I finally got to see Watchmen last night, and there's a lot I want to say about, well, everything. The film, the comic, the experience of the theater... so this is going to be two parts: A review of the film and a review on the experience.The Film (With spoilers):
The Comedian was killed, to begin with.
In a fight to the death, and cold blood, a man who killed Kennedy and fought along Dr. Manhattan in Vietnam, winning the war for Nixon... plunged to his death in his Manhattan apartment. Rorschach investigates this crime and uncovers a conspiracy to kill costumed heroes. Through it all, we learn the stories of the masked vigilantes and that these "heroes" aren't the idolized gods we saw them as... even the one who would seem the most godlike is the most flawed.
As a fan of the original work, I went into the film knowing things would not be exactly the same, something I was fine with. The comic book is incredibly complex, and not everything could go in there, and some parts of the book I thought were important were completely left out, most notably the entire sub-plot of the New York City Newsstand where the book, "Tales of the Black Freighter" were read. I was fine with them not having the book... that was fine, and it made sense. But the newsstand in and of itself was a device used to connect these heroes and these seemingly amazing and non-real events with the real world. In turn, by eliminating it, that element was gone... but the essence was still there, which in the end counts for a little bit more.
The focus was more on these "flawed gods", which was something I was glad to see. It wasn't on the fighting, it wasn't on them saving the world... it was about who these people were and what they were trying to achieve. I'm forced to wonder why a high-gloss take was done with toning it down and, instead, having them more in a neutral setting may have worked better.
On that note, something I don't see in reviews or discussed, I'd like to note what I think was one of the biggest problems with the film: The use of slow-motion and pop-music. From the man who brought us "300", its no real shock that he still overdid it on the slow-motion. It was irritating try to watch the film and get a moment where you, the audience member, was forced to actually sit down and think about what you were seeing because instead of thinking about the action itself, you wind up being to broadsided by a cheesy effect that's meant to keep the idiots "interested". The camera never seemed to stop moving, again not letting you think about the shot, but giving you the meaning.
If I may, a little rant about that. I think the best films let you soak in moments and understand the true meaning and depth of a moment, something Alan Moore did a lot in the book. the director felt that he needed to live up to what comic book movies were in terms of filming and production and, in the end, I feel he did the story a disservice to a degree. At the same time, there wasn't a moment a silence. Instead of simply letting there be no music, you were constantly bombarded by a score that wouldn't stay quiet, the occasional and seemingly out of place pop song... although, my favorite point of the film was hearing the Muzak version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" when Ozymandias spoke about world peace midway through the film.
One thing I love about films is when you do get those quite moments to think and reflect, especially when you have a nearly 3-hour long film. It feels like the entire thing was cheapened a little in the name of keeping the public interested.
But the film was still brilliant, by and large. For all my aching and bitching abut the little things, the film, on a whole, as still well done. The bit of a synopsis done about the entire history of the superhero vigilante group (Note: they are never called "The Watchmen." Ever.) and who took on the role later was great, and the fact they stayed fairly true to the source material (yes, even Dr. M's little blue guy) was great. The ending... well, I'm mixed on the change.
In the book, there was a thread that led you from the newsstand to the comic to the end. In essence, the newsstand was where a lonely man would discuss world events to a kid who only read a comic book and didn't care. The comic book was about isolation. The person who drew the book drew a scary alien and worked for Veidt. The alien was created to cause world peace and kill millions. No newsstand = no monster. It would have been confusing for it to just kinda pop-up. So instead Dr. Manhattan is framed.
In the essence of the material, nothing really changed because of it. It was still an event that brought the world together and created world peace, and that was the entire point of the ending: Is it worth killing millions in order to save Billions?
So, favorite scene, yes? Well, I have three and I guess they speak more to my true nature: The first is Rorschach in the room with the therapist at the jail where he is shown a series of Rorschach cards and asked what he sees. After seeing one card, and recalling beating the crap out of two kids when he was younger, biting off the cheek of one of them, he tells him what he sees; "Clouds".
My second favorite scene is Night Owl and Silk Specter in those first awkward moments where they are in Night Owl's apartment trying to get undressed... it was just hilarious how realistic it was in the awkwardness of it all.
My third favorite? Well... world peace at the cost of a few million? How can you say no?
In the end, I found it easier to relate and understand these charachters than it was when I read the book, which was a major plus. In a way, this is the cliffnotes of Watchmen, and that's not all that bad.
I would have to give it a 8 stars out of 10 because there are problems with it, but it still was incredibly by and large. I will get the DVD when it coems out.
The Experience:
I hate going to the movies these days. It's a lot just to get in the theater, it's a lot to get food, and people like the talk and be annoying during the film. The theater I went to was in Neshaminy Mall, just outside Philadelphia (all the good malls are outside Philly.... fuck), and I saw it with a friend, a co-worker, and my co-workers friends. One of them was a heavy fan of pirating films while they're still in theaters, to which I asked, "So, are you buying a ticket to this or is someone else paying for you?" He didn't answer.
The film is rated R, although I wished they slapped an NC-17 Raiting on it. Why? Because this isn't a film you take your kids to see, especially a fucking baby. It was irritating trying to watch the film and, near the end, hearing some idiot who decided to bring their baby because they couldn't get a sitter cry. The amount of teenagers who chuckled at seeing a flacid penis, the lack of maturity for a film that was, at heart, something you really needed a brain to understand... it was a bit of a pain.
