Review - Watchmen
Spoilers abound, turn back now if you do not want to know them about the Watchmen.
Yesterday, it was myself, doji_kumoko, forvrin and kawakaze along with maybe twenty odd other people.
Initial thoughts, too long, too much sex and too much violence. While both sex and violence have their place in Watchmen, neither need to take up as much time as they do in the movie. Now, admittedly, a good job was done packing a lot of information into the time the movie runs but without having read the comic, a lot of it would just have been pretty visuals flickering by.
The effects were solid, though the people being hit and smashing back into things was overdone and made it seem that even the normal masks had some sort of superpowers which goes against the spirit of the Watchmen setting. The look of the movie caught the comic's look very well but no surprises there. I found the acting good if not exceptional, except for Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach who was strangely compelling.
But the subtle changes to the plot and look were all for the worse (except for the advertising blimps, those I liked): Silk Specter II no longer is allowed to be a smoker, Rorschach kills the kidnapper on the case that makes him snap, Ozymandius is not dressed in purple and gold (nor does his assistant get accidentally killed in the mock hit on him) and his bullet catching scene is inexplicable moved to the end when Silk Specter tries to shot him! (And where was she hiding that revolver?) Lastly, the revision to Ozymandius' plot makes it even less convincing than the one in the original story!
Still worthwhile seeing. You will get more (much more) out of it if you read the graphic novel first. My Grade: C+ (for effort)
Additionally, movie reviewers should get a clue. Watchmen is not "a comic book" movie nor a story about "super heroes". Watchmen is just a story about people a couple of whom have superpowers (Doc Manhattan and Ozy) but it is not about superpowers or superheroes (or comic books) though they figure into the story. Also, good piece on Rorschach, Objectivist hero.