Watchmen: The Buzz starts now

[RobertR]

 

I have to say that I'm loving the alternate history viral campaign. Much in the spirit of the original work, which utilized supplemental prose sections to fill in the blanks of the main story.

 

Robert

[stoops17]

I am really looking forward to this movie.

 

I saw the first teaser in a theater a while ago, bought/read the graphic novel, and now patiently wait for the glorious opening night.

[UeckerAddict]

I have no idea how this story could be told in less that six hours. However, Alan Moore gave this script his blessing, unlike V for Vendetta and From Hell.

Doctor Manhattan and Blake look perfect to me, but the guy playing Ozymandias looks off. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[RobertR]

Legit reviews are now starting to pop up. I'm most curious to see how people unfamiliar with the source material respond, but this is a good catchall link.

 

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watchmen/

 

Robert

[bjkrautk]

USA Today had a good story about Snyder and Watchmen in today's paper.

 

From the Article:

 

Born in Green Bay, Snyder grew up on comic books and Star Wars films. (He has a life-size statue of Han Solo in carbon freeze.) He began making movies when he was 11, his first being a stop-action film using his Star Wars figures, who fought a monster made of clay.

 

Might we have an honorary BrewerFan?

[RobertR]

There's a very good chance that I'm going to be completely useless as a commentator on the actual film. I'm just too close to the original material to have any sort of objective critical distance. I'm perhaps most interested in the thoughts of those without much familiarity with the original material.

Robert

[endaround]

Best Buy is running a promotion that if you buy an Xbox console (or the more interesting part) or Xbox Live product (includuing 1 month Xbox live subs for $8) you get 2 coupons for free tickets.

[razzzorsharp]

I just bought the book on Friday and 1/3 of the way in. I had no real experience with the subject matter and went in with only what I saw on the movie previews. So far I have to say it is pretty in-depth for a graphic novel.

[TheCrew07]

I caught HBO's behind the scenes special last night. I wasn't familiar with graphic novels before discussions on this site about Sin City and 300, and I still haven't gotten into the genre, but thanks to posters on this site I have a passing familiarity with it. As a reference I liked Sin City much more than 300, though 300 wasn't horrible and I can generally tolerate any movie once. If I was giving a star rating Sin City would have been 4.5 and 300 was a like a 2.

 

I sort of understand the plot of the movie now, they claim it's as close to the original material as possible, the scenes from the movie in the special were visually stunning, so I'm very intrigued at this time... I probably have the same level of interest as I did before Sin City was released. I will definitely see this movie in a theater, which is a rarity for me these days. I maybe go to 1 or 2 movies a year now, in my teens and early 20s I was going 20 + times per year.

[RobertR]

I think capturing the tone of WATCHMEN is going to be the hardest job to pull off. Ideally, the final product should include the satirical elements of movies like DR. STRANGELOVE and FIGHT CLUB in the mix, along with the visual style and density of a BLADE RUNNER, some big ideas, and the superhero elements that we've come to expect (and to subvert some of the conventions of the genre). There's humor in WATCHMEN and bringing that out while not undermining the characters and the more serious elements is going to be a balancing act.

 

From early reviews, it sounds like the movie suffers a bit from the dual constraints of running time and loyalty to the source material. Not enough to put me off, but enough to think that the longer directors cut is likely to be better in many respects.

 

Robert

[jordanmuehl]

Anyone going to a midnight showing? I think I'll be heading to the Oriental tonight.

[bthurley19]

No midnight showing for me, have to work at 8 in the morning. I did pick up a copy of the "motion comic" on blu-ray though and I'm about half way through and enjoying every minute of it. It also came with a free ticket so that's a benefit as well.

[RobertR]

Yeah, I'm too old for midnight showings, not to mention work. Especially for 2 hour 40+ minute movies with a philosophical ending. I'm looking forward to the 3:30 am comments though.

 

Robert

[JoeHova]

I wasn't that excited about seeing the film because I didn't think it would be that good but then I read a review on Salon which can only be characterized as a rave. The reviewer says stuff like ""Watchmen" is absolutely devastating. Dense, intense, tragic and visionary, this is the kind of movie that keeps setting off bombs in your brain hours after you've seen it. After coming out of the theater, I wandered the frozen streets of Manhattan watching passersby and wondering which was the real city, the apparently peaceful one I inhabit now or the one that faces Armageddon at the mid-'80s height of the Cold War in the Moore-Gibbons universe. If I could have gone back inside and watched the movie all over again, I'd have done it." The he says about the director: "Although he was easily the least promising of the directors attached to this project over the years -- which have included Terry Gilliam, Paul Greengrass and Darren Aronofsky -- Zack Snyder (of "300" and the 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" remake) reveals himself here as a filmmaker of mightily impressive range and control. For my money, "Watchmen" way out-darks "The Dark Knight," and immediately leaps near the top of the list of apocalyptic pop-culture operas, alongside "Blade Runner" and the first "Matrix" movie (which are obvious influences)." Then he concludes with: "I've made it clear by this point that I think "Watchmen" is a terrific comic-book movie, the most completely satisfying and unsettling one I've ever seen. I also feel pretty sure that its reviews will be all over the map, and that at least some viewers will be profoundly turned off by the bitterness and bleakness of this movie's vision."

 

I like that reviewer a lot and he's not usually given to over the top praise. Suffice to say that I am now pretty excited to see the film.

 

link:

http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2009/03/06/watchmen/

[jordanmuehl]

I'm incredibly tired, so I'll keep it brief for now: it was a visually arresting movie, and the narrative did not stray far, for the most part, from that of the graphic novel. The film as a whole, however, was too schizophrenic, too off-kilter for me to call a good, let alone great, film.

[stoops17]

I saw it last night too, visually I thought it was really well done and I thought the soundtrack really played well with the movie. I need to reread the original material to even remember what was changed. Overall I thought it was great. It was long, but just like The Dark Knight, I didn't even realize until it was over.

[BrewCrewForever]

Seen it tonight. Like others said visually it was fantastic. I also loved the Soundtrack especially the Dylan during the opening credits and Hendrix toward the end. Overall it had my attention and I liked it but very slow moving and long.

[RobertR]

Just got back in. Take these comments as coming from a long time fan of the material.

 

Overall, I really liked the movie. I thought it looked great, I enjoyed most of the performances, most of the major themes make the transition fine, there's some wit up on the screen, I enjoyed the period touches and soundtrack (and was greatly amused by a Muzak version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). I especially enjoyed when Snyder was able to break away from the graphic novel for an embellished opening credits (which you can view here) and a very clever sequence with a swinging rest room door, that I could see fitting right into the graphic novel.

 

It does struggle with the running time though. The story has been editted to an inch of its life. They fit in a surprising amount of plot, but I think they lose some of the humanity in the process. The Doomsday Clock ticking down doesn't have the same feeling of dread. And much of the humanity of the work has been lost. The repetition, visual and verbal, of people holding on to each other in the face of Armageddon. The humanity of Laurie's backstory. And, probably most of all, the common people that congregate around the newstand has been lost and makes the stakes more intellectual than emotional.

 

The longer director's cut is almost certainly going to be better. It's not the masterpiece that the comics are, the linear forward movement of a film working against it in many respects, but it's a more than respectable attempt.

 

Robert

[Baldkin]

I will be the first to admit, I haven't read the original material. So on that end, I cannot comment.

 

My original thoughts: The movie was simply too long. They tried to cram in all of the characters back stories, and all the goofy sex scenes, and it ended up detracting from the plot of the movie. The movie didn't go deep enough into anything and it left me feeling like "What was the point of showing me that?" when the movie was over.

[SquirrelMaster]

I did not read the original material as well, but it seemed like from the detail in the movie they stuck pretty close to it.

 

Visually, the movie was great. Almost flawless. The plot was a tad slow, but I think it allowed more for character development, and that was a huge plus for me. The soundtrack was great, and I loved the use of the flight of the valkyries. For everyone that has seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about!

 

Rorschach was my favorite character, followed by the comedian.

 

This movie makes me want to go and read the original writings..

[TheCrew07]

Dish Network has the motion comics up for pay per view, on a whim last night I watched chapters 1-4, liked them enough that I rented 5-8 this morning, and I already have the DVR set for 9-12 overnight. Each section is about 1:50 for the 4 chapters, I'm not sure what I'm missing from the book, but I'm definitely hooked.

 

RobertR made reference to the comic within a comic which I obviously didn't get at the time, but damn if that isn't a cool idea in so many different ways.

 

I'll finish the motion comics, see the movie, and I know for a fact I'll be picking up the original printed material.

[razzzorsharp]

Just finished the book and I think I would rather call it that than a comic or a graphic novel. My non-spoiler thoughts on it...

 

1) This is not a traditional comic in any sense, besides the illustrations, in the fact that there is minimal action and more character development than in 95% of all stories you read.

2) I did enjoy the story but at times I thought it got bogged down from too many things taking place at the same time with the cutting and weaving the many different stories.

3) The wording was extremely longwinded at times and it took me two-three times re-reading the same passage before I could even understand what what going on.

4) The illustrations were great and really set the tone for the story they went went.

5) Alan Moore is nuts.

6) If I would have tried to tackle this book during my teenage years when I read comics, I would have quit half way through. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to get to the payoff in this story.

7) The characters were really well done and very humanized. I loved the extreme contrasts between every main character.

8) Lastly, if I was asked if I enjoyed reading the book, I could not give a definitive answer. Do I regret it, not at all, but part of me feels like my mind has been a little fried by the experience.

[RobertR]

 

The credits above are one of the things I absolutely adore about the movie. And illustrates some of it's strengths and weaknesses.

 

And it absolutely expects the audience to keep up with it without handholding. The credits sequence alone expects you to know your 20th century history, know the famous Life magazine VJ Day photo,?spot a reference to the Last Supper by DaVinci, know you Kennedy assassination theories, spot a reflection in the moon landing, know who Andy Warhol and Truman Capote are, know what Studio 54 was along with who the Village People, Bowie, and Jagger, and know that Nixon could only serve two terms,?along with pick up on the alternate history with superheroes. Oh, and note Bob Dylan is singing.

?

The rest of movie has much the same level of density. There is stuff tucked into all sorts of corners of the frame. And, it wants to define at least six characters, tell a good mystery that telescopes into something more, have some kickass fight scenes, some philosophical musings, and subvert many of the tropes of superhero stories. While set in an alternate 80s on the edge of Cold War annihilation.

?

It's not very friendly to the general audience. And even within the ground rules it sets, it's hardly perfect. But I expect no more ambitious a blockbuster to be released this year. And what it pulls off?successfully is quite an accomplishment in my mind.

 

Robert

[BrewCrewForever]

Favorite line in the movie: "Remember I'm not locked in here with you, your locked in here with me!" Rorschach is the man!

[twobrewers]

And much of the humanity of the work has been lost.

I've never read anything. But after seeing the movie tonight, my wife and I both left with that impression.

 

I enjoyed it, but never became emotionally involved with any of the characters. It certainly seemed like they had to leave out a lot to keep the plot moving.

 

The opening sequence with Dylan playing was fantastic.