The official I SAW WATCHMEN! thread

[Akitsu]

For those who haven't caught this as of yet, finally a Youtube version of Saturday Morning Watchmen... lol.



Foreign box office is reporting 50 million as of the 15th. With the current domestic totals, that puts it within a few million of meeting the production budget. Not bad for 12 days of release. I expect the DVD offerings this week to spark a bit of interest in seeing the movie a second time, especially the Under the Hood one.

[Parker]

Just saw it in IMAX.

Hot damn.

Also, I missed everything before the scene in the opening credits of Nite-Owl punching the crook robbing the rich people. What'd I miss? Just the Comedian getting murdered?

[Speedbreaker]

Just saw it in IMAX.

Hot damn.

Also, I missed everything before the scene in the opening credits of Nite-Owl punching the crook robbing the rich people. What'd I miss? Just the Comedian getting murdered?

Yes. And you should feel bad and go see it again to rectify this.

[Akitsu]

Talk about missing one of the best parts of the movie... lol.

[Vicious]

Tomorrow, I'll finally be seeing it. Noon, PST, with a lovely lady.

[Vicious]

The Last Person to Watch the Watchmen...
Yes, yes, I know... I'm really late on seeing "Watchmen", but... I had to fix my car, dammit. Plus, I hate going to the movies alone, it's always better with a friend, especially one you know will appreciate it. So, who better to go with than my best friend who has fangirled over this movie so much, she's seen it three times already.

Jen and I went to a noon matinee showing of "Watchmen" at Maverick's theater in Moorpark. Now, Maverick's is an interesting theater. I've never seen a movie theater lobby double as a gym before. Now, if they could combine movie watching with working out, more people would get their asses to the gym.

Trailers we got were for the new "Terminator" which actually looks pretty good. "Angels And Demons" which I am pretty meh about. I'm blanking out on the rest.

Now, as for "Watchmen". It couldn't have been done better. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I know some might end up crucifying me for this, but as far as my ranking comic book movies goes, I think I'd place it just below "The Dark Knight". I thought it was that good.

Rorschach stole the show, he was just brilliant. A perfect translation between from the page to the silver screen. Jackie Earle Hayle was brilliant. It takes talent for someone that tiny to be that intimidating.

I liked Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl. While I still think that John Cussack would have made a great Dan, Patrick really brought him to life. A good man, trying to do the right thing in a horrible world. He was such a geek, he was great.

Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II was okay. I thought she was the weakest of the cast, but she wasn't anywhere near as bad as other reviews have led me to believe. While she wasn't ideal casting, she didn't take me out of the movie at all the way Kirsten Dunst and Katie Holmes did.

Oh, and that sex scene, well... Hallelujah!

Billy Crudup was terrific as Dr. Manhattan. While his voice wasn't as deep as I imagined it, it worked for me. Worked better for me. Jon Osterman was a regular guy who became God. I liked that behind all that he was still a human being.

BTW, I don't get all the people going on and on and on about his penis. It's nothing worth going on about and it's only really there if you're looking for it. I like big, blue dong jokes as much as the next guy, but the people just obsessing over it, well, I wonder about them. Because this was not very intrusive. It's just a penis.

Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias was also a pleasant surprise. He was another one that I heard complaints about, but, I totally bought him as a genius who believed he knew what was best for everyone. He oozed arrogance.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was a delightful Fascist monster as the Comedian. I look at him and say to myself, he is everything that is wrong with my gender. He was terrific.

But, another surprise for me had to be Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter. I liked her a lot. Even when she was old, she was a really sexy couger. I almost think she would have been a better Silk Spectre II than Malin. At the end of the movie, when she slaps Dan on the ass, Jen leans over to me and tells me that is going to be her in a few decades... something I was totally thinking anyway.

It was a great movie.

But, it wasn't perfect. I thought the make-up on Richard Nixon was embarrassing. Considering that "Frost/Nixon" just came out, that was inexcusable.

And a little annoyance, not a flaw, but a moment from the graphic novel that I enjoyed and wish made it in was Adrian asking Jon if he did the right thing, and Jon saying that nothing ends. We got the line later from Laurie to Dan, but I missed that moment.

I liked the new ending. I think it made more sense than the squid, and it gave Dr. Manhattan more of a reason to exile himself. Besides, Veidt's device kind of resembled the squid anyway.

Now, is the graphic novel better? Of course it is. The book is always better. Always. But "Watchmen" was a pretty damn good movie also.

And isn't going to the movies to see a pretty damn good movie the point? I can't wait for the big Blu-ray set.

So, went to see a pretty damn good movie with my best friend. I'd say that more than qualifies this as a good day.

[Akitsu]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I agree that there's a lot of "OMG Blue Penis!" talk that just shows how ridiculously prude our culture is in comparison to the rest of the world. It's there. It was there in the book. If you read the book and thought it wouldn't make it to screen, you were wrong.

I liked Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl. While I still think that John Cussack would have made a great Dan, Patrick really brought him to life. A good man, trying to do the right thing in a horrible world. He was such a geek, he was great.

I can see your point on that one, but at the same time I'm really happy with the casting choice as is. Cussack would come off more as himself than Dan, simply because he's such a big name actor in comparison to the rest of the cast. As is, Wilson simply IS Dan... Hallelujah indeed.

Billy Crudup was terrific as Dr. Manhattan. While his voice wasn't as deep as I imagined it, it worked for me. Worked better for me. Jon Osterman was a regular guy who became God. I liked that behind all that he was still a human being.

I think he did a brilliant job of sounding like a heartbroken godlike being... which gave a whole new level of appreciation for me, as it's very easy to screw something like that up. You can tell he had a very good grasp of the intricacies of the character.

Personally, I rank the movie as on par with The Dark Knight... both are brilliant examples of just what is possible for a comic book movie, and I hope to see more of their ilk in the future.

[Rust]

I'll be seeing it this Wednesday.

[Akitsu]

Yeah, I have to IMAX it sometime this week. This might be the last shot anyone has to see it on the glorious big screen considering the weekend numbers.

Funny thing that. Even though Watchmen pulled in 23 million this week, the only thing the public ever hears about is the weekend box office... which was only 6.5 million. Never mind the fact that it's pulled in nearly 100 million in 3 weeks, whereas Taken and Slumdog Millionaire aren't that much further ahead even though they've been out 3 and 6 times longer respectively. (Taken has 133 m in 8 weeks, and Slumdog 137 in 19)

It's kind of sad, but with so many more profitable 1.5-2 hour films out right now... I expect the 3 hour extravaganza to go from 2 screens at each location to one... or be dropped all together. That is unless they do something smart like add in scenes and make those people who've already seen it want to go another round. It's already lost 102 locations over the weekend.

I think the advertising execs are pretty much asleep at the wheel with this one. I saw a few ads last week, but for the most part it seems like they've given up on the possibility of rallying fans to see it again. They're a bit more interested on selling people the DVD tie ins to realise that there's enough hidden shit in this film to show a few scenes of Rorschach standing around with his "The End is Nigh" sign to convince them they missed a lot at the beginning simply for a lack of knowledge. "Now you know the story, see it with brand new eyes..." combined with that imagery would be enough to stimulate ticket sales quite a bit.

[Rust]

So me and the Girlfriend went to see Watchmen tonight. Neither of us have read the graphic novel, though I've lurked around the Internet enough to know the high points of the story. We had the theater practically to ourselves - only three other people went to the showing. We kinda separated out to the point that it felt like the theater was just us.

Frankly, I was apprehensive about the movie. Not just for my Girlfriend's reaction to the sex and violence (And oddly, her only complaint was the Gore factor. So sex and violence are all well and good, so long as buckets of blood aren't being used. This is useful information), but because it was a movie that relied heavily on Flashbacks.

And if anything's been taken away from the Battlestar Galactica thread, it should be that I'm not a fan of flashbacks. I was concerned it would disjoint the story and cause me distress.


I was wrong.


Both the girlfriend and I agree it was a good movie. Not just a good movie - a damn good movie. Rorschach stole the show for both of us, and the lines between good and evil were so blurred that both of us agreed that Adrian had a point in his actions.

The one thing that did bug me was Nixon's makeup. I mean, seriously...parading around in a characture of the makeup would make sense if Nixon was portrayed as a characture. But despite him being President in the story, he really wasn't handled in any negative fashion. I found the makeup distracting, especially with the shots of JFK being so historically accurate.


Still, damn fine movie. And while I know Doctor Manhattan was supposed to be the only one with real Super Powers, both me and the gf came away with the sense that Adrian had superhuman reflexes and the Comedian had super strength. Nite Owl, Silk Specter, and Rorschach all had the air of normal people in costumes - who just knew right where to hit somebody to take them down with the minimal amount of effort.


Final thought: Rorschach's flashback was twisted, even for a R rated film. Especially the shot of the two dogs struggling over the leftovers.

[Akitsu]

Nixon's makeup throws off a lot of people because they don't understand... this is the alternate reality Nixon who never got impeached and basically took over the office of President because of his popularity. By this point he's not the worn out husk he turned into, but at the same time you can tell the office has had it's effect on him.

Point is, this Nixon has never been proven wrong. His shoot first and ask questions later policies have never failed... with the help of Dr. Manhattan. He is, quite frankly, a doddering old fool who believes wholeheartedly that whatever he does is just and right. One of those people who think that if the world is going to end, it might as well be on their watch... linked with his own advancing mortality. His slipping popularity is just another warning sign of the apocalypse to him.

As for Rorschach's flashback scene... it's no more disturbing than Hannibal, Silence of the Lambs, or other R rated movies. It is however, quite a big leap for an R rated comic book movie. Still, that's kind of the point. We have this horrible double standard when it comes to "comic book movies".... they've traditionally followed their own set of rules when it comes to this sort of thing. R rated CBMs tend to have swearing or violence... but never nudity or gore.

I believe this movie invokes a poignant quote from the motion picture, Little Shop of Horrors when it comes to the idea that CBMs should censor themselves.

"Tough tittie.... aw cut the crap, bring on the MEAT! Must be blood... must be FRESH! Feed me!" -Audrey Two, minus Seymore's whiney rebuttals.

Glad to hear you both enjoyed it... you should definitely give the graphic novel a read though. It's a steal at $20...

I've still gotta pick up The Black Freighter and Under the Hood... I hear UTH is especially well done and adds a lot of backstory to the Minutemen, not to mention the Watchmen.

[Maxx]

So me and the Girlfriend went to see Watchmen tonight. Neither of us have read the graphic novel, though I've lurked around the Internet enough to know the high points of the story.

Go. Read. it. Now.

[Akitsu]

Rust wrote:
So me and the Girlfriend went to see Watchmen tonight. Neither of us have read the graphic novel, though I've lurked around the Internet enough to know the high points of the story.

Maxx wrote:
Go. Read. it. Now.

Lol... I thought that reminded me of another note about how someone knew the gist of a show thanks to Wikipedia or something.

Truth be told, this isn't something people should skip out on. While it's not as bad as say, skipping reading Matheson's classic "I am Legend" for the completely unfaithful film version with Will Smith... but you really do miss out on a lot of the subtleties of the story that changed comics forever.

Go. Read. You will be well rewarded. Who knows, if you lend it to her your girlfriend might even get into reading it as well. It's a deep cerebral massage that makes your brain happy.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

RE: Nixon

You know, I didn't like his makeup much either, BUT I didn't let it take me out of the story. In fact I took the tack that by this point, Nixon had essentially become a useless self-parody of the man he once was.

Given that view, his makeup rang true from a thematic standpoint.

[Rust]

I'd also like to say I thoroughly enjoyed the pot shot to Regan at the end.