9 Mar 2009

Movie Review: Watchmen

What did you think of it??

From MTV.com

"...Critical reaction to the film has been split into three camps: those who immediately loved the book and now immediately love the movie (our own Kurt Loder called it a "monumental accomplishment"), those who love the book so much they believe the movie should never have been made, and those who never read the book and now are wondering, "Really? This junk is what everyone's so excited about?"

I fell into the latter. Never read the book and wondered just WTF was this junk all about.

Don't even get it twisted. I have watched pretty much every comic book to big screen movie from DC Comics and Marvel without ever having been a comic book fan or known much about the background of the characters. I've loved some, liked others and thought the rest were crap. [DC Comics should just stick to the Batman franchise and just leave it the hell alone]. When making these movies, they are and usually made from the perspective of the audience not having any background into the story. You don't have to have immersed yourself in Batman, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk to get it once it hits the big screen. If they do a good enough job then everyone watching will 'get it' whether a DC/Marvel geek or not. I got this story I just didn't like it.

Watchmen falls into the piece of shit and crap pile for me. So much so I'm not even going to do a review. I hated it. One of those films that tries to grab you on the damn movie poster and the trailer alone by putting all of the best bits into it.

But don't let my dislike of the film stop you from spending 2 hours and 43 minutes watching Watchmen. It may just be your cup of tea. [I bet they'll release the 191 minute Director's Cut on DVD though].

I haven't even got the energy to watch this again in the hopes of digging deeper into the storyline or the characters. I'm all for giving a film a second chance, but too much of my life was wasted the first time around. My mind was open, I took the film in and let the film take me to where it was supposed to go. It was like being stuck in a traffic jam. Like I said I'm open minded and would prefer to read the graphic novel, as many say it's better and the filmed failed it in it's adaptation.

This is just making me more excited for X-Men Originals: Wolverine. Come on Marvel, do what you do best this summer and kick the shit out of DC Comics.

Anyone in the US thinking of taking children in with you to see this DON'T. It's not a typical 'superhero' movie like X-Men or Spider-Man. It's very violent, bloody, gory, there is a graphic sex scene, an attempted rape, violence against women, full frontal male nudity...so don't even think about bringing a child to see this.

That R Rating in the US is just dumb to me...anyway that's another blog entirely. I know of one idiot in the US that took his 4 year old daughter to see Jeepers Creepers **shaking my head** 4 year olds have no business watching that. That's what Disney is for!

4 comments:

  1. oh dear is it that bad? I hadn't the foggiest idea what it was about either but i still might watch it at some point out of curiousity.

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  2. I loved it (as you know), but I guess that's because I read the graphic novel (many moons ago) before I saw the film. Since the film stayed so true to the GN (the author of which never intended it to be adapted to film) it was a mix of a 2+ hour Geek Out moment for me and nostalgia. Yeah, that's probably why i enjoyed it so much. I got exactly what I was expecting.

    Some of my friends are in your camp though (they never read the novel either) and could understand what all the hoopla was about. I'll admit that that's where the film failed. It should have been accessible and enjoyable to the audience whether they read the graphic novel or not (like Lord of the Rings Trilogy or The Dark Knight). The night I watched the movie, you could tell who had read the GN and who did not. The "WTF" looks on a lot of the faces in the audience was telling. I enjoyed the movie none the less.

    Best quote of that night:

    Why is that blue dude always naked? I mean, what the hell man?! Put some clothes on!
    -Unimpressed Friend

    P.S. I just hope the new Wolverine movie doesn't do me like Spiderman 3 or X-men 3, I can't handle that kind of disappointment again. =P

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  3. You know what?

    I read the book, loved the book, but i saw the film last night and it left me ice cold!

    I know that if I hadn't read the book I would have been bored out of my skull - the only thing that kept me awake was looking out for the screenshots that were exactly the same as the comic frames (there were many).

    I think the makers of the film have been almost too respectful to the original source material, and in doing so made great geek fodder (which i love) but an unengaging film.

    (and i paid to watch it on an IMAX screen! - pissed!)

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  4. Hi Eva...I think I'm glad I didn't read the book...or am I? I'll be sure to find out soon as I want that to be my next read. I haven't heard anything about the book and am actually looking forward to it. Never have I disliked a movie then wanted to read the book, but this will be a first and I will review it, seeing as I [kinda] reviewed the film. I left the cinema feeling empty and cheated [time wise], but as I have a good memory maybe reading the book may do a reverse and make me like the film...maybe...Hmmmm....nah...Oh I dunno. I'll order on Amazon tomorrow and get it in a few days. I bet the sales of the novel have gone up though.

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