[Watchmen Review; Part III: The Adaptation]
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS AND A DETAILED SCENE BY SCENE REVIEW/ANALAYSIS OF ZACK SNYDER’S WATCHMEN. IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN UNSPOILED DO NOT CLICK.
Time for the inevitable The Dark Knight comparison. I left The Dark Knight feeling exhilarated. I went into the film expecting it to be The Greatest Film Of All Time; and it was more than that: it was better. Nolan had created a triumph, a masterpiece. I had chilled. I experienced the tragic emotions of fear and pity. The film moved me.
Watchmen did not do this for me. I walked into the parking lot feeling cold, contemplative, and confused. Forty-eight hours later, I cannot stop thinking about it. I’ve written over fifteen hundred words on just the music and new ending. Scenes replay in my head. I analyze the difference between the comic and the film. I wonder if Alan Moore was correct: is Watchmen unfilmable, even though Zack Snyder indeed just prove him wrong? My head spins.
“I’m a little freaked out. Because I didn’t feel like I sat through the movie, I felt like I just read the book,” said Ron on the Watchmen ifanboy.com podcast special. “I turned to my friend who I saw it with, and said, ‘I think I might be too close to this. The knowledge of the book is clouding my judgment of it’. It’s a good movie, Zack Snyder is a good director, but I walked away feeling weird.”
You said it Ron. Zack Snyder literally translates the comic to the screen right down to the minute detail. Laurie’s snow globe sits on her childhood television set. Rorschach’s journal is line for line from the comic. The intention to details floored me. Even when they changed things, they still managed to make it exactly like the comic. Dan warning Adrian instead of Rorschach (a difference). He arrived during an interview - which is the same Nova interview from the supplements. I loved the Batman #1 on the walls when Night Owl slugs the prep, the close up on Shelley’s Ozymandias poem behind Adrian as he reveals his scheme; Eddie’s obsession with Sally; the kid thug wearing the V for Vendetta symbol; MTV; Adrian watching Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love. I was going into fanboy geek overload.
But this doesn’t make a good movie. Actually I found the changes distracting because I was thrown off. The first hour of the film is page by page. I felt like I was flipping through the comic. I even knew what chapter, or what page we were on. This does not always work. The literal adaptation is the film more charming aspect and most destabilizing feature. (It is a Catch 22, just like the squid.) I always felt like I watched the film from a distance.
Watchmen did some special because it existed in "our world." The heroes were "real people." On the screen they feel like superheroes; they feel like something artificial. I never lost myself in the film like I did with The Dark Knight. And that’s the biggest problem.
And I must cut this short. I wanted to get out my thoughts before I go see it again. I’m off right now to take Mommy. I’m sure things will change upon my second viewing but I wanted to finish my initial reaction first, even if it’s not as in depth as I would’ve like. And now I will go back and respond to everyone’s thoughts and read everyone else’s reviews, because I’ve been trying to avoid that before I finished my own.
Time for the inevitable The Dark Knight comparison. I left The Dark Knight feeling exhilarated. I went into the film expecting it to be The Greatest Film Of All Time; and it was more than that: it was better. Nolan had created a triumph, a masterpiece. I had chilled. I experienced the tragic emotions of fear and pity. The film moved me.
Watchmen did not do this for me. I walked into the parking lot feeling cold, contemplative, and confused. Forty-eight hours later, I cannot stop thinking about it. I’ve written over fifteen hundred words on just the music and new ending. Scenes replay in my head. I analyze the difference between the comic and the film. I wonder if Alan Moore was correct: is Watchmen unfilmable, even though Zack Snyder indeed just prove him wrong? My head spins.
“I’m a little freaked out. Because I didn’t feel like I sat through the movie, I felt like I just read the book,” said Ron on the Watchmen ifanboy.com podcast special. “I turned to my friend who I saw it with, and said, ‘I think I might be too close to this. The knowledge of the book is clouding my judgment of it’. It’s a good movie, Zack Snyder is a good director, but I walked away feeling weird.”
You said it Ron. Zack Snyder literally translates the comic to the screen right down to the minute detail. Laurie’s snow globe sits on her childhood television set. Rorschach’s journal is line for line from the comic. The intention to details floored me. Even when they changed things, they still managed to make it exactly like the comic. Dan warning Adrian instead of Rorschach (a difference). He arrived during an interview - which is the same Nova interview from the supplements. I loved the Batman #1 on the walls when Night Owl slugs the prep, the close up on Shelley’s Ozymandias poem behind Adrian as he reveals his scheme; Eddie’s obsession with Sally; the kid thug wearing the V for Vendetta symbol; MTV; Adrian watching Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love. I was going into fanboy geek overload.
But this doesn’t make a good movie. Actually I found the changes distracting because I was thrown off. The first hour of the film is page by page. I felt like I was flipping through the comic. I even knew what chapter, or what page we were on. This does not always work. The literal adaptation is the film more charming aspect and most destabilizing feature. (It is a Catch 22, just like the squid.) I always felt like I watched the film from a distance.
Watchmen did some special because it existed in "our world." The heroes were "real people." On the screen they feel like superheroes; they feel like something artificial. I never lost myself in the film like I did with The Dark Knight. And that’s the biggest problem.
And I must cut this short. I wanted to get out my thoughts before I go see it again. I’m off right now to take Mommy. I’m sure things will change upon my second viewing but I wanted to finish my initial reaction first, even if it’s not as in depth as I would’ve like. And now I will go back and respond to everyone’s thoughts and read everyone else’s reviews, because I’ve been trying to avoid that before I finished my own.