I watch the Watchmen
Saw it on Monday and I'm still pondering. I enjoyed it a lot, though it fell short both as a movie and as a translation of the original work. The soundtrack was atrocious; every time I noticed the music, it was because I was wincing at how poorly it matched up with the feel of the scene. Some of the visuals were predictably stunning, though.
I think everyone can agree that Jackie Earle Haley, in a fair world, has an Oscar coming his way. Everything about his performance -- his voice, his hunched body language, the subtleties of his face when the mask is off -- brought Rorschach to life as if he were channeling the soul of the character. I liked Jeffrey Dean Morgan just fine as the comedian, as well. All the other acting jobs fell short for me, from the mediocre to the laughably absurd. Matthew Goode's Ozymandias in particular was hilarious. Talk about telegraphing the twist -- were we really supposed to be surprised that Ozymandias was the pseudo-villain?
There's something interesting to be said about the styles of violence, though I haven't quite pinned it down yet. I don't think I've ever seen so many different cinematic varieties of violence in one movie before, from Ozymandias' hyper-stylized Matrix-esque fight scenes with the other Watchmen to the raw realism of the Comedian in 'Nam to Rorschach's gruesome splatter. I guess the director was using styles of violence as a way to talk about who the characters were. I'm not sure whether I feel that it worked or not.
Guess I need to see it again.
I think everyone can agree that Jackie Earle Haley, in a fair world, has an Oscar coming his way. Everything about his performance -- his voice, his hunched body language, the subtleties of his face when the mask is off -- brought Rorschach to life as if he were channeling the soul of the character. I liked Jeffrey Dean Morgan just fine as the comedian, as well. All the other acting jobs fell short for me, from the mediocre to the laughably absurd. Matthew Goode's Ozymandias in particular was hilarious. Talk about telegraphing the twist -- were we really supposed to be surprised that Ozymandias was the pseudo-villain?
There's something interesting to be said about the styles of violence, though I haven't quite pinned it down yet. I don't think I've ever seen so many different cinematic varieties of violence in one movie before, from Ozymandias' hyper-stylized Matrix-esque fight scenes with the other Watchmen to the raw realism of the Comedian in 'Nam to Rorschach's gruesome splatter. I guess the director was using styles of violence as a way to talk about who the characters were. I'm not sure whether I feel that it worked or not.
Guess I need to see it again.