The movie may not be the comic book, but I loved Watchmen. Great eye candy, awesome soundtrack, and it’s packed with pop culture references—and some of those made me think that Ozymandias is Steve Jobs.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
You can check io9′s review here
I loved it. Guilty as charged.
I just sat there in good company, devouring candy with both my eyes and mouth, and spent three hours entertained; marvelling at the perfect photography, the decay of the future-retro-New York, Rorschach, every little detail from Gibbons’ art in every frame, Rorschach, the awesome music making some of the scenes flow like Eddie Blake’s whiskey-thinned blood over the sidewalk, the raw violence, the cheesy love scene in Archie, Rorschach, and even Dr. Manhattan’s schlong.
And while the movie leaves a lot out from the comic book—stop with the graphic novel nonsense, they are called comic books—it also added things that the comic book didn’t have. Things that will please the geek in you, like the continuous references to pop culture. At least, I was in awe when I saw things like Nixon and Kissinger with all the generals, planning Nuclear Holocaust in Dr. Strangelove’s War Room.
But there’s a lot more hidden in there, lurking in the shadows. Specially, in what is referred to the villian/saviour of the Earth: Ozymandias.
Adrian Veidt.
The supersmart CEO of a large corporation.
Who is a vegan.
And whose computer in his minimalist office is a Mac SE.
A Mac SE running the original Macintosh Operating System in inverted video mode.
Who is a fierce negotiator and businessman.
Who wears a black turtleneck (although with an 80s suit on top.)
Someone who is described as having a unique vision of the world.
Someone obsessed with design and details.
Someone who says he wants to change that world, who is determined to make things better.
Someone who, while watching the world coming to its end, just before saving it, is watching the Apple 1984 ad in one of the multiple TV screens in Karnak, his Antarctic secret base.
I mean… hello?
I know. Maybe I’m seeing a crazy conspiracy here, like Rorschach. Rorschach, by the way, was right.
So yes, I loved Watchmen the movie. And yes, as you can see, maybe I was too entertained seeing things and remembering details. After all, I know it by heart. I know every panel and some of the dialogue by heart—I bought the original issues when I was in school back in the mid-80s, and have read them every year since then, like a ritual. I read them first when I was a kid who couldn’t get into the whole mental wanking that everyone talks about, going on for pages and pages of intellectual drivel: Watchmen’s deeeeeep meaning, Watchmen’s multiple layers of vanilla frosted complications, Watchmen’s political manifestos on a stick, Watchmen this, Watchmen that. I read them a few times then and read them a few years later, when I had enough experience to actually mentally wank about the deep meaning of it all—talking with friends about the futility of life on Earth, the manipulation of the masses, evil, good, and means justifying yadda yadda yadda and blah blah blah. Who cares.
In the end, I was just entertained by a nice story like I have been with the movie. That’s what the movie is: A great story.
So while I wish they actually made it into a five hour movie instead of three, and even though the ending is changed, and all that, the basics are all there. And when you pack the essence of such a huge body of work with masterful craftmanship and cinematography, some great performances—Rorschach, I love you—and pepper it with a kick arse soundtrack that spawns from Bob Dylan to Leonard Cohen to Jimi Hendrix to Nina Simone to Janis Joplin to Billie Holiday and even a kickass version of Dylan’s Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance, I’m sold.
So yeah, Watchmen is not perfect. It’s not going to change your life, as some people expect. Yes, it doesn’t have the scope of the comic books, but who cares: Watchmen is a great ride that captures the essence of Moore and Gibbons work. And for that, I enjoyed like when I was a kid, back in 1986.
Kirsco
March 6, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Oh god, I just got home from seeing this film, I hated it. Firstly, WORST … NIXON … EVER! Secondly, waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much back story. As someone who hasn’t ever read a watchmen comic, I would have been happy with much less back story and more actual action.
I did enjoy the gore moments, but they were few and far between. In fact, I’m pretty sure there are more scenes with blue dicks in them than scenes with action or gore. Are they seriously following The Dark Knight and preceding Wolverine with THIS?
I don’t know how this film is going to be perceived by actual watchmen fans (I don’t know any), but given that I was sick of hearing shit about characters I didn’t know anything about, surely fans are going to be saying “yeah, we know all this, but what’s happening NOW?”.
Please excuse me while I go and get really drunk and try and wipe this film from my memory. If this doesn’t work, it’s going to replace “Snow Falling on Cedars” as my least favourite film of all time!
Report PermalinkLeros None
October 31, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Hee Hee,
You are a fine example of why cinema sucks and we have to dumb down.
“less back story and more actual action”
“I did enjoy the gore moments”
And.. you liked the dumbed down Dark Knight.
Report PermalinkSamus3
March 6, 2009 at 12:09 PM
@Kirsco –
Report PermalinkAmen brother, this movie is waaay overhyped.
Sam
March 6, 2009 at 2:50 PM
FYI, the comic book was filled mainly with back story as well. There is no prequel, the backplot is an integral part of how the story is told.
I for one liked the fact that the gore was spread thin. When it happened it had impact, unlike most MA+ flicks which have the bile sitting in the back of your throat for most of the movie.
You would not have been so dissapointed if you’d bothered to find out what the movie was about beforehand. Just because its based on a comic doesnt mean its gonna be 80% tits and explosions, though I think they catered to your demographic more than was necessary.
Soundtrack was awesome. Acting was awesome. The changes to the plot made it believable enough for a popular film whilst leaving enough intact for the rabid nerds to be largely placated. The reason I enjoyed it so much was probably the same reason you hated it so much. It wasnt Terminator 3 and it wasnt Saw. It was a movie based off a comic, not off the mass market’s expectations.
Report PermalinkKirsco
March 6, 2009 at 9:02 PM
@Sam FYI, my demographic is female 18 – 24, I wasn’t looking for tits in watchmen, I have a perfectly good set of my own. I’m sorry if my tone, my use of the word dicks or the fact that I read a tech blog lead you to believe I was a guy.
Like you, I’m going to make certain assumptions here. Most people, wont have read the comic and are likely to get the same impression that I did which was “Let’s make a movie with TONS of back story so that it’s accessible to people who don’t know the story”. Unless you’ve read it, you’re not going to understand that that’s the point and the movie isn’t going to seem all that interesting or exciting.
I will agree with you on one point, the soundtrack was awesome.
Another FYI, I haven’t seen Terminator 3, nor will I see the new one despite my raging lust for Christian Bale thanks to the recent Batman films, which I enjoyed a great deal. I’m glad that you, as someone who has read the comic enjoyed the film, because it’s not going to appeal to the masses sadly. It’s all well and good to do something different, but you still have to make money some how. I guess this explains the massive marketing campaign.
Report PermalinkDana
March 9, 2009 at 2:03 PM
FYI, Snyder intentionally overshot EVERYTHING and it’s all going to be on the DVD – something like 4 hours with the Black Freighter stuff seamlessly integrated. The theatre version isn’t the movie anymore – it’s just the trailer for the DVD, which is the actual movie (the one that lasts).
I for one can’t wait! :)
Report Permalinkcoffee
March 15, 2009 at 10:32 AM
I kept thinking that the guy who played the Comedian was Javier Bardem (I found out later that it’s actually Jeffrey Dean Morgan), but the two actors definitely look alike
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