I have pretty close to zero interest in and, prior to the current movie hype, zero knowledge of The Watchmen. But for those less apathetic than me, WIll Collier has a review. He’s not impressed.
[Early afternoon update]
Heh.
6 thoughts on “Watchmen Watched”
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Will Collier’s review is pretty much what I was expecting, given the director and source material. 300 was a terrible movie.
I liked it. I’ve never seen the movie, but I like these visually rich movies that have come out in the last decade or two; I loved the Underworld movies. I didn’t see it as terrifically anti-Reagan like Mr. Collier said. I saw it as anti-left, anti-totalitarianism, anti-Third Way where the rightist characters ended up being vindicated in the larger sense despite their sometimes foolish, often sadistic behavior at the local level.
It was leftist, but not other than the one crack about Reagan, it wasn’t anti-Reagan. The movie had one more huge flaw (at least for me as a writer) and that was the sex. The rape was necessary for the story, but they could have done it differently. The scene between the leads in Nightowl’s ship was completely unnecessary. I’m not one to not like seeing some skin, but if it doesn’t further the story, it should be cut. My niece suggested that Dr Manhattan needs to work some elemental magic and conjure some shorts to wear ALL the time. The acting was lousy, though I agree that Rorschach was extraordinary. He reminded me of Batman somewhat. I enjoyed the visual effects, but then I enjoyed the visual effects of Star Trek the Motion Picture too, and that movie was god-awful terrible from a writer’s perpective.
I hope this was obvious, but I meant to say that I haven’t read the book. I did see the movie.
‘Who’s watching The Watchmen?’
Sorry, had to say it.
Well I watched the Watchmen and I liked it. But it’s definitely not a movie for everyone. I think even stories that get some things famously wrong like the Watchmen are worth viewing. Despite the big cudgel of morality and the over-the-top violence and somewhat wooden characters, I think there’s a lot of interesting stuff in this movie. Many of the stereotypes and conventions of superhero stories have been turned on end. Some of the style and tricks used in this story have been applied since. It’s a decent homage to a powerful story of the time.
Definitely agree with the idea that this should have been a miniseries.