Saw "The Watchmen" last night with Mrs. G., a welcome diversion from the craziness that has been our lives recently. Now, a quick caveat (and one that might shock poor ol' T-Bolt): I never read the comics as a kid. I went into the movie knowing absolutely nothing about the characters, the premise, or anything.
With that said, I liked it. Even at nearly three hours long, it was paced right - not so fast you can't keep up, not so slow you lose interest. It's an interesting premise - a slightly modified version of our reality where superheroes (and villains) exist but have been driven underground, a storyline "borrowed" heavily by "The Incredibles" (which is one of my all-time favorite movies BTW). Some heroes have adapted to "civilian" life; some have taken on side-jobs with the government; and others couldn't make the jump to giving up the mask.
It's a murder-mystery dressed up as a hero movie; the movie opens with an aging hero getting brutally murdered. The movie is shown in vignettes, with point-of-view, timeline, and perspective changing frequently, a cinematic style most prominently seen in "Pulp Fiction". It works well - the change in tempo helps keep the movie flowing and the suspense building. By the time the ending is reached, we know who the real bad guy is - but the ending is anything other than typical.
The style is reminiscent of Tim Burton's take on Batman, with elements of Frank Miller's "Dark Knight" version thrown in as well. This is not a shiny happy version of America; it's a vaguely theocratic Cold War nightmare where Richard Nixon never resigned, the 22nd amendment never happening and Zombie Nixon on his fourth term in office. The streets are gritty and filled with violent gangs; the police for the most part are ineffectual or brutal thugs themselves; and the threat of total nuclear annihilation kept at bay only by a thin deus ex machina.
I liked it; it was entertaining and engaging the entire two hours and 40-something minutes. Perhaps had I followed the comic I would have been disappointed; that I don't know; I know that I didn't hate the cinematic version of "Starship Troopers" until I read the book... If you're not invested in the series and are looking for some serious escapism, this is a movie worth looking into.
Besides, where else can you see Malin Akerman in skintight latex?
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I bought the graphic novel after seeing the movie.
The movie is very true to the original storyline; I was never a comic kid growing up but very much enjoyed reading "Watchmen".
The ending is slightly different from the comic, the movie version makes both more and less sense.
Read the comic and that will make more sense. ;)
I don't mention the word verification; but spitioni? Is that like some rejected pasta recipe?
Something to be said for Carla Gugino's original "naughty cheerleader" Spectre outfit as well...
...the Comedian agreed.
One of my top favorites, and you know how many movies I watch, Jay!
Also I must say that Alan Moore is a starry-eyed communist (granted Zach Snyder is probably a lot closer to Libertarian so the film spins some things) and both endings stink of Marxist Utopian views that always include: "Step X:??? Step X+1: Utopia!!!"
I'll say the movie made a LOT more sense than the fucked-up book ending, tho the pair are really silly endings.
Still even that aside it was an awesome film!
I'm glad you enjoyed it. As pointed out by McThag the ending is different from the graphic novel, but otherwise Zach Snyder was very faithful to the original. As a big fan of the graphic novel I loved to see it done well on the big screen. Sitting in the theater I reminised to my younger days and found myself relating to the characters doing the same. I become sad as I realized this work's impact would be much less so on a younger generation that did not live through and remember the end of the cold war and that time periods outlook on the future. While it's still a great movie, the stories age much like it's main characters shows their limitations to existance in a different future than we were promised.
Or even better without skintight latex :)
The correct answer is probably "Mrskin.com" for your query.
I never read comics or graphic novels, but I enjoyed the story- it was dark and hyperbolic alternately, without the craptastic lack of depth of "Sin City" (the movie, I mean). Wow, was that a triple negative?
Post a Comment