Watchmen - Audio Review

Comment

Comment by BatOtaku 13 on March 6, 2009 at 12:45pm

yea after "i fell asleep in the Dark Knight" i stopped trusting djcalzar's comment.

Comment by Leon on March 6, 2009 at 12:39pm

Seriously, djcalzar, the minute you said (wrote) "...Put it this way I fell asleep in The Dark Knight." everything you said after that was "blah blah blah blah blah blah".

Am I wrong, guys?

Comment by Leon on March 6, 2009 at 12:33pm

Glacier, I could've been ALOT more picky but that would've been amateurish. Listen back to my comments and you'll see that I only compare the movie to the comic book in terms of tone and depth.

Comment by Leon on March 6, 2009 at 12:30pm

Zgamer, it sounds like you agree with me more than you think you do. At least on your list of negatives we're eye-to-eye and I'll even give you some of your Pros.

Comment by Zgamer on March 6, 2009 at 12:11pm

Well I thought I would disagree greatly with the Spill crew, but I'm almost in the same ballpark in my opinion. I don't agree with Leon about the movie, but this is definitely not the best they can do.

Let me just sum up my opinion in the following manner:

Pros:
- Superb cinematography! Some shots in here are absolutely breathtaking in their artistic depth
- Good costume design and overall good art direction
- Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup and surprisingly Patrick Wilson were all great
- Excellent interpretation of Dr. Manhattan's and Rorschach's backstories
- Some cool fight scenes here and there (the Comedian's death being the most entertaining for me)
- Great attention to period detail (tape players, architecture, etc.)
- Very unique title sequence
- Most of the Comedian's scenes except his funeral were really good
- Nite Owl's dream
- The first sex scene was entertaining
- No gay rights propaganda (Not that it's bad to talk about it, but it always felt so forced when Moore did it in his novels so I don't miss it here)

Cons:
- Surprisingly uneven writing that ranged from good enough to pretty bad. It really felt like a watered down version of the graphic novel, especially considering how many scenes were just cut in half and simplified.
- There are some good scenes, but the overall plot just feels disjointed and malnourished.
- Malin Akerman....MAN DOES SHE SUCK!!!! Terrible line delivery and stiff, emotionless characterization. Worst, they made her character seem weak willed and easy to manipulate (which is both the fault of the actress and the writers)
- Trying to pass off Carla Gugino as "67" with terrible aging make-up (heck, she and Akerman almost looked the same age in more than one scene)
- Almost all of the source music is AWFUL in the way they're used in the movie and the original music is far too generic and dramatically obvious
- I enjoyed the concept of the new ending, but the overall execution ruins the power of the original (why did Silk Spectre say Dr. Manhattan's pivotal line?)
- Nite Owl's "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
- Playing "Hallelujah" during the second sex scene
- A few random historical figure cameos and too much Nixon (and his ridiculously long nose)

OVERALL VERDICT: Matinee!

There's a good amount to stuff to enjoy in the movie and people who haven't read the graphic novel may enjoy this easy to digest version. Overall though, this really isn't a Watchmen movie as much as it's the SparkNotes or Wikipedia version of Watchmen. The logic is simplified, the scenes are shorter and certain aspects have been changed to be more commercially acceptable. I would recommend you see it, but I would also advise you to read the book at some point because you will have a greater appreciation for it no matter how you feel after you've seen the movie.

Comment by djcalzar on March 6, 2009 at 11:31am

Sorry you had a problem with the audience Greyknight, the audience I was with were totally into the film.

Comment by djcalzar on March 6, 2009 at 11:22am

Oh and definitely a Full Price

Comment by djcalzar on March 6, 2009 at 11:20am

That was as perfect an adaptation of a graphic novel that I've ever seen. Put it this way I fell asleep in The Dark Knight.

All the elements of the book were there, obviously not all of it as I think some people would find it pretty distasteful and at the end the bean counters want a hit right?

This is a great movie, decent acting, effects and loved the soundtrack.

Comment by Lucifer on March 6, 2009 at 10:03am

whats all this talk bout being picky its called having standards you gotta raise the bar, its that kind of lowly thinking that the networks and studios can produce shit like boring ass Transformers and you eat it up.

Comment by sol aka "Cap'n Hates-A-Lot!" on March 6, 2009 at 9:56am

A-HA ha HA ha!
Notice how my powers of mental persuasion has prevented the SPILL crew from unanimously giving the Watchmen a "Full Price" rating!

A-HA HA HA HA ha HA ha HA ha haha!

COWER BEFORE MY MENTAL PROWESS!!

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last