universe and superpowers, and all that crazy ass stuff - - this was not the film noir detective story I had imagined. No, this is some kinda freakshow! (...and I mean that in the best possible way.)

And then on top of that, it was strangely compelling in a dramatic sort of way, and danged if it didn't have a sense of humor too! (...and.)

Yep, this is one woowoo choochoo...

...and I liked it. Or I would have, if my Bradley Witherberry character hadn't died off in that damn alternate universe....



out of

Note: I haven't read the graphic novel and was going into this movie blind. Also, I'm super tired so this review probably isn't going to make much sense.

I really dug it. It's extremely narratively dense but it is a total visual stunner. I was nearly as enthralled by the visuals as I was by Snyder's last, 300, although I liked that movie more. The opening credits and all of Rorshach's time in prison were brilliant. I was definitely pretty confused during the end of the movie, but I felt like I was following along pretty well other than that. Jackie Earle Haley is brilliant, but the rest of the main cast members (Malin Akerman, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode) are pretty bland. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Carla Gugino do interesting things with less screen time, however. Although I did like the goofy/awkward "Hallelujah" sex scene and Dr. Manhattan just being starkers the entire film, on the note of the actors. There are some issues, but the film is visually/aesthetically memorable and pretty brilliant at certain points. I'm interested in checking out the graphic novel now. B+

It was actually simpler than that and Night Owl guessed it on his first guess. He made his password his own superhero name, or at least an alternative transcription of it.

^It's 1985! The age of crazy passwords hasn't arrived yet. And it was a floppy disk on top of that.

oh and the score was really memorable too. Listening to tracks on iTunes now.

I've read part of the novel (working on the rest), and I loved the movie. For something so seemingly unfilmable, Snyder did a really remarkable job. Because the story credit belongs to Moore (and his story is a fantastic one), the true achievements of this film are its visual orgasmicness (honestly, one of the most beautiful-looking movies I've ever seen) and the fantastic use of both original and adapted music. The actors did a pretty damn fine job, too. While some of the scenes (particularly those at the very end) came off as a bit cheesy, the sheer brilliance of others (primarily the flashbacks) easily overwhelmed them. It felt like The Dark Knight meets Kubrick, and that combo was just awesome for me. Probably one of my favorite superhero movies ever.

A

Haven't read the novel, but I feel I followed along pretty well and got most of the characters. The Comedian, Rorschach, and Dr. Manhattan were the most interesting characters, although I didn't fully understand why Dr. Manhattan wouldn't wear pants. I liked Patrick Wilson but his character almost seemed like filler, Nite Owl doesn't do much of anything. Malin is hot as Silk Spectre and that's pretty much it. Quite possibly the most awkward sex scene ever? Just read up on the original ending and don't think it would work well on screen. I really enjoyed the Antarctica scene and the explanation of why Ozymandias did what he did. So is the ending supposed to suggest that the papers will expose what happened and the world will no longer be at peace?

- B+