Posts tagged Watchmen

There was an amazing amount of hype entering this weekend’s release of “Watchmen.” I got caught up in the hype as well. Having read the graphic novel, I wanted to see how Zach Snyder would adapt one of the greatest pieces of art in history. 

To be quite honest, it was great in some parts and bad in others.  I’ll break it down simply right here:

Good — Cinematography, Jackie Earle Haley and musical score.

Bad — Jumpy scenes, lack of character development and captures only a niche audience.

Ugly — Tries too hard to be close to the novel, Dr. Manhattan’s penis and the fact that Alan Moore has stated that making a “Watchmen” movie would be stupid.

Snyder is an amazing cinematographer, as we saw in the film and in “300.” The early pundits were praising him for attempting to remain true to the graphic novel, but doing so has its draw backs. First off, you alienate the average, movie-goer who probably hasn’t read or even heard of the graphic novels. Second, the way a graphic novel is laid out panel by panel, doesn’t translate well onto the screen. You can get away with it with a movie like “300″ where the action is pretty self explanatory and can be improved. It also helps that Frank Miller is usually helping the director bring his piece of work to life.

I enjoyed the movie, when I wasn’t breaking things down or analyzing what’s wrong and I was focusing really hard on the story at hand. I did lose interest in the story whenever Malin Akerman was naked and doing something with Patrick Wilson. While the sex scenes are in the novel, it almost seems trite and really time filler for the movie. It didn’t add the impact like it did for the novel and really just seemed like Snyder was ready to add his, what is now becoming a trademark, oracle or sex scene moment from “300.”

Jackie Earle Haley really does a great job capturing Rorschach and is easily the star of the film. His performance as the right-winged sociopath was excellent, and he was the only character anyone could remember for their acting. Rorschach is such a bad ass in the film, it actually boosts this movie’s cool factor.

So overall, what did I give the movie? I graded it a 3 out of 5 because the goods were excellent and the bad were down right awful. An “A” and a “F” make a C, so that’s what the movie gets in my book.

I’d suggest seeing it, if you’re looking to do something for two hours and 45 minutes.

Friends Review

Mark Garcia Review — 1.5 out of 5. “The comic book was better off left alone.”

Barry Wong Review — 3.5 out of 5. “It’s a decent and entertaining film, but not the ‘charge the world’ piece of art I was expecting.”

Paolo De Los Reyes Review — 4.5 out of 5. “I like the postmodern narrative style. It does a great job of piecing together the alternate universe that few outside the comic book world know anything about. The acting is also solid. Zack Snyder is truly a visionary director.”