Hello everyone. At least half of you I know in real life. The rest of you? You'll just have to come along for the ride as I spill my two cents over whatever I choose. You'll have to forgive me, this being my first time out. I thought I would try my hand at a movie review. So without further adue....
My first movie rambling in the new Alliance with the Patrick will be one that I’ve watched at least two dozen times in the last month alone. And the more times I watched it the more some of the shady plot holes began to reveal themselves. It’s a novel turned film of what some thought was unfilmable. So unfimable that one of the original creators refuses to watches it to this day. That movie… is Watchmen.
Begin brief history….
Watchmen, originally a 12 part limited series released by DC Comics with Allen Moore, Dave Gibbins, and John Higgins ( I think people forget about that guy) released over a two year period in 1986 and 87. Moore used the story to reflect contemporary anxieties and to critique the superhero genre. Here in a alternate 1985 where Nixon is reelected for a third term in the wake of a nuclear holocaust - masked costumed avengers exist, and all for a rare couple do not possess superhuman powers. By the time we are reading into the story they are outlawed, a government sanctioned "hero" The Comedian is murdered, and Rorschach discovers what appears to be a plot to kills masks (the term used for the disguised vigilantes) but reveals something more grand and daunting that he ever could have imagined.
Sorry about the brief synopsis. The story of Watchmen is so vast and heavy handed with details upon details, that to explain everything would take pages, so If you want the entire thing, go to Wikipedia or something. I will push on and hope that this makes sense to my fearless readers.
Now back to the movie.
The movie was in development hell since the early 90s around the time of the Tim Burton Batman movies came out, which a lot of executives, directors, and actors would come and go with the project. There would be a whirlwind of football like passing for the movies rights, yahda yahda. But finally Zack Snyder, the man behind 300, was brought in, all the planets aligned, and we have Watchmen the movie that came out in 2009.
So was it good? Well? Was it? Well… for the most part yes. But I did have some issues.
Here’s how I’ll break down my rating that is either HAD, HADN’T, or FENCE. (Fence means something may or may not be acceptable depending on your viewing choices)
Story: General story, plot points, overall flow.
Characters/Acting/Performance: 3d? 2d? Well written or utter crap?
Production values: CGI or Plywood sets?
Direction: How did they do?
Overall acceptability? Water to wine? Or just something to whine about?
Here we go.
Story: FENCE
Generally speaking it’s easy enough to follow since a lot of the backstory for the characters has been cut or sinched up to be very brief. Maybe we don’t have to know where Rorschach’s mask came from, but it is a neat little detail that sets it apart from the graphic novel it came from. The pacing for a three hour movie lags at times when going to visit past scenes with the Comedian and other characters, which if these were not there, would cut the movie by half, but that’s part of the Watchmen experience. It suffers from Harry Potter syndrome of cutting story elements that the core plot is loosely hung together…
Characters/Acting/Performance: HAD
One of the best aspects that Snyder transferred from book to screen were the vast and rich characters from the novel. Rorshach, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owel – everyone was alive and a full of life. The actors were no names, which helped the film to not get carried on one or two name performers. And THEY WERE GOOD! Sorry, Keneu Reeves as Rorshach just does not cut it. The director had a vision for what the characters should have been in real life. Dr. Manhattan for instance did not have a God’s voice, in fact, he seemed the most frail for being the Superman of this universe. For their strengths, they had flaws, and this is what makes them great.
Production Values: HAD
No doubt top dollar was spent on making this feel like the graphic novel. Whole city streets of an alternate 1985 New York were crated on backlots to get the right atmosphere for the film. I mean COME ON! That’s flippin fantastic!! And don’t let me get into the detail in Dr. Manhattan’s man. I saw that on IMAX – it was epic. Music selection was spectacular as well, a lot of Bob Dillian in there, athough 2/3rds of the songs were covers by Jimi Hendrix and My Chemical Romance. My new favorite song was Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle.
Direction: FENCE
Yes. This was directed by the guy who did 300, but do we need to be constantly reminded of that fact? At least a quarter, if I dare say nearly half of the film, is in EPIC slow motion. Watching the rain curtail on the brim of Rorshach’s hat is EPIC. But jeez, that sequence took like seven minutes or something. Like watching molasus dry. Then again if your into all that well gorge yourself. What he did DO right, like I stated before, was create the perfect atmostphere for the movie, even to the tiniest details in Comedians zippo having Silk Spector I on it. And while on details, costuming was good, but somewhat was reflecting the power armor craze that’s still going on today (*cough* *cough* G.I. Joe), then again, if you’ve read the graphic novel – some of those costumes are quite silly, so I can see the reason to update them.
Overall Acceptability: FENCE
Unfortunately this is a movie you either love or hate. OR any shade of it. It’s one of those films that has so much going for and against it that really only time will truly tell if it can hold up like it’s book counterpart that’s been around for over 20 years. This writer likes this movie for the reasons above. Does it have flaws? Of course. But most good movies do. In the end, you gotta judge it by your own merits. It’s not the typical superhero movie, it’s not a simple popcorn movie. But it’s no Beautiful Mind or Taxi Driver either.
I hope you enjoyed my first review, having finished by 2 am this morning. Next time there will be more rambling when I can ramble about something most might understand. Cause sometimes, I don't even understand what I'm rambling about. But I’ll work on that.
Next time, another review, one I think people have been waiting for my opinion on since it came out in June this year. Yeah, you know who you’re gonna call.
Until Next Time…
No comments:
Post a Comment