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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.
Adam, Jaime and I saw Watchmen one and a third times yesterday. Y'see, the projector bulb blew out about 45 minutes into the afternoon showing we were at (this poor couple said they'd tried to see it on Sunday and the fire alarm went off, cutting that showing off as well), so the theater people gave us passes, and we decided to try again a few hours later. That time, we got to see the whole thing. And boy, was it quite the thing. The short version? I liked it. The longer, but spoiler-free version? It's a mostly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, and besides that, a pretty good movie. It's lengthy, yes, but there's a lot that happens. The time really goes by quickly. I've encountered a few reviews that said it was mostly incomprehensible unless you know the story going in. That's bullshit. It stands on its own. Don't just take my word for it - I'd read the graphic novel beforehand, but Jaime had not, and he says he can understand being lost "if you're a complete idiot".
For those who know nothing about either the comic or the movie, it's not your standard superhero fare. Don't go in expecting non-stop fights and spandex costumes. Both of those aspects are present, but neither figure in as strongly as you might expect. Watchmen is as much as about sociology as it is superheroes. Feel free to turn off your brain during a few of the prettier battles and just marvel at the choreography. Just be ready to switch it back on real quick as soon as the talking starts back up.
If you've read the graphic novel but haven't seen the movie yet, you ought to. I think you'll enjoy it. There are a spattering of minor changes and a few big ones, but nothing that spoils the overall experience. In tone, it's still the same Watchmen. The casting and visuals are spot-on (with the possible exception of Adrian, who's different but still worked for me). Most of the alterations are simple things to cut down the movie's length, like combining two conversations into one or switching around which characters are present/prominent at some events to get across plot points in less time. The biggest cut is that of the pirate comic storyline, which is to say, it's gone. Entirely. Bernard and Bernie do appear briefly at... the moment... but that's it. That made me a bit sad. I liked both them and that whole parallel plot. It makes sense, though, that when you're trying to cram a giant graphic novel into the time constraints of one feature film, the first thing to go would be a large complementary, but not essential sidestory. This also means that pretty much all the scenes involving the newsstand are gone, as is the awful thing that happens on Halloween. I'm going to choose to believe it doesn't happen at all in the movie universe and those involved make it out of everything okay. The only other big difference is the ending. It is different. The culprit's the same, and the ultimate goal is the same, but the method was changed quite a bit. This might be sacrilege to say, but... I think I liked the movie's idea better. I'll talk more about that, complete with spoilery goodness, in a moment. Let me just say, really quick, that Dan and Laurie's romance was no more compelling to me in the movie than the comic, which is to say, barely. And the sex scene in Archie just made me uncomfortable. Bleugh.
Anyway, about the ending... So instead of a giant monster-alien-thing, we get Doc Manhatten taking the fall. I kind of love that. For one thing, it really pushes the whole "there's no going back" message and forces their hands. For another, it just seems like it fits better. The monster always seemed a little too unbelievable, given the setting. It was the "cloned from a human sensitive" bit. Somehow, it was just too fiction-y. Yes, we have Doc Manhatten, who's very implausible, and there's quite a bit of technology that doesn't exist in the real world, but otherwise? These aren't superhumans. They're just people, people in costumes, people who work out and have nifty gadgets playing at being super. To me, Watchmen felt grounded in reality, and the random introduction of psychics was an unpleasant little quake. I also think it would've been really, really hard to CG the monster and not have it look ridiculous, plus, since the pirate storyline and thus the threads about missing creative minds were cut out, it would've come out of nowhere. Well, even more nowhere than it did in the comic. The one thing I do miss about the monster is that rather than exploding everything, it killed everyone in a far more visual way. They're not just gone. They're bleeding, dead, frozen forever mid-terror. Those pages hit me hard and made me want to cry in a way the shot of a hole in the ground couldn't. Even knowing the outcome, the death tallies are the same, it's easier to dismiss the losses when you don't see them.
There was another change to the ending that really struck me, something that might seem minor, but that really threw me for a loop - Dan. Dan, Dan, Dan. He resists going along with Adrian's plan, and he follows Rorschach out. Yes, this means he sees Rorschach die. And he screams. And it's gut-wrenching. But here's the thing; I'm not sure which hurts more, him seeing it happen, or him being blissfully ignorant. It's a tough call. I kind of loved the beauty of Rorschach, blunt, uncompromising, extremist Rorschach, being the only one left fighting for the truth. By making Dan more wishy-washy, that gets watered down. Also, while I understood and approved of a lot of the mashing they did to get everything down to movie-length, I really missed the scene with Adrian and Jon talking alone, where Adrian asks if he did the right thing in the end. That was a far more satisfying conclusion than more Jon/Laurie. The movie did include the last bit with the city in all its Russian fusion glory and the kid at the New Frontiersman on the verge of discovering Rorschach's journal, so I can't complain too much. The final shot was just as it should be.
Oh, and one more thing - what was UP with Nixon's nose? Could it have looked anymore absurd? Jeez.
Those who've known me for a while might think they have a handle on my cooking prowess. That is, I suck. Well, guess what I did in between the two showings?
That would be sauteed broccoli, onions, and green peppers and a tuna steak with Garam Masala. Hells yes. And since I'm a multitasker, check out what my dinner entertainment was:
Yeeeeeah.
For those who know nothing about either the comic or the movie, it's not your standard superhero fare. Don't go in expecting non-stop fights and spandex costumes. Both of those aspects are present, but neither figure in as strongly as you might expect. Watchmen is as much as about sociology as it is superheroes. Feel free to turn off your brain during a few of the prettier battles and just marvel at the choreography. Just be ready to switch it back on real quick as soon as the talking starts back up.
If you've read the graphic novel but haven't seen the movie yet, you ought to. I think you'll enjoy it. There are a spattering of minor changes and a few big ones, but nothing that spoils the overall experience. In tone, it's still the same Watchmen. The casting and visuals are spot-on (with the possible exception of Adrian, who's different but still worked for me). Most of the alterations are simple things to cut down the movie's length, like combining two conversations into one or switching around which characters are present/prominent at some events to get across plot points in less time. The biggest cut is that of the pirate comic storyline, which is to say, it's gone. Entirely. Bernard and Bernie do appear briefly at... the moment... but that's it. That made me a bit sad. I liked both them and that whole parallel plot. It makes sense, though, that when you're trying to cram a giant graphic novel into the time constraints of one feature film, the first thing to go would be a large complementary, but not essential sidestory. This also means that pretty much all the scenes involving the newsstand are gone, as is the awful thing that happens on Halloween. I'm going to choose to believe it doesn't happen at all in the movie universe and those involved make it out of everything okay. The only other big difference is the ending. It is different. The culprit's the same, and the ultimate goal is the same, but the method was changed quite a bit. This might be sacrilege to say, but... I think I liked the movie's idea better. I'll talk more about that, complete with spoilery goodness, in a moment. Let me just say, really quick, that Dan and Laurie's romance was no more compelling to me in the movie than the comic, which is to say, barely. And the sex scene in Archie just made me uncomfortable. Bleugh.
Anyway, about the ending... So instead of a giant monster-alien-thing, we get Doc Manhatten taking the fall. I kind of love that. For one thing, it really pushes the whole "there's no going back" message and forces their hands. For another, it just seems like it fits better. The monster always seemed a little too unbelievable, given the setting. It was the "cloned from a human sensitive" bit. Somehow, it was just too fiction-y. Yes, we have Doc Manhatten, who's very implausible, and there's quite a bit of technology that doesn't exist in the real world, but otherwise? These aren't superhumans. They're just people, people in costumes, people who work out and have nifty gadgets playing at being super. To me, Watchmen felt grounded in reality, and the random introduction of psychics was an unpleasant little quake. I also think it would've been really, really hard to CG the monster and not have it look ridiculous, plus, since the pirate storyline and thus the threads about missing creative minds were cut out, it would've come out of nowhere. Well, even more nowhere than it did in the comic. The one thing I do miss about the monster is that rather than exploding everything, it killed everyone in a far more visual way. They're not just gone. They're bleeding, dead, frozen forever mid-terror. Those pages hit me hard and made me want to cry in a way the shot of a hole in the ground couldn't. Even knowing the outcome, the death tallies are the same, it's easier to dismiss the losses when you don't see them.
There was another change to the ending that really struck me, something that might seem minor, but that really threw me for a loop - Dan. Dan, Dan, Dan. He resists going along with Adrian's plan, and he follows Rorschach out. Yes, this means he sees Rorschach die. And he screams. And it's gut-wrenching. But here's the thing; I'm not sure which hurts more, him seeing it happen, or him being blissfully ignorant. It's a tough call. I kind of loved the beauty of Rorschach, blunt, uncompromising, extremist Rorschach, being the only one left fighting for the truth. By making Dan more wishy-washy, that gets watered down. Also, while I understood and approved of a lot of the mashing they did to get everything down to movie-length, I really missed the scene with Adrian and Jon talking alone, where Adrian asks if he did the right thing in the end. That was a far more satisfying conclusion than more Jon/Laurie. The movie did include the last bit with the city in all its Russian fusion glory and the kid at the New Frontiersman on the verge of discovering Rorschach's journal, so I can't complain too much. The final shot was just as it should be.
Oh, and one more thing - what was UP with Nixon's nose? Could it have looked anymore absurd? Jeez.
Those who've known me for a while might think they have a handle on my cooking prowess. That is, I suck. Well, guess what I did in between the two showings?
That would be sauteed broccoli, onions, and green peppers and a tuna steak with Garam Masala. Hells yes. And since I'm a multitasker, check out what my dinner entertainment was:
Yeeeeeah.