The All-Purpose Watchmen Thread *SPOILERS*

[Reddaye]

I guess I'm getting the feeling that people (who I talked with) went into the movie expecting it to be your typical action packed comic book movie. Of course Watchmen isn't exactly action packed (unless something was changed) so they left disappointed.

That, and I keep hearing Dr. Manhattan's dick is hanging out for most of the movie. Maybe that bothered a few people.

[Toe]

Oh, my friend James is going to hate this movie. There was action, but a lot of the movie is subtle and dialogue driven.

[Mr.iMPACT!]

I'm currently about 1/4 of the way through reading the book, after lending it off a friend so I could read it before seeing the film. So far it's great, will definitely be picking up my own copy in the near future. I can't wait to see this film and have been looking forward to seeing it for 2 years or so when I first saw pictures from the film. A long time later it's out. Do you recommend I go see it or not, and will reading the novel before hand aide in my enjoyment of the film?

[Captain Eo]

I'm currently about 1/4 of the way through reading the book, after lending it off a friend so I could read it before seeing the film. So far it's great, will definitely be picking up my own copy in the near future. I can't wait to see this film and have been looking forward to seeing it for 2 years or so when I first saw pictures from the film. A long time later it's out. Do you recommend I go see it or not, and will reading the novel before hand aide in my enjoyment of the film?

It's pretty faithful to the strips, and nearly identical in many places. I think I enjoyed the film more. While a lot of people argued the transition from print to film wouldn't work, I found everything came across amazingly due to awesome acting chops and gorgeous camerawork and effects. The only "huge" change would be the ending, and while it's a big change the outcome is the same. I and everyone else would probably agree that the new ending is the same ending as the novel, but made relevant for this generation.

Once you finish you'll understand what I mean.

[Mr.iMPACT!]

Cool stuff. It's been a great read so far can't wait to finnish it all, then go see the film. It's sounds very good from reviews and everything you have all said.

[ClaRK! Kent]

I went to see Watchmen this evening with 3 friends who, like me, were huge fans of the graphic novel and we were all very wary about how the movie would pan out.

Loved it.

It was fantastic, a great adaptation/updating of the novel, everything that was changed was done so cleverly and in a way that streamlines and/or makes things relevant for a modern audience that hasn't necessarily read the original. Jackie Earl Haley and Matthew Goode, particularly, brought their characters to life fantastically, which is not to say the rest of the cast didn't do a fantastic job because everybody was very well cast and did wel, even down to Malin Ackerman who I had serious doubts about until about 20 minutes in. Awesome, from start to finish.

[Herr Matzat]

The Intro Sequenz is on YouTube, i belive this is legal... so it´s good qualety and might even still be there in 20 Minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdfeNRtbJOE

[VinnyT]

Watchmen brings so many damn questions to mind it's impossible to just review it in a few words. It's incredible, even with moments that kinda made me go "Well, that wasn't needed...."

I mean, forget BLUEPENISLAWL and take this for what it is. I mean, I never saw the comics, and only found out the ending in the film differed slightly after looking it up on IMDB after seeing it last night. Anyway though, holy shit! I mean, even with the prison scene with the guys arms getting sliced off ( I mean, there's MORE METAL! CUT AROUND HIM!) I took most of what happened in the film pretty positively. Some random thoughts though.

How did Rorschach's magic head-sock work?

Why kill Rorschach? I mean, he was that protester in the first half of the film, and most of the general public just ignored him. Who would really believe him now? He was the coolest character and got the oddest death in the film.

So, were supposed to be sad at Comedians funeral. Someone killed him, and it's OBVIOUSLY NOT THE GENTLE MILLIONAIRE OH NO! Lets see some of Denn- I mean Comedians history.....

Oh, he's a rapist and shoots pregnant women. Why are we sad when he dies?

Because he created the being that helped save the world?! Oh, I get it. Dr. Manhattan needs to witness a miracle! His love was created by a fucking asshole, so he can't believe the odds of her being born. I'll buy it! I get it!

But....Dr. Manhattan coming back means nothing anyway.....so now Comedian has no point again.....

Fuck you movie!

I liked how for the most part this could been seen as a realistic look at "Superheros" in the real world (except for Dr.Manhattan) I took the Comedian thing for a bit to be how even though he was a fuckhead he still had a heart, and that not everyone gets to be that fairy tale character. It's a realistic look on life....

Wait, there's a blue guy who is pretty much a god.

FUCK YOU MOVIE! Lets me rationalize something!

It was one incredible movie, but I don't think I could see it again for a long time.

[Bigal]

In the graphic novel, Rorschach once worked for a dressmaker, and his mask is a piece of a dress that had a black substance in between two layers of white cloth, which moved around according to the body's heat patterns.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Who the fuck rated this 1 and 3? Reasoning, right the fuck now people.

[ROC]

Who the fuck rated this 1 and 3? Reasoning, right the fuck now people.

Trolling. That's really all I can think of.

[HeartlineTwist]

Watchmen brings so many damn questions to mind it's impossible to just review it in a few words. It's incredible, even with moments that kinda made me go "Well, that wasn't needed...."

I mean, forget BLUEPENISLAWL and take this for what it is. I mean, I never saw the comics, and only found out the ending in the film differed slightly after looking it up on IMDB after seeing it last night. Anyway though, holy shit! I mean, even with the prison scene with the guys arms getting sliced off ( I mean, there's MORE METAL! CUT AROUND HIM!) I took most of what happened in the film pretty positively. Some random thoughts though.

How did Rorschach's magic head-sock work?

Why kill Rorschach? I mean, he was that protester in the first half of the film, and most of the general public just ignored him. Who would really believe him now? He was the coolest character and got the oddest death in the film.

So, were supposed to be sad at Comedians funeral. Someone killed him, and it's OBVIOUSLY NOT THE GENTLE MILLIONAIRE OH NO! Lets see some of Denn- I mean Comedians history.....

Oh, he's a rapist and shoots pregnant women. Why are we sad when he dies?

Because he created the being that helped save the world?! Oh, I get it. Dr. Manhattan needs to witness a miracle! His love was created by a fucking asshole, so he can't believe the odds of her being born. I'll buy it! I get it!

But....Dr. Manhattan coming back means nothing anyway.....so now Comedian has no point again.....

Fuck you movie!

I liked how for the most part this could been seen as a realistic look at "Superheros" in the real world (except for Dr.Manhattan) I took the Comedian thing for a bit to be how even though he was a fuckhead he still had a heart, and that not everyone gets to be that fairy tale character. It's a realistic look on life....

Wait, there's a blue guy who is pretty much a god.

FUCK YOU MOVIE! Lets me rationalize something!

It was one incredible movie, but I don't think I could see it again for a long time.

Yeah, but that's sort of how the book is. I finished reading it this morning, so I'm not just talking out of my ass. I can't wait to see this with my friend sometime this week. Had it not been for her, I would have been there at midnight.

[StevenRichardsRules]

I've figured it out. THE COMEDIAN KILLED KENNEDY!

[DoubleX]

I thought Rorschach's death made a lot of sense. Masked or not, he would've blown Adrian's Xanatos Gambit and the world would've been at everyone else's throat again. There was no way he was going to let that drop, and so the only resolution for his character was death.

As for Comedian, he was an utter prick in his flashbacks, and there's no way I felt sorry for him at his funeral. Later on, once everything became apparent, and it was revealed that he'd repented (to an extent), there was a mingling pity along with the disgust. He was still an asshole though.

[MalaCloudy Black]

A kind of awesome asshole. I mean, barring the whole rape thing. And the shooting the pregnant Vietnamese chick.

[NobBe Nobbs]

I thought Rorschach's death made a lot of sense. Masked or not, he would've blown Adrian's Xanatos Gambit and the world would've been at everyone else's throat again. There was no way he was going to let that drop, and so the only resolution for his character was death.

Bingo! Yahtzee! Xxy gets the points.

It's a bigger thing in the graphic novel because you get much more of his backstory, but Rory is a ridiculously firm Objectivist, believing that there is right and wrong and wrong must be punished. He, Veidt and Manhattan all know that he's never going to let it go, so the only option left is for him to die. Manhattan does it because he understanding that what Veidt has done makes sense from a utilitarian point of view and letting Rory undo it makes the lives lost a complete waste. Remember Rory's (nearly) last lines: "No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise."

[I Don't Mind]

Something I wished was delved into either in the comic or the movie - no one really has powers in this world of superheros except for Dr. Manhatten, only talents. Like they're all exceptionally strong, not super-strong, but reasonably strong and trained in martial arts and such. And they're all very agile. And I can buy that Veidt was the world's smartest man but I just wish some phony-balogny science was thrown at me to explain how the hell he's fast enough to catch a bullet. Is that explained in the comics and I'm just forgetting?

Is it the suit? It's gotta be the suit right?

Oh and I heard a lot of "WTF!?" when Bubastis was shown on the screen, which I don't think they really explained in the movie. For shame.

Edited March 10, 2009 by Inner D Monz

[MalaCloudy Black]

Let's just pretend it was a bullet catch illusion.

[britneyspearsisgod]

I watched the film at the weekend and if I am honest, I was disappointed. I haven't read the graphic novel, so I can't comment entirely on how it relates to the story. What I seem to gather though was that at just over 3 hours worth of filming, they really did try and cram too much into one film. If the film did one thing, it was get me interested in the novels, because now I want to see what could have worked better. From a film perspective, it had pluses and minuses. The pluses were the acting - great choice of actors to play their given roles and firmly kept me interested, even with all the male nudity (I'm sorry, but it actually did bother me). The fight scenes were good too, but one thing I didn't like was, again, the timing and pacing - the fight scenes were VERY short compared to the rest of the film. Plus, I understand the girl Birdman was fucking was very hot, but did we really need to see that long a love scene when there was so much story to delve into?

I'm just giving a few here and there's. I'll try and conjure up my entire pros and cons later as I'm in Weatherspoons eating a burger right now. But, what I will say is that given the scope of the novels, for me? One film was just asking too much.

[Maxx]

I'm pretty sure Bubastis is sort of a left over of the ending of the graphic novel. Viedt creates the giant squid monster thing that he uses to attack New York, in a lab somewhere. I'd assume the same experiments led to the creation of Bubastis as well.