Watchmen

Just went to see Watchmen at the local cineplex this afternoon. Pretty good (apart from all the blue willy kicking about) The guy playing Rorshach is the stand out for me.

Sticks fairly well to the comic – i give it an 8 out of 10

woah!! I’m off to see some owls flying around tonight otherwise I’d be there!!

Just going to see it myself at 8. Hopefully it will be good! It cant be a worse adaption than I am legend was. Or should i say ‘I am Will Smith’

I found it to be an utterly pointless, charmless, meandering, self indulgent bore. Completely devoid of invention or even the slightest spark of inspiration.

The action sequences were flat, dull and derivative. Zack Snyder seems to be of the opinion that speed ramping every single dramatic action will make it cool, maybe to some it does. To me it just removes all the impact – just like 300.

The performances, with the exception of Jackie Haley as Rorschach were wooden, unconvincing and misjudged and even Rorschach was a struggle to believe without the mask as he seemed to have bright orange caterpillars glued to his eye brows to complimented his joke shop “jock” wig.

I am not a rabid fanboy of the comics (if I was I might have been able to see past it’s inadequacies as a film and enjoyed it) nor do I agree with Alan Moore that it’s un-filmable , I just think in it’s original format it was utterly pointless to commit to film without substantial streamlining and refocus to make it suitable for the medium. A pointless change at the end would not come close to what I would have imagined needed doing.

As for Dr. Manhattan’s jiggly wang – unlike the teenagers in the row behind me I didnt feel the need to snigger every time it was on screen….though it almost distracted me from the fact that all the characters lip synching was off in every.single.scene.

Wow, Gnargnar I can see where you are coming from on every point there. Rorschach was the star for me- Started off thinking he was abit lame/irritating but really warmed when he entered prison/had his mask removed then with his principles.

Disagree on 300 though, watch it a few times and I changed my opinion – 300 rocks.

I wanted to like 300 so much I did re watch it. Saw it twice or thrice in the cinema, once on DVD. Each time I grew slightly more annoyed. I just found the speed ramping, the choreography and the fakeness of it all very off putting. I thought it might be the film I’d been waiting for since seeing Conan the Barbarian all those years ago, alas it was not to be.

I wanted to enjoy Watchmen too but I cant get my head past the fact that it’s an exercise in futility to adapt a comic like that verbatim – it misses the point imo.

Even with your best/favourite films you have to release yourself fully to the directors vision, not hold any sceptism, anything back. Yes Lost in Translation had some naivety and Lock Stock was slightly FHM/in part like 300 however when I let my sceptism go……I let the films run rampant and I relaxed and enjoyed… 😀

You need to do the same with 300 dude 😉

I can’t. Im going to sound weird and no doubt a little bit scary here but sod it – I watch films like that (300) for the violence. For the emotional payback. It gets my blood pumping – I want to feel like I am fighting, vicariously of course. For me, when something is overly choreographed or over stylised/laboured it looses the impact. For an example look at the fight scenes between the first Matrix film and the latter ones. Post Columbine the Watchowskis had to tone down the claret of their films to get he same rating and for me it didnt work. Or even better compare Yuen Woo Ping’s work on the Matrix with his fight choreography on Fist of Legend.

For me the looser, the more raw and the more kinetic an acion or fight scene is, the better it works. That’s the point of it. A perfect example of this is the latest Rambo movie – compare it to any of the watered down, so called action movies of the previous ten…maybe fifteen years and maybe you’ll see what I mean.

I am a film geek of the highest order and admittedly I am hyper critical – perhaps I dont get as much enjoyment form as many films as someone less critical but when I do find a film I really love it makes it all the better.

I wanted to enjoy Watchmen too but I cant get my head past the fact that it’s an exercise in futility to adapt a comic like that verbatim – it misses the point imo.

Kinda sums up the whole Comic Book/ Film genre for me. Fans will hate them, ’cause they will never do them justice, non-fans just come out of the whole experience a bit confused.

You can smell the money…

Thats what I love about 300- its almost a homage to Sergio Leone’s westerns in parody.

Watch Kurasawa’s Ran or Kitano’s Zatoichi. Stunning and visceral. Both very different, Ran is brutal and Kitano’s is polar-opposite for me- stylised violence.

Ran though is a masterpiece. A forgotten masterpiece 🙁

nickc
Kinda sums up the whole Comic Book/ Film genre for me. Fans will hate them, ’cause they will never do them justice, non-fans just come out of the whole experience a bit confused.

That’s not really what I was getting at…um it’s too long winded to bother going into here. Basically though I think the watchmen as a comic book is a joke – it’s Alan Moore’s giant ego stroking session. If you recreate that on film then it’ll be dead. If you see that, then cherry pick the good – and exclude the sneering self indulgence then it could make a great film – that’s not what has happened.

I usually enjoy comic book adaptations.Sort of.

hora – Member
Thats what I love about 300- its almost a homage to Sergio Leone’s westerns in parody.

Watch Kurasawa’s Ran or Kitano’s Zatoichi. Stunning and visceral. Both very different, Ran is brutal and Kitano’s is polar-opposite for me- stylised violence.

Ran though is a masterpiece. A forgotten masterpiece

I absolutely could not see any Sergio Leone in 300 (looks like another, possibly drunk viewing is in order).

btw I love Ran, and Zatoichi. I am huge Takeshi Kitano and Akira Kurosawa fan. I even like Dreams. Sanjuro is possibly my favourite film ever.

Gawd Im talking alco-bollocks 🙄

Nah, I don’t really enjoy comic book adaptions, they don’t seem to work for me.

I think Watchmen worked if you took it as a comic adaptation. There are loads of very short scenes with quick cuts from one to the next, and it’s confusing unless you’re a fan of the genre. My other half just didn’t ‘get’ the film at all, whereas I went into it knowing how to take it.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Crouching Tiger – I hated it because I’d been into more ‘real’ kung fu until then, but seeing it again I got what the director was trying to convey and liked it.

Saw it last night. I’d give it a solid 7/10. Worth going to see as I cant think of any other good films out at the moment.

Overall i enjoyed watchmen, but i felt that you had to listen carefully to everything or the plot was abit confusing (never read the comics). Wasnt sure i like the way we just had to accept that the superheros were superheros-no explanation behind how they were so god at fighting, or how that guy could move so fast etc. Didnt really like the ending much either, didnt feel “Satisified”, but again having not read the comics maybe it would be a good ending for those who have??

I watch films like that (300) for the violence. For the emotional payback. It gets my blood pumping – I want to feel like I am fighting, vicariously of course. For me, when something is overly choreographed or over stylised/laboured it looses the impact.

Confirmed my thoughts right there. Thoughts about the poster and not about any film.

just got back from seeing watchmen

really enjoyed it, not read the comic so i cant compare
it was fast and fun, have sat through films an hour shorter that felt dragged out twice its length but i wanted more
Rorschach was indeed the best “you are locked in here with me!” was **** excellent
but mr manhatten was cool a great charcter and well realised
8/10

oh and gutted i missed this on the river the other night……….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bVE4KGTEKo&fmt=18

I have also just got back from seeing it I thought it was alright. A bit like a perfectly adept cover version of a song but with nothing to make it anything other than a straight copy. Some of the shots were just copies of the frames in the comic, well I say some…

Action sequences were a bit slow-mo tastic.

But by god, the woman playing Laurie Jupiter ticked all the right boxes… Them boots…

The Beard –
But by god, the woman playing Laurie Jupiter ticked all the right boxes… Them boots…

Saw her on telly today with blonde hair – just not the same. Definitely much hotter as a brunette.

Just to pick up on Hora’s point, i love Beat Takeshi films, Zatoichi and Brother being great examples. Long drawn out beautifully shot scenes. interspersed with insane levels of graphic, explosive violence. Gives a sense of tension to most scenes, as youre not sure as and when it will happen, sometimes you can blink and miss it. Prefer that to films with just full on, predictable violence. A little OT sorry.

Actually, the one ‘action’ moment in a movie recently for me had been the market scene in Hero where the rain falling added sooooooooooooooo much tension and drama 😀

Saw The Watchmen last night.

Very enjoyable and faithful to the original story bar the slight deviation at the end which to be fair was slighty more plausible than the original ending. It truly deserves the 18 certificate as it’s relentlessly brutal, gory and violent.

2 small complaints.

The guy playing Veidt seemed a little too young. I’m not sure of the exact timeline but assuming he was supposed to be the same age as Rorshach and Dreiberg but he looked far too young. You could argue that his wealth kept him looking younger but I would have liked to have seen someone a bit older.

The music seemed very out of place too. It’s set in the 1985 but the soundtrack had Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Simon & Garfunkel etc which were more suited to something set in the sixties.

Saw her on telly today with blonde hair – just not the same. Definitely much hotter as a brunette.

she also comes in blonde? Hot diggity… 😀

The Beard – Just for you,

Must be cold.

I agree though, better as a brunette. Even better in black and white

Went to see it yesterday. If you went in mindlessly wanting violence then I can see how you would be disappointed, it was much much more than that.

It was a very sad film with poignant observations on the ‘Human Condition’.

I think that many of the above especially Gnar totally missed the point.

well said fauxbyfour

the violence/ fight scenes were not the stand out parts for me
fwiw i thought that they were quite good but i enjoye dthe story and charcters more

im gonna book an imax viweing coz i liked it so much!

Im with Faux too
I loved it.
LOVED the filming of the opening scene.
was then abit secptical as i realised the story wasnt going to be that easy to keep track of.
but it reads like a graphic novel reads, in distinct chapters.
LOVED the soundtrack,

and having now borrowed a copy of the novel, im AMAZED how close to the original it is.

the camera shots perfectly framed the frames in the book in my opinion, almost so much that it comes across as having had no effort put into it, just following the novel as a story board, did it even use the songs quoted in the book?
(there are quotes from songs and song writers in the novel itself, i dont think a soundtrack comprising predominantly “Wham” and “culture club” would have suited it?

I’ll have the four legged chicken please!