“I guess tonight, I watch The Watchmen.
I remember this being a bit of a disappointment when I first saw it. I know I read the graphic novel in close promixmity to the film, but I don’t quite remember which came first. There were many who argued that it was simply unfilmable. Personally, I don’t think that was the case, I just think it could have been done better. The visual is incredible. They really did lift images right off the pages and it looks fanastic. The problem is that the substance didn’t really translate. We hit all the major points, beat by beat, but without any weight behind them. In retrospect, having seen some of his later work, I blame director Zack Snyder. 300, Sucker Punch, Man of Steel *shudder*. He’s great at making a movie look like a comic. Not so great on anything more than superficial.
There are a couple strong spots. The opening-ish sequence with the Comedian’s death is pretty awesome. Jackie Earle Haley’s Rorshach is probably the character that hit the mark the best. And I adore Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl) and while I’m glad this put him on the mainstream map (he’d previously been a big Broadway star), he thankfully had much better work later on.
And now for something fun and relevant
I guess maybe the non-linear structure is part of what contributes to the “”unfilmable”” argument. It is a bit confusing keeping track of who’s who and when. It was even tough to keep straight while reading. But I still hold that it’s the emphasis on style over substance that killed it.
Also, this movie is damn slow. So much ground they had to cover and it just plods along.
But really the best part of the movie, as I conclude this very disjointed write up, is My Chemical Romance playing over the end credits. Why did they hafta break up. Sigh”