What happened to the American Dream? It came true.
I won’t go into to many plot details here for those who have never read the comic book, so I won’t ruin anything for you
Watchmen. Watchmen. So much hype has surrounded this film, the internet has been rife with opinions, and nerdgasms, and excitement. I decided to go see the midnight premier last night, I went by myself, though I was far from alone. I am pretty sure the entire unwashed nerd community of Jacksonville turned up in my theater last night, which took away from my viewing experience a little bit. I knew this was a movie that would drag them out of their anti-social hovels so they could keep their dork-cred, but I figured they would have a little respect for the deeper meanings of the film. Of course I was mistaken. I’m going to go see it again, possibly with a few friends once it has been out for a while and there will be less of a crowd. But I wanted to get down my first impressions this morning while they still linger.
This movie is, in a way, prophetic, frightening, exciting, disgusting, disturbing, and hopeful. Yes, hopeful. For those who’ve been under rocks for the past 2 months, here is the basic premise. It is 1985, not the 1985 I was born into that we remember, but the 1985 of some twisted parallel universe where Nixon is running the country during a fifth term, and masked heroes were real. I say “were” because after about 40 years of heroes, the public turned against them and Nixon outlawed them. These aren’t people with superpowers (with the exception of one Dr. Manhattan), these are people with great training, dedication, and access to enough money and gadgets to give them a leading edge in crime fighting. But their day has been gone for sometime, and we come into a world where the Nuclear Doomsday Clock is set 5 minutes to midnight as the US and USSR face-off over Afgahnistan (remember that?) and one of the last heroes, the Comedian, has been murdered. Which leads the hero remnants to begin an investigation the brings their (not-so) secret society’s history full circle, and leads to the discovery of something far worse.
The title of this page is combo quote between Patrick Wilson’s Nightowl and Jeffery Dean Morgan’s Comedian, during a violent riot in one of the flashback scenes of the film. To me it captures the essence of the entire movie, and speaks bitingly to our time. This movie is pregnant with real world implications, I wonder if anyone else in the audience left last night wondering what our clocks are set to. Yet at the same time, depite it’s catastrophic conclusion, there is a sense of recovery at the end, something I think Obama has been trying to get through to us in our own world. Yes we face horrible times ahead, yes it is possible that humanity is about to go through the crucible, and not everyone will come out on the other side, but when it’s over, those left standing will be stronger, and more willing to fix the mistakes that lead us here, we hope.
That is the message I took from this movie. That message alone is enough to want me to see it again. But wait, there’s more.
The direction and style of this movie is nearly immaculate. It totally immerses you into it’s world and never manages to loose itself, something I feel that “The Dark Knight” and “Lord of the Rings” both did towards the end, not to take away my love of those films, but I’ll easily admit their flaws. My biggest issue with Watchmen is Carla Gugino (Silk Spectre II), who it’s seems wouldn’t be able to act her way out of a cardboard box. Most of her lines are delivered with such a flat earnestness and disingenuousness that I had a hard time appreciating her particular predicament. One thing I can say positively for her is that what she lacks in her lines, she makes up for in her screen presence. She is able to pull off the poise, beauty, and physical prowess of Silk Spectre II, she just couldn’t convince me of the character’s emotional reality. Jeffery Dean Morgan is excellent, managing to instill both pity and absolute disgust with his character the Comedian, there is an attempted rape scene with him, that is so horrifying, so brutal and disgusting, that it disturbed me more than any of the rest of the violence in this movie, and there is some major violence, some really gross instances, but the inhumanity of that sexual violence shook me the most. This was the point where I wanted to walk out, not just because of the scene, but because of the audiences' reaction it. People giggled, someone in front of me said "teach that bitch a lesson". I realized that this audience came for spectacle, and they got thier fill, they love violence the way Romans loved the Coliseum. I don't mind violence in a movie, but it has to have point. There was no pointless violence in Watchemn, just people who didn't get the point.
Matthew Goode, who I admired and pitied with as the unlucky husband in “Imagine Me and You” brings us Ozzymandias, the world’s smartest man, and delivers each line with the self-assuredness of the ego maniac that he is, and totally makes him believable. Billy Cruddup shines as Dr. Manhattan, the only superpowered individual. Dr. M’s accident which gave him his powers also removed his humanity, not in an evil way, but in an Olympian-disinterested-emotionless-god-like way. Yes he’s blue, and yes he’s naked (with matching blue penis) for most of the movie, but looking into those shining fathomless eyes is both truly frightening and awe inspiring, and his coldly delivered lines went to the core of me. Rorshach, played by Jackie Earle Haley is a realist to a fault. His brutality is the only one explained, and in the movie, as in the comic book source, it is hard to fault him. Patrick Wilson as Nightowl is perfect. Outside his costume he is nerdy, bumbling, shy, kind, and endearing. In the cape and cowl he is strong, self-assured, good, and a great fighter. Wilson manages to bring a great humility to his role, and is possibly the perfect embodiment of his comic book counter part.
All in all, this movie is excellent. I recommend it to everyone, and just ask that you look beyond the spectacle, and let it's substance overwhelm you as it overwhelmed me.
Watchmen. Watchmen. So much hype has surrounded this film, the internet has been rife with opinions, and nerdgasms, and excitement. I decided to go see the midnight premier last night, I went by myself, though I was far from alone. I am pretty sure the entire unwashed nerd community of Jacksonville turned up in my theater last night, which took away from my viewing experience a little bit. I knew this was a movie that would drag them out of their anti-social hovels so they could keep their dork-cred, but I figured they would have a little respect for the deeper meanings of the film. Of course I was mistaken. I’m going to go see it again, possibly with a few friends once it has been out for a while and there will be less of a crowd. But I wanted to get down my first impressions this morning while they still linger.
This movie is, in a way, prophetic, frightening, exciting, disgusting, disturbing, and hopeful. Yes, hopeful. For those who’ve been under rocks for the past 2 months, here is the basic premise. It is 1985, not the 1985 I was born into that we remember, but the 1985 of some twisted parallel universe where Nixon is running the country during a fifth term, and masked heroes were real. I say “were” because after about 40 years of heroes, the public turned against them and Nixon outlawed them. These aren’t people with superpowers (with the exception of one Dr. Manhattan), these are people with great training, dedication, and access to enough money and gadgets to give them a leading edge in crime fighting. But their day has been gone for sometime, and we come into a world where the Nuclear Doomsday Clock is set 5 minutes to midnight as the US and USSR face-off over Afgahnistan (remember that?) and one of the last heroes, the Comedian, has been murdered. Which leads the hero remnants to begin an investigation the brings their (not-so) secret society’s history full circle, and leads to the discovery of something far worse.
The title of this page is combo quote between Patrick Wilson’s Nightowl and Jeffery Dean Morgan’s Comedian, during a violent riot in one of the flashback scenes of the film. To me it captures the essence of the entire movie, and speaks bitingly to our time. This movie is pregnant with real world implications, I wonder if anyone else in the audience left last night wondering what our clocks are set to. Yet at the same time, depite it’s catastrophic conclusion, there is a sense of recovery at the end, something I think Obama has been trying to get through to us in our own world. Yes we face horrible times ahead, yes it is possible that humanity is about to go through the crucible, and not everyone will come out on the other side, but when it’s over, those left standing will be stronger, and more willing to fix the mistakes that lead us here, we hope.
That is the message I took from this movie. That message alone is enough to want me to see it again. But wait, there’s more.
The direction and style of this movie is nearly immaculate. It totally immerses you into it’s world and never manages to loose itself, something I feel that “The Dark Knight” and “Lord of the Rings” both did towards the end, not to take away my love of those films, but I’ll easily admit their flaws. My biggest issue with Watchmen is Carla Gugino (Silk Spectre II), who it’s seems wouldn’t be able to act her way out of a cardboard box. Most of her lines are delivered with such a flat earnestness and disingenuousness that I had a hard time appreciating her particular predicament. One thing I can say positively for her is that what she lacks in her lines, she makes up for in her screen presence. She is able to pull off the poise, beauty, and physical prowess of Silk Spectre II, she just couldn’t convince me of the character’s emotional reality. Jeffery Dean Morgan is excellent, managing to instill both pity and absolute disgust with his character the Comedian, there is an attempted rape scene with him, that is so horrifying, so brutal and disgusting, that it disturbed me more than any of the rest of the violence in this movie, and there is some major violence, some really gross instances, but the inhumanity of that sexual violence shook me the most. This was the point where I wanted to walk out, not just because of the scene, but because of the audiences' reaction it. People giggled, someone in front of me said "teach that bitch a lesson". I realized that this audience came for spectacle, and they got thier fill, they love violence the way Romans loved the Coliseum. I don't mind violence in a movie, but it has to have point. There was no pointless violence in Watchemn, just people who didn't get the point.
Matthew Goode, who I admired and pitied with as the unlucky husband in “Imagine Me and You” brings us Ozzymandias, the world’s smartest man, and delivers each line with the self-assuredness of the ego maniac that he is, and totally makes him believable. Billy Cruddup shines as Dr. Manhattan, the only superpowered individual. Dr. M’s accident which gave him his powers also removed his humanity, not in an evil way, but in an Olympian-disinterested-emotionless-god-like way. Yes he’s blue, and yes he’s naked (with matching blue penis) for most of the movie, but looking into those shining fathomless eyes is both truly frightening and awe inspiring, and his coldly delivered lines went to the core of me. Rorshach, played by Jackie Earle Haley is a realist to a fault. His brutality is the only one explained, and in the movie, as in the comic book source, it is hard to fault him. Patrick Wilson as Nightowl is perfect. Outside his costume he is nerdy, bumbling, shy, kind, and endearing. In the cape and cowl he is strong, self-assured, good, and a great fighter. Wilson manages to bring a great humility to his role, and is possibly the perfect embodiment of his comic book counter part.
All in all, this movie is excellent. I recommend it to everyone, and just ask that you look beyond the spectacle, and let it's substance overwhelm you as it overwhelmed me.