Watchmen (2009)

[cinematixyz]

I recently watched the tv edit of this movie, and I thought I'd bring the discussion here, as I was curious what everyone thought of this particular graphic novel adaptation. Especially since it deviated from the plot in a HUGE way with the ending.

Comments

[wednes]

I can't help but be offended that Snyder said he "became a director so I could bring Watchmen to the big screen" and then changed the ending so dramatically.

The ending itself also didn't work for me. Manhattan was already deeply associated with the United States, so there was no reason to villainize him and then pretend he was a free agent. It doesn't make sense.

from R

[cinematixyz]

I've never been a fan of Snyder (The only thing he did I liked was Legend of the Guardians, and its hard to deviate when you're doing animation), so I don't disagree with your assessment. It was a very 'movie' ending, where it either ties things up or at least provides some conclusion.

The buildup to Manhattan doesn't work, definitely. He was more remote in the comics, which if achieved on film would have made his 'defection' more believable. As it is, there just wasn't enough time given to making him seem completely inhuman, though I give Billy Crudup credit for the really good acting job he did.

~R

Re: from R

[wednes]

I agree that Crudup, and the rest of the performances were top notch. Jackie Earl Haley was amazing, and I hadn't seen him in anything since the Bad News Bears movies as a kid.

The visuals were fantastic, especially Ozymandius' cat. Wow! But being so close to perfection and then falling flat was even worse than if it had just flat out sucked. I also thought the sex scene was much too long.

[sabotabby]

I enjoyed it at the time, but it missed the point, and the more I think about it, the more it offends me to a greater degree than even the V for Vendetta movie. (Which I hated. HATED.)

It was an excellent frame-by-frame adaptation that didn't understand the deconstruction that was going on in the comic itself, the playing with the medium itself, the fact that it's satire and not action-adventure. I remember at the time nihilistic_kid posting about the smackdown at the end, where Ozy wipes the floor with Rorschach and Nite Owl in about three panels, which is the point, and how in the movie it's a glamorous, extended slow-mo action sequence.

I am partial to the giant squid ending. It's out of nowhere. It makes no sense. No one could have foreseen it. The ending of the movie is narratively logical and neat, and hence stupid.

In hindsight, the main thing it did well was casting and the opening sequence, the latter of which was the only original content. Go figure.

And Silk Spectre should have been allowed to smoke. /nerdraeg.

from R

[cinematixyz]

Haven't seen V for Vendetta to have that basis of comparison, but as far as adaptations go, I felt like it was flat. Didn't tease out the elements of the comic that made it so interesting - choosing instead to dwell a bit much on Nite Owl II/Silk Spectre romance instead of giving more of the framework the comic uses to illustrate a world where this kind of superhero can exist.

When I was younger, endings like the squid would have really bothered me (I couldn't watch Monty Python's Holy Grail without raging at the end). Nowadays I can appreciate how that kind of ambivalence makes it easier to write my interpretation on a story, giving ownership and buy-in. I didn't feel either with this movie. It was all technically very well made, but it had no spark.

~R

[marlowe1]

Didn't he also have a great line about how every damn fight sequence seemed to be edging towards playing "Kung Fu Fighting" on the soundtrack?

Pretty much going to agree on the opening sequence which was Zack Snyder teasing out parts of the book that were implicit in the narrative but not necessarily stated.

And then everything else was just so tedious. Even if Zack Snyder got that Watchmen is supposed to be deconstruction of the superhero genre, it's still boring to watch an adaptation that is trying so hard to be the Cliff Notes to the original movie.

The weird thing is that even though Frank Miller was playing it straight and really believed in his redneck agenda when he wrote The Dark Knight Returns complete with damn liberal psychologists that want to put Joker back on the street and hippie parents, it feels more like a deconstruction of the superhero genre than Watchmen (maybe because Moore made Rorschach into the most sympathetic character)

[sabotabby]

I thought for the first 3/4 of the movie, Kick-Ass was the deconstruction that the movie of Watchmen should have been. (Then they ruined it with the happy ending.)

[allisontooey]

I liked the movie a fair bit, and the ending actually made a great deal of sense. Sure, giant squid monster might have been cool, but the way they executed it did tie things together.

I thought the staging was great (some moments did look straight from the comic) and the acting was good. I don't have many complaints about it.