So it's 3AM, I was conned into going to the midnight screening of Watchmen, a movie I knew mostly nothing about, other than it was a super hero movie but not the run of the mill type.
I just gotta say...
WTF?
Really, that was my reaction throughout the whole movie. We asked each other at least 3 times "What is this movie about?!" Now, eventually it all made sense, but I left the theater feeling rather unimpressed. It reminded me of a serious version of Mystery Men... which doesn't bode well.
Maybe it was the weaving plot which sort of meandered itself around and slowly threw pieces together, maybe it was because I knew nothing of the backstory, maybe it was the giant blue dick they kept flashing on Dr. Manhattan, or maybe it was MEANT to be this way, but I feel completely neutral on whether the movie was amazing or asstacular (even though there were many ass shots!).
Stepping outside the theater, there were large crowds of people talking about it, all of them with varied reactions, everywhere from "BEST MOVIE EVER!" to "Holy shit that was terrible!" and my favorite "OMG BLUE DICKS EVERYWHERE."
Perhaps it's a movie you have to see twice to truly "get it," but the first word I can toss out is "over-hyped." The geek community and all the movie/comic sites have been going ape-shit over this movie forever and while I never really bothered to go wiki-research the series, I did see the Watchmen headlines nearly daily in my RSS feeds, so I kind of expected a lot. The thing that probably bothers me most is the backstory. There's so much about the characters and world they never explain that I WANTED to know (Do they even HAVE super powers? Are there MORE super heroes? What was the gov'ts involvement in super heroes? etc.) that they never really touch on.
The only thing I can guess is that perhaps this was a movie made for the fans of the series so perhaps they got a bigger thrill out of it. It wasn't a terrible movie by any means, but I wouldn't go ranking it in any of my Top 10 Super Hero Movie lists. Maybe when the extended DVD comes out, I'll get more of the picture, but until then...
SCORE: &&& out of &&&&&
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"The main theme being how peculiar it is that modern society places all of its power on a select, small group of individuals and then leans back and says "Okay guys, do your thing!", then are shocked when we get dicked over by them. I'm sure if someone really wanted to they could re-write Watchmen with politicians instead of vigilantes, but you'd be missing out on some stuff... just whatever you do, don't write it off because it's (as much as I hate the term) a comic book.
It's good stuff, and I didn't find it all that special my first time around, but then I rolled it around in my head a bit and now I'm seeking down a copy so I can read it again."
It's essentially on a higher level of thinking than your typical superhero action flick, which is to be expected from Alan Moore. The movie also takes place in 1985 (when the book was written), so it striving to be culturally relevant while still staying true to its roots.
It's cool that you went to go see it though, even without knowing much about it in general. At the very least it was much better than the movie translations of V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlmen, two of Alan Moore's other works. The graphic novel was revolutionary for its time, it might not have the same impact today. Rambling off.
A lot.
I shall be seeing it again and buying it on bluray.
I thought it was very impressive.
But I too heard VERY mixed reviews outside the cinema.
BTW: I hate you for even remotely comparing it to Mystery Men...
The biggest problem I think that you might have with it is that you were expecting a superhero movie. I won't say that this isn't a superhero movie but it aint no spider man.
The book was terrific, and I'm hoping that the movie is at least an enjoyable adaptation.
"it'll be over some people's heads"
Not really, I just don't think the source material is/was as good as everyone made it out to be. At the time it was deeper than the average Marvel comic, but the concepts it explored are now commonplace. The problem will be is will the general moviegoing teen/adult give a crap about characters they've never heard of.
"That was a waste of 3 hours of my life. Ugh! Some guy walking around with his dick hanging out the whole time...like a overgrown smurf!"
laughter ensued.
I'm going to see this tomorrow night, IMAX...
Not for the giant blue cocks.
Ha ha!