Posted on: March 6th, 2009 REVIEW: Watchmen (Brett)

the-watchmen-movie

“None of you understand. I’m not locked up in here with you. You’re locked up in here with me.” – Rorschach

Lets start off with saying I LOVED the film. And yes I’ve read the graphic novel. Not once because I just became a fan recently, no I’ve read it several times in the last five years. I loved it the first time I read it and since then I have loved it even more through each read. It’s one of those books that you can read and discover new things every time though. Even better is in the artwork as there’s so much to be discovered.

Now for the review. If you have yet to see it I recommend going no further. THERE ARE SPOILERS!!!!

Quick side note: I saw it in IMAX. If you have the opportunity to see it in IMAX, do it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The movie opens with the Comedian getting thrown from his apartment. Now we all know how in the book it happens over the course of a few pages, intercut with the investigation. In the movie we get treated with a full fight sequence that by the end left the biggest smile on my face. This was the last thing I expected, and yes, it was awesome. Zack Snyder has created a style of fighting that is graphic but so damn cool to watch. It made me want to go back and watch just that scene again.

From there we enter the credits. Now they did this in such a cool fashion by giving a bit of history of the caped heroes through little live action clips of the past. I really enjoyed the JFK and Comedian part. That was a perfect example of why I loved this movie because it was completely for the fans. In the book when the Comedian is being commended for being an American hero, he makes what seems to be a joke about just don’t ask him where he was during the JFK assassination. Snyder including the scene made the movie that much better for me.

From here we take off with Rorschach and it is all good from here. We get told the story we all know and love with minor differences here and there. The ending they changed, but I’m sure most of us went in there expecting that given they let us know they took out the giant killer squid months ago. They definitely left a lot out, but for a movie it was highly enjoyable.

I had two minor problems. The first being the setup with Rorschach getting caught by the police. It was well done with the whole Moloch set up in the book as he was a character that was developed. In the movie with the lack of development of Moloch when Rorschach was caught it felt disappointing. I understood that because of the pyramid symbol on the letter was what led Rorschach to investigate again, but the whole series of events that led up to this in the book was dropped. To me, that just felt weak.

Then the music. I love the soundtrack. All of the music in amazing, but I just felt as if it was kind of forced on the scenes. I love the song from the trailer by Philip Glass Ensemble and when they used it for Dr. Manhattans part it worked. All the mainstream music just felt kind of off. I know it’s a comic book movie and the whole Dan and Sally to Hallelujah was supposed to be funny but I just wasn’t feeling it. Don’t get me wrong, it made me chuckle, but I prefer the whole orchestrated music for good comic book movies like Batman personally.

I know some people may complain about the acting but I thought it was spot on. The sound effects were great, and the editing was amazing. One thing that I’ve always really enjoyed in the books is the parallel storytelling. When Sally breaks down to Dan about Jon, and Jon is getting ready for the interview and how what she is saying in crossing over with Jon getting ready is brilliant. I was really happy to see that cross over to the film in many of the scenes.

So if you have seen it, tell me what you think. If you disagree with me, post it. I really enjoyed it and I want to know if you all did too. And if you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for?

Filed under: Movies, Review

5 Responses to “REVIEW: Watchmen (Brett)”

  1. Lauren Says:
    March 6th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    Great review! I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m def planning on checking it out now. You gave me so much to think about, like the music, I never would have questioned it.
    Thanks for posting this, it was extremely well written and gave a real review, not one of those fluff ones have the sites put out there. Keep up the great reviews!!

  2. Jon Stephens Says:
    March 6th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

    Good one Brett!

    I loved this movie, as a big Watchmen geek myself, I couldn’t be more pleased. It exceeded expectations.

  3. coffee Says:
    March 14th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    i haven’t read the Watchmen comic series, but i can’t imagine them packing any more into one movie even if they wanted to, which is good for me, makes me feel like i got my money’s worth

  4. Joshua Is not cool Says:
    March 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

    So wait instead of using the giant killer squid they used John for peace?

  5. Film-Book dot Com Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    I read the book also as well as V for Vendetta, and part of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

    I was going to see it in IMAX but it sold out my 2pm the afternoon of the premiere. Frak.

    “Dan and Sally to Hallelujah”

    That was one of the issues I had with the film as well. It took away for tone of the film. They should have kept the tone even like in The Dark Knight.

    My full Watchmen Review:
    http://film-book.com/film-review-watchmen/

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