Watching the Watchmen

[options3000]

Yes, I am alive and kicking. My health is better, though we are still not sure what is going on. I have more tests scheduled. Hopefully, we'll find something out for sure. And now...

It is a difficult task for a fan who is familiar with a piece of literature to review a movie adaptation of that work. It is with that in mind that I review The

Comments

[neohippie]

I don't know if I agree with you that it will be lost on comic fans. I think most super hero tropes are familiar enough with people in general by now, even if they don't actually read comics.

I mean, I never read the comic (and I've only read a couple of comics in my life), and I really liked it. There was a lot of irony in there, like the dude with the best superpowers being the most apathetic as a result of those powers, and the "supervillian" doing it all to save the world from nuclear war (or so he claims). Oh, and heaps and heaps of moral ambiguity.

There may be some subitleties I missed, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

Then again, even though I haven't read any comics, I have seen several comic book movie adaptations. Don't know how much that helps. I think if something like Sin City didn't teach people that there are adult comics, nothing will.

[man_of_majic]

Nice review, Bro-ham!

I was surprised that Watchmen performed as well as it did on it's opening weekend. I truly expected the film to be a flop of Grindhouse proportions. Watchmen is a very unknown commodity - until now.

To me - the film was an attempt to make a superhero arthouse movie. Watchmen has a density that has to be savored and thought about. It invites repeat viewings and shuns passive observation.

To sum up my thoughts - Silk Spectre had great boobies. Who needs Mary Jane?

[man_of_majic]

I think it's great that you tuned in to the music so to speak. So many people cited that as a reason for disliking the film. I thought they were brilliant and added layers to each scene. I'm You Boogeyman as Comedian opens fire on a mob of protesters, Ride of the Valkyries playing as Dr. Manhattan looms over the jungles of Vietnam recalls Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Comics and superheroes are pop culture. Apocalypse Now is part of American pop culture as is Dr. Strangelove. The war room scenes with President Nixon recall Kubrick's cold war classic. One could spend weeks writing about the connections to be found. Taken in confluence with the newly released Tales from the Black Freighter DVD and the upcoming Under the Hood DVD - Watchmen the movie is as close a representation to Watchmen the comic as we will ever see and it is a superhero movie that will remain unparalleled in the superhero movie canon as the Citizen Kane of the genre - Watchmen is simply the greatest superhero movie of all time.

[man_of_majic]

If not the greatest - it at least ties Superman the Motion Picture for the title. Christopher Reeves represent, suckas!!!