Watchmen Vs The Dark Knight

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Permalink Reply by Doctor Lightning on March 11, 2009 at 2:08am

The Dark Knight I thought was an excellent film the first time I saw it, so top-notch that I, one of the rare devout Batman 1989 fans out there (I still possibly hold it, a couple of flaws and all, as my favorite comic-book adaptation non-graphic novel/non-Manga), said it was my 2nd favorite Batman movie in July.... that was until I saw it again, and again, and some flaws started appearing, contrivances, things that made me realize this didn't live up to the HUGE FUCK hype that went around it - indeed part of my admiration of the movie probably rubbed off on me cause a) I'm a huge Batman fan, and b) it was the fuckin Dark Knight hype, the biggest hype any movie's had in years. Still, I like the movie a good deal, but I'm not rushing to watch it again; maybe on TV I'll watch a few scenes. Sadly, watching the Riff-trax version actually confirmed a few silly things about it as well (the "WHERE ARE THEY!" yelling at the Joker one of them).

Watchmen surprised me a little bit right after I watched it, as unlike the Dark Knight which got hyped to hell Watchmen had some mixed buzz around it, and still does. I was also not totally down with Snyder so I doubted his talents. But it impressed me not as a great film or anything but as a fun, mostly solidly told comic book movie, like a far more violent and better characterized X-Men movie (which one of the screenwriters wrote for btw). I even thought Snyder did a very good job of mostly keeping out of the way of what matters in Watchmen which are the meaty story and meaty characters (meaty in terms of substance and depth) with only occassional irritating dips into his wacky slo-mo..... BUT, this weekend I re-read some chapters of Watchmen, and I'm not totally sure now what to think. I still like the movie, it's a good film, but it definitely does NOT hold up to the book's level of complexities. It's like Snyder took the main skeleton, kept most of the stuff out that didn't HAVE TO be in the movie, but then with what he kept in little things were tinkered, little lines that, as a movie as would be in the book, could have added just a little bit in way of how details always add up in art.

Both good times, one overrated though and the other... only time and possible re-viewings will tell.

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Permalink Reply by Doctor Lightning on March 11, 2009 at 2:11am

Oh, and it might just be me but I think a much better comparison would be for Watchmen Vs V for Vendetta (the latter, and I'm not sure if I'm alone on this, I prefer to the former), since both of those are full novels where as Batman has 70 years of material to cull from and unless it's the Dark Knight Returns or something it will ALWAYS be an adaptation, just as with Spider-Man or Superman, there's decades and countless retreads and variations to pick from. Watchmen is like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- there's only one source, and the source is Gold, Jerry, Gold!

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Permalink Reply by Penny Dreadful on March 11, 2009 at 4:20am

OK, V is better then watchmen and even maybe better than Dark knight

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Permalink Reply by ED on March 11, 2009 at 7:58am

For me i like V for Vendetta it's was a lot of fun watching it unlike watchmen (didn't mean i hated it )

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Permalink Reply by Megatron rox on March 11, 2009 at 10:29am

Also, the two films are both lengthy. I found Watchmen to be very long, but not boring. Where tdk kind of blew by me in the first hour and half and then dragged a little in the final act.

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Permalink Reply by Marcellus on March 11, 2009 at 2:57pm

Watchmen felt way too compressed for me, none of the characters had any time to develop and it all felt rushed. I think it would've been better served as a 12 episode HBO series than a 3 hour film.

The Dark Knight was good, simple and to the point. As a movie it was better, though I realy dont want to join the masses that celibrate it as the second coming. It was good, I'll leave it at that.

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Permalink Reply by ED on March 11, 2009 at 4:12pm

I fell the same too !

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Permalink Reply by Megatron rox on March 11, 2009 at 5:40pm

It was way compressed, (I'm I the only one who thought they zoomed through Rorschach's history?) Let's hope the director's cut will fill in some of the holes

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Permalink Reply by ED on March 11, 2009 at 5:44pm

I'm hopind the DvD extars will bring that ?

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Permalink Reply by supermanx1 on March 11, 2009 at 7:29pm

saw watchmen for the second time now, and the dark knight is better

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Permalink Reply by ED on March 11, 2009 at 7:39pm

Wow why did you see it a second time ?

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Permalink Reply by supermanx1 on March 11, 2009 at 7:49pm

to see it without friends for better judgement. the flaws i noticed was: silk spectre does a bad emotional seen on mars, inepropriate music, cliche dialog(rorsach voice, silk spektre fake crying), and the sudden apperance of chineese people where there was once american.
i also had one fucking retarded man behind me, laughing at fucking everything. and to my right there was kids and a grown man playing with his phone, one girl who asked the cellphone guy questions every fucking second.


but seriously, that back in the day music felt so forced

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