[Watchmen Review; Part I: The Music]

[savemoony]

WARNING: THE FOLLOW CONSISTS OF MAJOR SPOILERS AND A DETAILED SCENE BY SCENE DISCUSSION OF WATCHMEN. IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN UNSPOILED, DO NOT CLICK; OR BOOKMARK UNTIL YOU SEE IT, AND THEN COME. I REALLY WANT TO DISCUSS THIS FILM WITH OTHERS.

Comments

[windout]

I've gotta ask, how staggering was it in Imax? *grin*

I agree that the music was a bit hit or miss, but really pretty good on the whole. At least the imagery was on, if the music was a bit over the top/hackneyed/etc. All though, keeping in mind that I think it's supposed to be hyper-faithful to the book (save for the end), I could see the music as something that someone put on iTunes before flopping into bed and reading Watchmen. iTunes does have the habit of catching you unawares with eerily appropriate music, startling you out of whatever you were doing. That method doesn't work for a movie, no, but in the context of how Watchmen tried to be a graphic novel on screen, it makes a bit more sense, I think. That's my story anyway, haha.

As for "Hallelujah", I'm afraid the choral version came before the Jeff Buckley version. But I agree that the whole sequence was awful, awful cheese. (But, sadly, I think I rather fits with the sort of sad sap version of Nite Owl II the movie painted. He would have a hallelujah chorus during important

[savemoony]

, I could see the music as something that someone put on iTunes before flopping into bed and reading Watchmen. iTunes does have the habit of catching you unawares with eerily appropriate music, startling you out of whatever you were doing. That method doesn't work for a movie, no, but in the context of how Watchmen tried to be a graphic novel on screen, it makes a bit more sense, I think.

PERFECTLY STATED.

[snowystingray]

I'll admit that the music was probably the one thing in the film I struggled with and didn't have an immediate OMG SO BRILLIANT SO PERFECT reaction to... so, weirdly, it's kind of been one of the things I've been thinking about the most (just because when I try to properly grapple with the rest of the film all that comes out is GUUUUGKLJSDFURBLKEEEJKLWHAAAAAAT SO GOOD OMG OWWWW MY BRAIN). Well, first, let me start out and say that the opening credits were SO FRIGGEN PERFECT AND BRILLIANT and, yes, that was an instance of clever-as-hell music and visuals and irony and awesome. A lot of the rest of it seemed more distracting at times, though, but thinking about it more I do find it kind of interesting that they decided to use the music of all things to kind of do the over-the-top camp with -- just in the sense that, well, it is a movie about 80s comic book heroes, and yet the campy elements come not from the characters or situations themselves but from these very incidental cultural references. So... interesting. I can't say it always

[savemoony]

It was the Hallelujah that got me. I was like. Please. Please. Make It STOP.

[delphinapterus]

I haven't seen it yet - waiting for the crowds to die down a bit (not to mention I'm supposed to finishing the stuff on deadlines) but I listened to the soundtrack anyway. Your post makes me even more excited to see the full movie but back to the music....

I'm curious to know what you thought of Nina Simon's Priate Jenny and My Chemical Romanance's cover of Desolation Row. Desolation Row and Pruit Igoe & Prophecies have to be my two favorite songs just from the soundtrack alone - I wonder if that's going to change with viewing the movie?

[savemoony]

Nina Simone's Pirate Jenny isn't in the film -- but it will be featured in the Tales of the Black Freighter DVD, and Desolation Row plays over the credits.