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Rottenwatch: WATCHMEN

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I loved it. It stayed true to the themes of the book, translated the material to screen brilliantly and also managed to be its own entity at the same time. Sure, it was slow at times but there is a lot of back story that had to be told.

All in all, I am pleased with what I saw. Even the person we went with who had not read the book enjoyed it.
 
bistromathics said:
Yes, and that makes it even worse...

edit (clarification):
Ozymandias is another name for Ramses II. The smartest man in the world should be able to pick a password more secure than his own name!
I seriously don't know why that was even in the film - I sure don't remember it from the book, and it was such a minor detail. How did they find out
Veidt was in Antarctica in the book? I can't remember, but I sure hope it wasn't by Night Owl guessing his password :\
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its definitely in the book.
 
Just got back from seeing it. Everything in the novel was presented well in the film. My main problems were the music and Dreiberg and Spectre's sex scene. That was absolutely terrible!

I'm letting it sink in for now, all in all I was pretty disappointed when I left though.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed the movie all around, although I thought the adaptation was almost too perfect - the comic frames and lingering shots made the pacing very strange.

That said, the actors were fantastic all around, especially Rorschach, Dr. M, and Comedian.

The movie misses the mark in terms of presenting the wrenching emotional dilemma of Adrian's choice though - the lack of new york bodies and sympathy towards its citizens didn't set up the final cataclysm very well.
 
Thought this was quite terrible, and the sort of movie that is almost better critiqued by throwing adjectives at it (jumbled, clumsy, stilted, ugly, boring, awkward, inept, laughable, poorly-paced...) rather than attempting to detail everything that was so wrong.

Not having read the book, I can only hope that the dialogue was mostly rewritten for the script, because it was wincingly bad in many instances, and hearty congratulations to Snyder for managing to accumulate the worst uses of popular music in a film since Vanilla Sky.
 
I haven't read the novel. Should I read it before seeing the movie?

I'm worried that I'll go and watch the movie, not like it, and in the process, have all the events of the apparently brilliant novel spoiled, hence ruining it.
 
Can anyone confirm if the "Tales of the Black Freighter" made it into the movie? I won't be seeing this until tomorrow. It's kind of funny seeing how divided everyone is on this movie. I asked my buddy (a huge Watchmen fan) what he thought of it, he said "I don't know what to think...."
 
mistuhcahlos said:
Can anyone confirm if the "Tales of the Black Freighter" made it into the movie? I won't be seeing this until tomorrow. It's kind of funny seeing how divided everyone is on this movie. I asked my buddy (a huge Watchmen fan) what he thought of it, he said "I don't know what to think...."
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Its isnt in there. They didnt film it so it wont be in the dvd either but there is a separate animated movie focusing on it that is in the works.
 
Rez said:
I haven't read the novel. Should I read it before seeing the movie?

I'm worried that I'll go and watch the movie, not like it, and in the process, have all the events of the apparently brilliant novel spoiled, hence ruining it.
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Always read the book first.
 
Rez said:
I haven't read the novel. Should I read it before seeing the movie?

I'm worried that I'll go and watch the movie, not like it, and in the process, have all the events of the apparently brilliant novel spoiled, hence ruining it.
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It seems like most of the people that didn't like the movie have never read the novel. It's really hard to explain how obsessed I was with the novel when I first started reading it. I absolutely HAD to know what was going to happen next because of all the tension that was building. I've had some really long talks with my friends about the motives of the characters and the reasoning for some of the decisions in the end. It might have just been cause I was really drunk, but still....it's a damn comic book.
 
I saw the motion comic. It was fantastic. Only downside is that it takes 3 times as long to go through it than reading. But you appreciate stuff alot more because your eyes dont just glance over things quickly.
 
DoctorWho said:
I loved it. It stayed true to the themes of the book, translated the material to screen brilliantly and also managed to be its own entity at the same time. Sure, it was slow at times but there is a lot of back story that had to be told.

All in all, I am pleased with what I saw. Even the person we went with who had not read the book enjoyed it.
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I had the exact same experience and reaction.

The only thing I thought was really not good about the film were the GRATUITOUS sex scenes. Yeah, sex scenes are fine but this was pushing porn.
 
Holy shit was that movie awesome!

I know very little about the Watchmen, never read the comic, just know how important it was. I was not prepared for what I saw, that was unlike any superhero movie I had ever seen. The topics in touches on, the way these "heroes" are protrayed, as actual people. The alternate 1980's with a Nixon that is still president, the brink of nuclear war, and those that still will try to save it.

Amazing film with great characters, great action scenes, great acting, so well done. I was caught up in the mystery, who is killing the watchmen, how will this impending war be stopped. I loved seeing their history, how the comedian was such an a-hole, how Manhattan came to be, how these guys once stood for good even though in way they were a complete mess of a group.

I watched as they tried to piece this whole mystery together, watching these once heroes get back in their roles. You saw that Night Owl was completely missing that side of his life, he was basically depressed without it even though he wouldn't show it. Jupiter's need for love. Manhattans's complete detachment from the human race, funny thing was that he wasn't, it was cause of his pain about hearing his first love had cancer that drove him to leave, an emotion that is all human. Ozy whatever his name is, well what can you say, its actually a pretty brilliant plan, and the fact that I actually thought that maybe he was right for even a small bit showed what a bind the world was in, destroy it to save it.

But there was one guy that really stood out, Rorschach. When it was all said and done, in the very end, only he was a true hero. Sure he was disturbed, sure he murdered a ton of people, only bad ones though. He was violent, he was mentally instable but he was the only one in the group that didn't give up their values, basically their moral code just cause it was convienient. I love what he said to Night Owl, how he is too much of a wimp to stand up for anything, and in the end it came true. He told Manhattan to his face that if he had not had his head stuck up his ass and actually cared for this world none of this would have happend. What a final scene with him, I was at the edge of my chair, I was wowed.

Great movie. Best line of the film, it went something like "I'm not stuck in here with you! You are all stuck in here with me!!!"

I have to read this comic, I can only imagine how much is left out.
 
Here's my take:

I read Watchmen just a few days ago in preparation for the movie, so it's not something that I have a deep emotional attachment with or that I have been waiting for 20 years to see adapted to film. I feel like I'm a pretty objective observer.

I thought the movie was mediocre. They seem to have been quite faithful to the source material, which I guess is good for fans who obsess over that stuff. I'm just left wondering why it was made into a film in the first place. I guess it worked ok as an experiment just to see if it could be done, but I don't think there was ever a need. The pacing was schizophrenic and not well-suited to the medium. I'm also not a huge fan of the stop/go fast motion/slow motion technique. Every time the action almost slowed to a stop, I felt like there should have been big, bold subtitles reading "HEY GUYS LOOK, IT'S JUST LIKE IN THE COMIC!!!! LOOK HOW WE STAGED THIS SCENE TO BE JUST LIKE THE COMIC PANE!!!!"

I imagine it would have worked much better as a big-budget HBO mini-series or something. The way the story is constructed obviously lends itself to an episodic format. As a film, it didn't succeed in being 100% faithful to the comic, nor did it succeed in being great as a standalone film.

I imagine the opening weekend box office will be sizable and then it's going to drop off pretty quickly. It's not going to have the appeal for people who aren't familiar with the source material that 300 did.
 
I've actually owned the graphic novel for 2 years or so, have known about it for far longer... Never read past the first issue though. Not because I didn't like it, just haven't really had time to sit down and go through it.

I thought the movie was wonderful though. The "gratuitous" sex scenes didn't bother me. The excessive violence did. That was just plain uncalled for in some moments. And then the odd music choices at times. Some of the juxtaposition worked, some did not. Whatever. All in all it was a fantastic movie. I'm excited to see how much it makes in its opening weekend.
 
I came away very pleased. And tickled at the folks in the theater who obviously came in thinking it was a "normal" superhero film. Hah! I bet a lot of those folks got the same paradigm shift a lot of us did the first time we read the graphic novel.

Some didn't though... I know one lady with a couple of 8 year olds was looking REAL antsy whenever blue peen came on screen or when Laurie and Dan were straight up fucking.
 
Movie was very great. I only have minor nitpicks here and there but they are minor. Most actually have to do with how faithful the movie is, which causes the film to be a little slow in places and a little disjointed in others.

I have to point out how amazing Dr. Manhattan was though. Billy Crudup is absolutely fantastic in this movie. Every scene with him was great. Same can be said about Rorschach and Jackie Earle Haley.

Like I said before, most of the problems with the film had to do with Snyder trying his best to cram everything he could into the movie. For the most part he's successful, but in other parts he's not.

For example:
I felt he "reveal" of Veidt as the mastermind could have had much more weight to it. Most of the movie is spent on stuff other than the mystery, then we just go back to it for a few minutes so we can get to the final act.

Another is the final scene between Dan, Laurie, and Sally. I didn't like it that much and didn't think it was necessary. I think it could have been removed completely and the movie would be for the better.

The IMAX was sold out for the 7pm showing and it looks like the 10:30 showing was as well so I'm guessing the movie will is doing really good, very happy about that.

OH, yeah, the soundtrack was a little obnoxious.

And Malin Akerman's breasts were A+++
 
What a massive disappointment.

I'm a huge fan of the original GN (hell, I even have the first run original issues of the series).

I felt like there was no imagination brought to this translation. Yes it was faithful, but some stuff just doesn't translate. Many, many plot points that should have packed emotional punch-- Silk Specter / Comedian revelation, the realization that Ozymandias is going to destroy multiple cities, Comedian shooting the woman he impregnated in Viet Nam, etc. just fizzled here.

For me, the best parts involved Dr. Manhattan, especially his origin, though I would have liked a few more moments of the brain/ nervous system walking around. Jackie Earle Haley was perfect and I also like Patrick Wilson's Nite-Owl
and his ass
. And yes, like everyone else, I loved the opening credits.

In seeing Watchmen on screen there are a few things that I realized about the GN -- Rorschach is a truly tragic character; his last moments when he realizes everything he's ever done has been for nothing were the most moving of the whole film, imo and Silk Specter is not a terribly well-developed character in the comic to begin with.

Over all, I think Snyder wanted it both ways. He wanted to please the hardcore fans but also make a very traditional super hero blockbuster and in doing so, he ended up with a mushy, non-impactful middle of the road piece of work. It's a shame because if the structure had been fixed, more character work had replaced some of the sex and violence and the godawful abuse of pop music was left out this could have been a very strong film. Ah well.
 
Just got back from seeing it at an IMAX. I really enjoyed it. I'd never read the GN, not a page, but went into it expecting all the ambiguity and whatnot from word of mouth. I liked that about it. I expected to see fucked up things. Most of the crowd seemed pretty into it as well though honestly I was too enthralled with the film to take much notice of people around me. There was a nice chatter of applause and an echo of "badass" during the
prison food line
scene.
 
Sex scene was fucking nice (video plz!?). Whole film was great, saw it at midnight. Yeah the music was pretty wack, but overall sweet movie. I read the GN in anticipation, and I thought it translated great.
 
One thing I was really disappointed in that was left out of the movie was
Adrian's blatant capitalization on the fears he created with his "practical joke" financially and his success in capitalizing off of the peace he created. When I read the graphic novel, it felt like there was an undertone of self-interest in Adrian's actions, because of all the money he was making off of his scheme, but it was absent in the movie. I kind of guess that the movie made up for this omission by making Adrian kill A LOT more people, but I'm still disappointed it was left out.

Other than that, great movie.
 
i figured Ozy's money was only made to further his plans

anyways, for a possible change, I'd think they should've shown him fighting alongside the other Crimebusters so he would have been harder to suspect, because the scene where the Comedian burns his proposal just gave it away
 
MisterHero said:
i figured Ozy's money was only made to further his plans

anyways, for a possible change, I'd think they should've shown him fighting alongside the other Crimebusters so he would have been harder to suspect, because the scene where the Comedian burns his proposal just gave it away
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I too thought that the movie made the bad guy very obvious compared to the comic, but the people I went with never read the GN and said that they didn't think Ozy was the bad guy. They didn't see it coming.
 
Frank the Great said:
One thing I was really disappointed in that was left out of the movie was
Adrian's blatant capitalization on the fears he created with his "practical joke" financially and his success in capitalizing off of the peace he created. When I read the graphic novel, it felt like there was an undertone of self-interest in Adrian's actions, because of all the money he was making off of his scheme, but it was absent in the movie. I kind of guess that the movie made up for this omission by making Adrian kill A LOT more people, but I'm still disappointed it was left out.

Other than that, great movie.
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You got a little bit of that at the end when
they're rebuilding "Ground Zero" with Veidt enterprises cranes and machinery
.

Edit: One change that messed with the original intent of the GN, imo, was how
the entire energy subplot was supposed to get rid of war on its own - technically, since Manhattan was at least cognizant of the level of technology and its peaceful capability if not its ultimately malicious intent, couldn't Adrian's peace actually last with his ultimately renewable energy?
 
What kind of idiot parents would think this is a good movie to bring their freaking baby to?

3 Babies in this viewing.

Smart move parents. Hope you and your young one loved that scene with the hands.
 
Buttonbasher said:
What kind of idiot parents would think this is a good movie to bring their freaking baby to?

3 Babies in this viewing.

Smart move parents. Hope you and your young one loved that scene with the hands.
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My showing was packed full of young kids. A couple of the parents left with them in the middle of it, I guess when they realized what kind of movie this was. Man, parents can be real idiots, the ratings are there for a reason.
 
SoulPlaya said:
My showing was packed full of young kids. A couple of the parents lived with them in the middle of it, I guess when they realized what kind of movie this was. Man, parents can be real idiots, the ratings are there for a reason.
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Yeah, at one point, a mother of one of them thought it would be a good idea to just parade their kid up and down the stairs so it wouldn't have to see the sex and violence, but at the same time she wouldn't feel like she got cheated out of the ticket price.

Need some retribution up in this.
 
Most of my feelings on the film have already been expressed, so I'll keep it short and say I was disappointed.

I really thought they messed up Ozymandias. I hate how they fragmented his epic monologue.
 
Buttonbasher said:
Yeah, at one point, a mother of one of them thought it would be a good idea to just parade their kid up and down the stairs so it wouldn't have to see the sex and violence, but at the same time she wouldn't feel like she got cheated out of the ticket price.

Need some retribution up in this.
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:lol :lol
 
fistfulofmetal said:
The IMAX was sold out for the 7pm showing and it looks like the 10:30 showing was as well so I'm guessing the movie will is doing really good, very happy about that.
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Based on the friday numbers it's weekend boxoffice is going to be about 10 million less than 300 when a lot expected it to beat 300 so I am not so sure.
 
B.K. said:
My sister went and saw it last night. I haven't seen it yet, so I asked her what she though. She said she wasn't impressed with it. It wasn't very good. I don't know if I should listen to her or not. This is the same person that didn't like The Dark Knight and is wild about Twilight.
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Wait, you're asking us this seriously?:lol
 
Cheebs said:
Based on the friday numbers it's weekend boxoffice is going to be about 10 million less than 300 when a lot expected it to beat 300 so I am not so sure.
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The source material and trailer wasn't as attention grabbing as the 300, so I wonder how they thought it was going to be better.

No name superheroes, in an area of constant superhero films, filled with nudity, sex, and violence versus a film selling point being a mystical period piece of swords and sandles ancient Greek battle 300 versus 1 million in presented in a super stylized trailer and visuals.
 
Wow, its so amazing hearing reports of parents bringing their little kids to see this film. I mean, it's not like you have to know exactly what is going to happen in this movie and research it thoroughly. IT'S RATED FUCKING R FOR A REASON!

But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be too suprised at it. I can definitely remember many years ago going to R movies and always seeing little kids in them. Though maybe that was back before they started carding. Still it just amazes me that parents these days are just stupid enough to bring kids to such a film. And I'm not talking about the nudity or sex, but seeing graphic violence can traumatize a very young kid.
 
Just got back from watching it on a sold-out show at IMAX with my girlfriend (she's never read the book). Both loved it.

I just recently read the book and really really enjoyed it. Was hyped for this movie and still came away happy. Yes, there are some blatant omissions and script changes. No, not all the them work (although I didn't mind the ending at all). But the film captured the book as best I felt possible. Go look at the possibilites for this movie. At one point Michael Bay was set to direct. Simon Pegg was to be Rorschach and Tom Cruise as Ozy. Horrible.

First off, let me say that without Rorschach this movie is HALF as good.
He IS the heart and hero of this movie and book to me.
Haley's performance is really really great. In fact, he had too few scenes if anything.
His final scene although different from the book was just as effective and definitely heart-breaking
. To me, the character puts Batman to shame and the performance was as good as Ledger's in The Dark Knight.
The other standout was Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhatten. The voice was fucking perfect. The other actors were passable and line-read some scenes poorly. Morgan as Comedian was good too however.

Overall, no it's not as good as the book. The movie is beautifully shot but some of the music is horrendous (the juxtaposition in some scenes is truly awful). Which is sad because the score itself is very Blade Runner-esque and works well when its used (albeit sparingly).

I'm definetely watching it next week again in IMAX with my brother to get another taste.
Also, I cannot fucking believe some people are so upset over a big blue CGI wang and a gratitutious sex scene. Did you miss all the EXPLICIT violence in this film? Hypocrisy.

One final gripe.
Didn't care for how many people SSII and NOII beat up and kill.
They are supposed to be just regular people not have superhero strength. I understand why Snyder did it - wanted to have big action scenes but still minor complaint I guess.
 
Buttonbasher said:
What kind of idiot parents would think this is a good movie to bring their freaking baby to?

3 Babies in this viewing.

Smart move parents. Hope you and your young one loved that scene with the hands.
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If any baby present understood what it was seeing, we're lucky it was warped before it was able to take over the world a few years after gaining mobility.
 
Flynn said:
I think the problem was that it wasn't sexy. A good sex scene can be very satisfying -- a culmination of a relationship. But here it wasn't all that thrilling, I think that's because the relationship between the two wasn't terribly fleshed out. I think they undersold the fetishy angle -- the way Dan couldn't get it up until he was in costume.
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it seemed like the dream sequence got that across pretty well IMO. But yes, I think we can all agree the sex scene was Cinemax-level horrid and the low point of the film.
 
Combine said:
Wow, its so amazing hearing reports of parents bringing their little kids to see this film. I mean, it's not like you have to know exactly what is going to happen in this movie and research it thoroughly. IT'S RATED FUCKING R FOR A REASON!

But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be too suprised at it. I can definitely remember many years ago going to R movies and always seeing little kids in them. Though maybe that was back before they started carding. Still it just amazes me that parents these days are just stupid enough to bring kids to such a film. And I'm not talking about the nudity or sex, but seeing graphic violence can traumatize a very young kid.
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Yeah, it's pretty stupid. Parents should have realized something was up when people are being freakin' carded towards a "superhero" movie let alone totally miss the R-rating that specifically points out graphic violence, sex, and nudity.
 
Well I sort of condemn the parents and I don't. See when I was 5 or so I would watch a tonne of R rated movies - only on video though - I wouldn't be taken to the movies to see them. I would watch everything and anything at that age without a problem. So I don't condemn the parents who have raised kids that can handle it, but I condemn those that risk a crying or talking child in a cinema that might distract other patrons.
 
Cheebs said:
Based on the friday numbers it's weekend boxoffice is going to be about 10 million less than 300 when a lot expected it to beat 300 so I am not so sure.
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Huh? It made 4 million on Thursday, 25 on Friday. They anticipate 25 Saturday, 20 Sunday.

That's just as much 300 made opening weekend. A 75 million opening for a 3 hour R rated film is phenomenal.
 
shagg_187 said:
It's not there for sex/boobs. It's more of a "I'm back, Bitches!" for Nite Owl, and It shows how badly SSII wants to get fucked.
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Heh, I didn't read it in the novel that Laurie wanted to be fucked for the hell of it because she really wanted sex. If that was all then she should have just stayed with Jon, and they no doubt had some wild crazy freaky sex during the years.

I took it more that she wanted to have sex and feel something from her partner (care/love?) which was the key thing that Manhatten of course lacked, even though he clearly had what it took to really satisfy someone physically. :lol

Maybe Snyder didn't do a good job getting that point across. Or I completely misread it.

Honestly, and this is a complaint with the book/source, but I never liked/bought the Laurie/Dan relationship at all. My personal preference would have been for her to remain with Jon and disappear from the world together.
 
Scullibundo said:
Well I sort of condemn the parents and I don't. See when I was 5 or so I would watch a tonne of R rated movies - only on video though - I wouldn't be taken to the movies to see them. I would watch everything and anything at that age without a problem. So I don't condemn the parents who have raised kids that can handle it, but I condemn those that risk a crying or talking child in a cinema that might distract other patrons.
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Oh yeah, one kid (2-3 years old) flipped face first over the seat behind me to my left, falling to the ground when Manhattan first comes to mars. The part where the audio cuts out almost completely.

Awesome kid. Almost as acrobatic as Adrian in the last fight scene.
 
DevelopmentArrested said:
Huh? It made 4 million on Thursday, 25 on Friday. They anticipate 25 Saturday, 20 Sunday.

That's just as much 300 made opening weekend. A 75 million opening for a 3 hour R rated film is phenomenal.
Click to expand...

Of course they could be wrong, but the analysts are projecting it will be impossible for the film to make 70 mil unless it has really stellar Sat/Sun tabs, which they don't believe it will.
 
If you're taking your 5 year old to a film where
people get raped, pregnant women get shot, the president's brains are splattered everywhere, millions of people die, a man gets his head split in half, BLUE PENIS
...you flat out did not pick the right film.:lol


I STILL can't believe how much was still allowed in this film.:lol Just nuts for a film of this scale, cost and marketing.
 
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