Impromptu Review: Watchmen
Now, before you read this, bear in mind: I've never read the Watchmen. I'd never even heard of the Watchmen until I saw the trailer for this one a few weeks ago. And the only homework I did on the subject was a brief flip through Wikipedia on the matter.
So, without further ado: Watchmen.
The Good:
Loads of gritty visual effects that really go a long way towards feeding the tone of the plot of the movie. Several interesting and well-developed (and flawed) characters. Much more of an intelligent and thought-provoking storyline than there tends to be in a comic book movie (not that I'm slamming comic book movies here).
The Bad:
Wow, this movie was violent. And I don't mean in a "hey, that guy just got shot" sense. More of a "holy crap, that guy just had his hands cut off with a power saw" sense or a "oh yuck, that guy's bones are sticking out of his arm" sense. I also thought that the sex scene was a bit too overdone (which is something that you'll rarely if ever see me type again) and out of place (edit: I've been informed that said sex scene actually was in the original material. wow, really?)
One 'Big Bad': An attempted rape scene. I don't know if I've really mentioned this in my journal here before, but there's a few issues out there that set me off regardless of what mood I'm in. Rape's one of them, and I found myself fist-clenghingly angry at this scene.
Overall:
People, please: leave your kids at home for this one. My God, but there was a seven year old in the theatre I saw this in. This is not a movie for the younger. Or the squeamish. Or for the stupid teenagers that absolutely had to chuckle each and every time Dr. Manhattan was shown nude (he's naked in easily every other shot. Given the nature of his powers, it's to be expected, really. It wasn't meant to be comic relief!).
There's a few scenes that I might've scaled back on myself if I was in charge. A lot of the graphic violence was, perhaps, needlessly extreme. And I probably would've cut out the sex scene, or at least cut it in half (with it's location in the movie, I thought the scene was silly to the point that I was laughing). Not to mention the rape scene. (yes, I'm aware it was in the source material.)
Final Verdict:
Good. Not perfect, but good.
So, without further ado: Watchmen.
The Good:
Loads of gritty visual effects that really go a long way towards feeding the tone of the plot of the movie. Several interesting and well-developed (and flawed) characters. Much more of an intelligent and thought-provoking storyline than there tends to be in a comic book movie (not that I'm slamming comic book movies here).
The Bad:
Wow, this movie was violent. And I don't mean in a "hey, that guy just got shot" sense. More of a "holy crap, that guy just had his hands cut off with a power saw" sense or a "oh yuck, that guy's bones are sticking out of his arm" sense. I also thought that the sex scene was a bit too overdone (which is something that you'll rarely if ever see me type again) and out of place (edit: I've been informed that said sex scene actually was in the original material. wow, really?)
One 'Big Bad': An attempted rape scene. I don't know if I've really mentioned this in my journal here before, but there's a few issues out there that set me off regardless of what mood I'm in. Rape's one of them, and I found myself fist-clenghingly angry at this scene.
Overall:
People, please: leave your kids at home for this one. My God, but there was a seven year old in the theatre I saw this in. This is not a movie for the younger. Or the squeamish. Or for the stupid teenagers that absolutely had to chuckle each and every time Dr. Manhattan was shown nude (he's naked in easily every other shot. Given the nature of his powers, it's to be expected, really. It wasn't meant to be comic relief!).
There's a few scenes that I might've scaled back on myself if I was in charge. A lot of the graphic violence was, perhaps, needlessly extreme. And I probably would've cut out the sex scene, or at least cut it in half (with it's location in the movie, I thought the scene was silly to the point that I was laughing). Not to mention the rape scene. (yes, I'm aware it was in the source material.)
Final Verdict:
Good. Not perfect, but good.