Film Review: WATCHMEN blew me away!
Comments(67)
- By drvenkman
Watchmen was my most anticipated film of 2009. When they showed the first footage of the film at comic-con I was blown away. And since that time we have been bombarded with tons of posters, different trailers, awesome vintage viral marketing, and film clips. It seemed like everyday we had some more Watchmen news to share with everyone, and I have loved everything that has come to us, except that one badly photo shopped poster.
My expectations for Watchmen were through the roof, I don’t think I have ever had expectations this high for any movie before. I am a huge fan of the comic book, and there was a heavy burden on Zack Snyder’s shoulders to do it justice. This is a film every fanboy and fangirl has been waiting to see with heavy anticipation, and I am here to yell you that your waiting has not been in vain. Zack Snyder delivers the goods and develops a Watchmen film that could not have been done any better anywhere or by anyone.
As a fan of the graphic novel I thought Watchmen was absolutely incredible! The movie nailed exactly what my expectations for it were. Everything that was put in the movie was perfect and spot on. It really is a Watchmen fan’s wet dream. This supposedly unmakeable film was made incredibly well, and with an awesome amount of detail that in my opinion no other director would have brought to the movie. Snyder fought the studio system to bring the audience the most faithful adaptation of Watchmen that could have been made. I truly enjoyed every second of the film. It was two hours and forty-five minutes of balls out awesomeness. For me the movie didn’t feel that long at all, the time just flew by.
Once the opening title sequence begins to role for the film you just get sucked right into the movie, it takes you by the hand and leads you into this alternate universe; it brought a big smile to my face. When it was over I instantly wished I could have rewound it and watch it again.
The action in the film was freakin breathtaking, the fight scenes were choreographed extremely well and brutal as all hell. You know exactly what you have in store when the Comedian gets his ass kicked and thrown out the window. That scene was amazing. When I found out later that Warner Bros made Snyder edit down the violence I was surprised because of how hardcore the final cut ended up being. Snyder really knows how to direct fight sequences, and takes you right into the action, and you get a chance to see and feel the hurt that is brought on. He does not hold out on the violence and he makes it crazy fun to watch.
The music and sound effects for the film were perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better than what the creative team developed. The soundtrack is great, and all the songs they chose to put in the movie were just right.
The acting in the film was marvelous! These actors did such a surprising job playing their characters, and taking them seriously. The dialogue for the film is right out of the graphic novel and you would think it would be unnatural for people to talk the way the characters do in the comic. But it doesn’t come off unnatural at all! These actors really became these characters and found the right way to play them and deliver the dialogue, in such a way that it didn’t come off as being cheesy. This amazing cast includes: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectra II(She gets Naked), Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan (He shows his blue balls off), Matthew Goode as Ozymandias (Way better than I thought he would be), Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian (Evil son of a bitch), Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl (Kicks total ass), and Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter (gets the crap beat out of her bad). But the performance that literally blew me away was that of Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. I know he has a mask on the majority of the time, but in the scenes where he does not have it on mostly while he is in prison, his performance is award winning worthy. The intensity and emotions are heavy and strong. He got me all choked up at one point.
Two of my favorite scenes in the movie are when Nite Owl and Silk Spectra II get cornered in the ally and are compelled to fight back for the first time in a long time. And the whole Rorschach prison experience was fantastic! I don’t want to go into detail, and ruin it for some people, but if you’ve read the novel you know what I’m talking about.
I think fans of the graphic novel are going to appreciate the film more than those that have not read it yet for the fact that the movie is packed with so many little details that only the fans of the comic book will be able to pick out. For the fanboy’s or girl’s that have not read the graphic novel, they are still going to enjoy the hell out of this film. The movie is visually stimulating with an intense story that revolves around really dysfunctional superheroes. I think the regular movie goer is going to have a hard time excepting this world and the characters in it. I don’t think it will go over their heads, but they wont get what they are expecting and that may turn them off. Regardless of who you are if you can handle crazy mature content such as violence, blood, nudity and sex I highly recommend this movie.
Now that you know how much I loved the film I will get into a few details. I warn you that if you read ahead and you have not read the graphic novel there will be SPOILERS from here on out but not many. Lets talk about the ending.
It’s not what is at the end of the graphic novel. There is no giant squid that comes down and destroys New York. There is something else, a device developed by Ozymandias with the help of Dr. Manhattan, which ends up causing the carnage at the end of the story. There is however a nod to the squid, if you look closely you will notice that the weapon that was created is called S.Q.U.I.D. which is an acronym for something, but I can’t remember what it was, I do know the Q stands for quantum. I don’t feel the change at the end ruined anything in the story, in fact it made a great deal of sense. Everything leading up to this point flowed exceptionally well. I was not disappointed in the ending at all like I thought I would be.
There are a few things that did not make it into the theatrical cut, such as the News Stand guys and there relationship. You get glimpses of them from time to time but no dialogue. They do show the classic scene at the end when they embrace as they disintegrate. It would have been much more powerful had you got to know the characters though. Also missing is the crazy murder scene of the old school Nite Owl that is in the graphic novel. But! These scenes will be included in the directors cut which runs three hours and ten minutes long and will be released in July theatrically in Los Angeles and New York. Zack also said there is more violence, blood, and sexiness in it. So we have that to look forward too in the future. There is a diffinative edition we will get to see, so don’t write the theatrical version off just because the studio made Snyder cut the time down in the theatrical cut. He did film these scenes, and you will get to see them.
I also want to note that the Hoverbikes used at the end of the comic book did not make it in the movie.
I am sure there are going to be those die hard Watchmen fans out there that are not going to like the movie. Fact of the matter is whether they like it or not the movie was going to get made. Had it not been Zack Snyder it would have been someone else, some one like Brett Ratner who would have made a mockery out of this story. So I would be grateful that the film was made by a Watchmen fan. Snyder had to fight for a lot of the story and darkness from the novel to be in the film. Just as an example he said that in the original script he was given Ozymandias is killed at the end of the movie when the Nite Owl’s ship crashes through his artic fortress. Are you kidding!? No. He had to do some smooth talking to get that back to the source material.
I could not have asked for a better adaptation of ‘Watchmen’. The spirit of the graphic novel lives in this movie. What more can you ask for.
Honestly. This is just my opinion, and by saying this I put it this film on a completely high pedestal, and from a complete fanboy point of view I liked it more than ‘The Dark Knight’. There I said it. Let the ranting begin.
“Sub QUantum Intrinsic Device.”
thank you for your courage in saying you enjoyed it more than the dark knight.
Sounds awesome man! Looking forward to catching this when it’s released in the UK – and then getting the full cut on Blu-Ray!!!
Brilliant review.
Great review man. You hit on a lot of the points I was fearful of with this movie. It sounds promising and now I’m starting to get my hopes back up that this will actually be decent.
Can. Not. Wait. For. This. Movie.
Good to know that the blu-ray will deliver the goodies that the theater will not…
Great review. After having been to the Comic Con panel, seen all the trailers and footage, and just hear Zach Snyder talk about the film, I have high expectations. And this is helping fuel those expectations. I’ll be seeing it in a week and a half.
Now, did you get to see this in a regular theatre, or was it IMAX?
[...] erste Review des heißersehnten Films “Watchmen” ist online bei GeekTyrant. Schon der Titel “Film Review: WATCHMEN blew me away!” lässt erahnen, dass man sehr [...]
[...] Go here to read the rest: Film Review: WATCHMEN blew me away! – GeekTyrant [...]
Now I really can’t wait. I’m glad that David Hayter worked on the screenplay which was lauded as the best one out of all the other failed attempts at making this movie.
Doc, How did you see this early?!
Thank you darknight360! for the clarification on the meaning SQUID.
Mann is the Man, I got invited to go to a private screening. I guess I got lucky.
[...] GeekTyrant: “a Watchmen fan’s wet dream.” … “I truly enjoyed every second of the film. It was two hours and forty-five minutes of balls out awesomeness. For me the movie didn’t feel that long at all, the time just flew by.” … “The action in the film was freakin breathtaking, the fight scenes were choreographed extremely well and brutal as all hell.” … “The acting in the film was marvelous!” … “I think fans of the graphic novel are going to appreciate the film more than those that have not read it yet” [...]
Doesn’t surprise me that you liked it more then TDK. I honestly was disappointed with that film because the ending felt forced. I’m not as excited as I was before about Watchmen, but I’m still going to see it.
Thanks for this review, and for clarify this SQUID part.
[...] “It was two hours and forty-five minutes of balls out awesomeness.”-Geek Tyrant [...]
What an absolute joke of a review. Those of us with a bit of sense know this will be awful. No i’m not a total cynic. No i’m not an elitist. It just doesn’t take a genius to see that Zack Snyder is a bad, bad, BAD choice for director for such a revered piece of literature. The first time i saw the clips for this i questioned whether or not this was some great, elaborate joke on the Watchmen fanboys of the world. It seems it isn’t and this makes me sad. Me and my two brothers have been fans for so long it just hurts really bad to see this happen. I don’t know how much you were payed to publish this … joke but it’s certainly not funny.
Krang WTF are you talking about? It was a well written and honest review. I’m guessing you would have hated any attempt at making this novel into a film.
i thought the Dark Knight was dreadful…
whereas Watchmen looks amazing.
and i was a Batman fan until recently.
so no offence taken here!
Why are people afraid to say the truth about The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was an infinitely better film and a true “Batman” film. TDK was an excersise in playing it safe and let’s face it BOOOOOOOOOOOring!!!!
I see this movie has received nothing but positive reviews on this page, if any of you are interested in viewing more behind the scenes clips feel free to visit http://www.movieset.com/watchmen they have some really good ones of guys lighting themselves on fire. Once you have seen those if that isn’t enough for you there is also a contest you can enter at http://www.movieset.com/watchmen/news/sk6zhw/MovieSet-Watchmen-Contest! you can win these glasses where you can watch tv as look out into the world.
Krang,
Ha!ha!ha! I wish I could make some money off this blog! You my friend just got yourself a negative attitude. Watchmen was freakin awesome, and Snyder did a fantastic job! I bet the original graphic novel didn’t live up to your standards either.
We shouldn’t be praising mediocrity. Zack Snyder said himself that this wouldn’t be “just a popcorn flick” and yet – look at it. The ending being changed IS a big deal. I guess i’ll just have to wait until the real, unbiased reviews come out on this movie.
Hey Krang, he has his own opinion and he is entitled to it. Film is a different media from Comics, besides have you seen the movie?
I’m going to see the midnight showing on Thursday. ***EXCITING!*** I’m glad to hear that Synder was a fan..based on his previous work (or what I’ve seen of it, anyway), he would not have been my choice for director. I’m afraid that this movie will LOOK good, but lack substance. I hope the author of this view is correct, because nothing would make me happier than an amazing Watchmen movie.
PS: The Dark Knight was good, but overrated. It’s okay to admit it
[...] I thought Watchmen was absolutely incredible!”…to read the rest of the review click here. Share and [...]
Excellent review sir, I knew this would be better than The Dark Knight, so friday at midnight I know for a fact now I won’t be disapointed.
[...] Tyrant reviews the upcoming Watchmen film, concluding that “I could not have asked for a better adaptation of ‘Watchmen’. The [...]
great review and i cannot say any more than what was already said but isnt she called the SILK SPECTRE. sorry just a little thing that was bugging me
I consider my self a geek and love the comic genre. I have not read the Watchmen. Should I be for I see it, your review seems to say yes?
Lots of typos in an infantile review.
why have you rated 18 because i’m 11 and do you have wachmen rated 12
this review is amazing! thank you so much! i haven’t seen it and i had a bunch of questions, about the ending. i am kinda dissapointed that it wasnt the freaky squid. do they have the whole missing writer part?
The movie was unbelievable. Not perfect and not an absolute replica of the original comic, but as perfect an adaptation as I can imagine.
It’s beautiful. Best.superhero.movie.ever.
I can’t wait to see it again and can’t wait to get the Director’s Cut DVD.
And to eva – no the missing writer subplot was one of the things that had to be excluded. But it doesn’t really matter. Really.
[...] GeekTyrant rispetta il suo nome, e recensisce il film da vero fan: “Il sogno bagnato di un fan di Watchmen. Ho adorato ogni istante del film. Due ore e quarantacinque di magnificenza. Non mi sono affatto pesate, scorreva bene. L’azione era mozzafiato, le scene di combattimento coreografate davvero bene, e decisamente brutali. (…) La recitazione era meravigliosa, e credo che i fan del fumetto apprezzeranno maggiormente il film rispetto a chi non l’ha letto. [...]
what a bunch of sad fucking cunts, go and get a real life you pathetic 80’s throwbacks. its just a film based on an old comic.
DarkKnight was cheezy gayness compared to the story and violence of watchmen
I saw the movie last night…I thought Zack did a fantastic job in staying true to the book. So what if they were some minor tweaks here and there. The dialog was true to the book, the special effects and action scenes were great. The only way Zack could have satisfy the most complaining fanboys is by making the movie 4 hours in length and still I don’t think that would be enough. I see 2 groups of people giving bad reviews to this movie: the fanboys (same group who didn’t like V for Vendetta OR 300) and the people who have not read the book. I went to the heather with an open mind and not-so-high expectations because I knew the movie was not going to be an exact replica of the book. This is by far the best comic-book/graphic-novel I have seen (yeah…better than all the Batman’s and Spidermans)!!!
movies was absolutly amazing, couldnt ask for anything better for the graphic novel sure the ending was changed but it fit in perfectly, im a big fan of the attention to detail, mind you there were some parts that i wasnt a big fan of but over all freaking awesome
[...] & Video Clips David Hayter explains why the ending of Watchmen is different because of 9/11 Geek Tyrant’s review of the Watchmen film Watchmen character profiles at [...]
the movie was horrible. Even though the graphic novel was a success the movie will not be. I agree the fight scenes were great, when there were fight scenes. Other than that I had a tough time staying awake for the 2:43 minute movie. Don’t waste your time and pay to see it in the theatre. Wait for the dvd. My friend and I had plans to see it twice. We’re both sorry we saw it once.
This was an absolutely f*%#king brilliant film. I agree the ending change does alter some of the meaning of the original but it still works very well within the story of the movie. Let’s face it the graphic novel takes 10ish hours to read so unless they made it a mini-series it couldn’t be identical. Very well done adaptation in my opinion. Off to see it again later today
Bad.
Worst plot, worst movie I have seen in a very, very long time. I love superhero movies, but this movie is full of superheros, only one of which actually has any superhero powers. The plot wanders aimlessly, it is unnecessarily bloody (and I don’t mind blood), and it is overall very cheezy.
Krang, I couldn’t agree with you more. Zack Snyder took what could of been great film and turned it into a cheesy action flick. I am tiered of watching comic book films that use the same stylized crap that they used in 300. Slowing down an action scene does nothing for plot movement or story telling. I feel that they missed the boat on a lot of what the story was conveying in the novel. The script focused on the “main story” line, which to anyone who has read the book know is not the meat of the story. I understand that to hit all of the plot lines the movie would end up being around 8 hours long. However maybe DC should of made this into a mini series. But then again maybe I am just one of those fans who would of been disappointed in any film that came out of this book.
Comparing movies just because they happen to be in the same genre is pointless. Watchmen doesn’t have to be compared to Dark Knight, or Iron Man, or Slumdog Millionaire. Stop it! As for the movie itself, I’m not going to say it’s the best anyone could have done it. Hearing about Terry Gilliams idea of a mini series would have been pretty cool now that I think about it, because the one thing a movie can’t give you that I got back in the day was the serialization feeling of having to wait 30 days for the next installment. Synder should be congratulated for keeping the story intact. Moore’s basic story is all there. What I think will hurt the movie really isn’t anything about the movie, but rather how the studio is trying to market it. It really isn’t a superhero movie in the strictest sense that we think of comic book movies, and I’m seeing a lot of people bringing their young kids thinking their going to see Spiderman, or something similar, but then again, I guess they really weren’t looking at the trailer as carefully as they should have. Well, I will be seeing it again, and I’m kinda’ sorry that Mr. Moore isn’t going to give it a chance, he’s name belongs on this. This is his vision up on the big screen. And it was handled a hellofa lot more respectfully than “League of Extrodinary Gentlement”.
CRAZY!!! I will go and see this movie no matter what I read, because some people have the taken the time and money to produce something others wouldnt. The comments on this page are from one extreme to another; either amazing – the best movie ever, or terrible – lets start shooting it down. I understand that movie adaptations of Graphic Novels damage the original work (V for Vendetta and LOEG). My advice: treat the two mediums independant of each other. This is not Alan Moores Watchmen it never will be.
Better than the Dark Knight? What the hell are you smoking? I watched it. Even at almost 3 hours, the film lacked the character development that it needed. The actual filmography was good, but the storyline was too edited. 4/10
I had the pleasure in seeing the Watchmen this past Sunday and I left the theatre with mixed feelings. I was happy in one sense but then I felt cheated. I understand that you cant take a book of that magnitude and condense it to 3 hours after editing but I felt cheated because their was too much cutting and pasteing and their were too many cinematic techniques that were used in previous films by the same director.I also didnt like the fact that some of the scenes that should have been edited or were necessarily important were kept in the story and some of the most important details in the book were cut.The violence at times seemed too forced and extremely excessive than even the book itself which made it more disturbingly grotesque rather than disturbingly eery. This definitely effected how viewers perceived Rorschach whether they read the book or not. my favorite part of his back story was the dialogue with his shrink.But being that the scene was just reduced to “I dont like you” and his prostitute mother slapping him and expressing she should have had an abortion it just made him look more brutally sociopathic than he needed to be.Watching him chew into a bully’s face as a kid was one thing but having him chew on it and grin in slow motion just took me out of the moment. Adleast the book made you feel sorry for him as a boy rather than just a crazy kid who grew up to be a crazy adult.the actresses overly acting as lady jupiter definitely put a strain on the overly drawn out sex scenes and the dialogue between Dr. Mahattan. It really should have been a series but Iam glad that Synder did this movie rather than Ratner.Other than that it would be unfair to say that it wasnt a good attempt in being loyal to the book and I know you cant please everybody but nevertheless it was a good.
I entered the cinema without expectation (I know next to nothing about the Watchmen universe) and was a bit disappointed with the slow pace of the film at the beginning. I didn’t particularly like the setting of the movie in the 80’s alternate reality too. However, it got into philosophy when Dr. Manhattan was on Mars and then the movie made a turnaround for me as I appreciated it as an intricate piece of artwork with each superhero being a metaphor for our personalities in life. Personally, I related to how Dr. Manhattan felt towards the end. Our human intelligence is really insignificant. In this particular case, no matter how much we criticize or praise the movie, we must remember that only what would be done can be done. Truly amazing how everything came together at this point of the universe for me to witness such an incredible work of art!
I don’t know anything about the comic book. But the movie was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I love it. I’m going to watch it again. I love going to the movies. Yah right, TDK was booooooooring! Admit it.
I loved they way they bridged different generations throughout Watchmen, both with props (like the floppy discs) and with music
I thought there was too much blood and gore, and I don’t want to see more in the director’s cut. Everything else about this film had me squealing like a little schoolgirl in glee (and I’m a straight male). Haley should get another Oscar Nod for this. He won’t, but he should.
I am new to the watchmen universe, went into the movie knowing nothing, only seen 1 or 2 trailers, CG looked great so I said why not…. I can not believe that anyone would give this good reviews, any person with half a brain could see that most scenes were dragged out, some were pointless to the plot, for all those hours, I’ve seen half hour cartoons with better characterization…. I thought all heros except Dr. Manhattan were normal (no powers), yet they all know kung fu, are almost indestructable, super fast….. Where is the story to explain these abilities? Gimme a 30 second clip of Rorchach living in an orphanage with Ninja… something anything… Yes the storyline had promise (world on the brink of destruction where good guy turns bad hoping to do more good in the long run) I figured out who the bad guy way when I first saw him, no mystery, poorly developed love story. Hated the ending most of all….This movie just sucked all around. Seriously
I agree with Dr. Borehattan… I am new to the Watchmen universe as well. The movie was drawn out and way to much dialog for the amount of hype it was given about being violent. In the whole 3 hours, there was maybe an hour of the good guys beating the bad guys. The FEW action scenes were pretty cool I admit, but it just lacked in the action department.
What does it matter if you enjoyed it more than The Dark Knight? What’s that movie even have to do with Watchmen?
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Truly, I think both of the movies (Watchmen and Dark Knight) sucked. Dark knight was better, because it didn’t have all the balls in it. In Watchmen you saw more penis than you did titties. WHY!?
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