I watched the Watchmen
Saw the director's cut of Watchmen finally. Verdict: pretty decent, not near the snoozefest of other ultrafaithful comic book adaptations like Sin City and 300. I think there were moments where they could have been a little riskier with the adaptation in order to convey some of the heavier ideas (like Dr. Manhattan's experience of time all at once; a clever splitscreen or sound montage would have made a more subtle point than the simple VO/flashback combo). I also missed the graphic matches in between scenes, so a scene would end with an image of a triangle and the next would begin with a different triangle. Those kinds of edits are easy to do in film and give the movie thematic continuity. I didn't see any.
Castingwise I was pleasantly surprised. Rorschach is spot on, so are both Nite Owls (the death of the first Nite Owl is the movie's most moving scene, sad that it never made it to the theatrical version). Malin Akerman is out of her league but she gets better as the movie goes on. The only casting choice I had an issue with was Veidt. Physically he didn't seem to match, his accent was weird, he seemed out of place and empty. I didn't like the actor at all.
As for the ending, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. My only question is why they changed it in the first place. It didn't seem to make anything clearer or better or more doable logistically (just as easy to do the big squid as it is to do the Dr. Manhattan apocalypse, right?). It would still make sense with all the cuts that they made (cuts that were just about invisible and made perfect sense). They also change Veidt's final moment of reflection, which I thought was crucial, that moment of doubt he has as to whether what he did was worth it. I missed that more than I missed the squid.
So bottom line, well done, a little conservative in the approach, could have benefitted by taking more risks, although the main risk they did take didn't seem to do much for them.
Wedding plans continue to progress. Working on random little details and budgetary issues, but by and large everything is ready to go. Still have to write some vows though.
Castingwise I was pleasantly surprised. Rorschach is spot on, so are both Nite Owls (the death of the first Nite Owl is the movie's most moving scene, sad that it never made it to the theatrical version). Malin Akerman is out of her league but she gets better as the movie goes on. The only casting choice I had an issue with was Veidt. Physically he didn't seem to match, his accent was weird, he seemed out of place and empty. I didn't like the actor at all.
As for the ending, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. My only question is why they changed it in the first place. It didn't seem to make anything clearer or better or more doable logistically (just as easy to do the big squid as it is to do the Dr. Manhattan apocalypse, right?). It would still make sense with all the cuts that they made (cuts that were just about invisible and made perfect sense). They also change Veidt's final moment of reflection, which I thought was crucial, that moment of doubt he has as to whether what he did was worth it. I missed that more than I missed the squid.
So bottom line, well done, a little conservative in the approach, could have benefitted by taking more risks, although the main risk they did take didn't seem to do much for them.
Wedding plans continue to progress. Working on random little details and budgetary issues, but by and large everything is ready to go. Still have to write some vows though.