(no subject)
My feelings on Watchmen
My straight up opinion: it was ok. As good as I could have expected it to be.
Alan Moore said that it shouldn't be made into a movie because it was specifically fit to the medium of comic books. And he was of course absolutely right. It simply shouldn't have been made into a movie to start with. But it was going to happen, so this was the best result I feel it could have been.
Casting was fantastic. Dan and Rorschach were exactly on the mark. They stole the show for me. Comedian was spot on. And I always love the actress who played Sally, even if she is usually over the top.
I thought I would hate Laurie, but she was ok. She's my least favorite character and more difficult to make likable. Some of the deliveries were weak.
Veidt was off. Too sinister, too obvious from the start. And little, even for Veidt.
Generally, it was true to the comic with the exception of subplots that obviously were going to have to be cut for time and absurdly nitpicky "why was this line cut!" things. However there were changes that seemed unnecessary and pandering.
Why were they "The Watchmen" and not the Crime Busters? So you can spoon feed the central symbol to the audience? The violence was too much. There was too much of it and for way too long. The first scene, the fight with the comedian and "his killer" lasted FOREVER. Literally by the third punch, I was sick of it. That was a page in the comics. All of the fight scenes were drawn out and expanded, and for no reason other than to increase ticket sales. I thought that was a major draw back. The same goes for the sex scene. Too much for no reason other than pandering to masses. And way too much slow motion. This isn't 300, it's not about the action, it's about the philosophy.
There were some small plot changes that I didn't understand because they would have worked in their original form. But that's getting nitpicky. (Seriously, a grinder instead of a welder? That scene is originally so awesome).
OK, so the ending. The biggest change.
I don't understand why the alien plot wouldn't have worked. But, I'm over it. My issue isn't with how they explained the massacre, but with how everyone reacted to it. It made Veidt into a villain, which is something he never was in the comic. He's committed this atrocity, and everyone accepts it not because they can understand the logic but because there is a consequence. In the comic, there is a feeling that everyone except Rorschach can accept (whether they like it or not) Veldt's logic and reluctantly agree with it because deep down, it does make sense. But in the new ending, he looks like a bully pushing the finger on Jon, and everyone has to just deal with it--or else. Sure there is an aspect of that in the comic, but that combined with the weak acting of Veidt (and the scene of Dan attacking him after and also Dan and Laurie not making love directly after) seriously changes the mood of the ending, so it feels like a hasty wrap up towards a happy ending.
And the ending is why the movie was ultimately a failure, just like Moore said it would be. The comic was about the anti-hero being created from destructed super heroes. It was about humanity, connection. It wasn't about heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys. But the movie was.
It was a valiant effort.
My straight up opinion: it was ok. As good as I could have expected it to be.
Alan Moore said that it shouldn't be made into a movie because it was specifically fit to the medium of comic books. And he was of course absolutely right. It simply shouldn't have been made into a movie to start with. But it was going to happen, so this was the best result I feel it could have been.
Casting was fantastic. Dan and Rorschach were exactly on the mark. They stole the show for me. Comedian was spot on. And I always love the actress who played Sally, even if she is usually over the top.
I thought I would hate Laurie, but she was ok. She's my least favorite character and more difficult to make likable. Some of the deliveries were weak.
Veidt was off. Too sinister, too obvious from the start. And little, even for Veidt.
Generally, it was true to the comic with the exception of subplots that obviously were going to have to be cut for time and absurdly nitpicky "why was this line cut!" things. However there were changes that seemed unnecessary and pandering.
Why were they "The Watchmen" and not the Crime Busters? So you can spoon feed the central symbol to the audience? The violence was too much. There was too much of it and for way too long. The first scene, the fight with the comedian and "his killer" lasted FOREVER. Literally by the third punch, I was sick of it. That was a page in the comics. All of the fight scenes were drawn out and expanded, and for no reason other than to increase ticket sales. I thought that was a major draw back. The same goes for the sex scene. Too much for no reason other than pandering to masses. And way too much slow motion. This isn't 300, it's not about the action, it's about the philosophy.
There were some small plot changes that I didn't understand because they would have worked in their original form. But that's getting nitpicky. (Seriously, a grinder instead of a welder? That scene is originally so awesome).
OK, so the ending. The biggest change.
I don't understand why the alien plot wouldn't have worked. But, I'm over it. My issue isn't with how they explained the massacre, but with how everyone reacted to it. It made Veidt into a villain, which is something he never was in the comic. He's committed this atrocity, and everyone accepts it not because they can understand the logic but because there is a consequence. In the comic, there is a feeling that everyone except Rorschach can accept (whether they like it or not) Veldt's logic and reluctantly agree with it because deep down, it does make sense. But in the new ending, he looks like a bully pushing the finger on Jon, and everyone has to just deal with it--or else. Sure there is an aspect of that in the comic, but that combined with the weak acting of Veidt (and the scene of Dan attacking him after and also Dan and Laurie not making love directly after) seriously changes the mood of the ending, so it feels like a hasty wrap up towards a happy ending.
And the ending is why the movie was ultimately a failure, just like Moore said it would be. The comic was about the anti-hero being created from destructed super heroes. It was about humanity, connection. It wasn't about heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys. But the movie was.
It was a valiant effort.