DISQUS

Superhero Fiction · 8 months ago

What I want to know is, when is someone going to make a film of "Superfolks" or Wylie's "Gladiator" - that would be really interesting. Of course, they'd have to do their own storyboarding, for a change.

Pedroto · 8 months ago

I confess, I dind't know the comics but I loved the film.I agree with your list and i don't care about what the fans or the critics are saying. This is a good film!

MoMo · 8 months ago

yeah, the so + adjective was a little annoying, but i'll let it go because you had a legit reason to use it.

other than that, good list.

tehshawn · 8 months ago

I thought the songs independently were awesome, but ridiculously ill-placed. It totally killed the mood of the film, making me lose respect for it instantly.

I agree with most everything else, Jackie being the freaking man included, except the sex scene. I will never listen to "Hallelujah" ever again.

pedroto · 8 months ago

well, i have to disagree. songs like unforgetable (nat king cole), while comedian is getting his ass kicked, die walkure(wagner) in vietname scene just like Apocalypse Now, The Sound Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) in the cemitery, were all the right choice in my opinion.
And of course, the Hallelujah was the pièce de résistance. :D eh eh

RobertFure · 8 months ago

Yeah it was a last minute idea. Sometimes they work, sometimes they dont. So disa- damn it I'm doing it again!

Matt · 8 months ago

So I noticed you used 'So Stunning' twice. Couldnt think of anything else? So Busted.

RobertFure · 8 months ago

I'm just going to go ahead and blame my features editor for not catching that. Replace the strike a pose with "So vogue" and we're all good. So embarrassed.

Leeshack · 8 months ago

I thought it was funny coz' he couldnt get it up and then when he finally does they play "Halleujah" xD

kallero · 8 months ago

Hey, is "So _____" a usual motif of yours? Because it makes you sound like a 14 year old girl. An annoying one.

Luke · 8 months ago

That "so x" catchphrase was retarded. Don't let it happen again.

So Watchmen · 8 months ago

I thoroughly enjoyed this list. Didn't even notice the so thing until 4 idiots pointed it out.

Movie needed more blue dong.

Adam_Sweeney · 8 months ago

I don't think noticing the "So" theme makes you an idiot. I liked the feature but definitely was aware of it. It's okay to have differing opinions, no?

lukeg37 · 8 months ago

How the hell did you like Matthew Goode as Ozymandias. This dude is a weak, un-charismatic, mumbling cock head!

foley · 8 months ago

I agree with you about Jackie Earle Hailey, but not Matthew Goode. He lacked the charisma and natural appeal requires for Veidt. His vocals were also awful, the strange germanic accent that came and went, and his lisp made him hard to listed to. It's hard to criticize Malin Ackerman - I think that we should be nurturing young, hot actresses who are willing to do nude scenes. She's certainly a weak actress, but oh that ass.

Adam_Sweeney · 8 months ago

So we applaud Akerman for being to be nude? Hell, then there were plenty of sorority girls at my school that should have been in Watchmen. The nudity was the last thing the film should have been focused on.

exNewt · 8 months ago

I saw it with my son at midnight at an IMAX theatre. I think that the changed ending - which I knew was coming but didn't know what - was actually FAR better than the graphic novel. And you are right - the opening credits/history montage was probably the best we will ever see...

takipsilim · 8 months ago

The "so something" is terrible, like a high school freshman saying an annoying phrase again and again, thinking it's cool. Otherwise, good points.

Jeff · 8 months ago

I never read the graphic novel, and did not get much about the movie through the trailer. I hoped this article would stir a little more interest in seeing the movie, but unfortunately the writing in the piece distracted from the subject matter.

rcpopart · 8 months ago

Much of the music was specifically chosen because it was alluded to in quotes at the end of each issue. Go back and read the book again. (two riders were approaching, etc.)

internets · 8 months ago

Jesus, half the comments are about 'so' and not the article, which was well done. Too many ass clowns, too few internets.

Shark_Bite · 8 months ago

I agree, though i disagree with the main article. Who cares about the so___ line with so much quality everywhere else. The sex scenes were just too much. If it wasnt for Rorscharch and the Comedian, I wouldve felt like I just walked out of a porn geared for women. Speaking of which, my female peers were so giddy after the film(17-20 yo). Yeah.....penis all the time....great.

RobertFure · 8 months ago

The "So _____" thing is not normal will not be used again. It only relates to that "So impotent" line so it wouldn't make sense for other films - plus 80% of people didn't like it and the other 20% just didn't care either way. I like to try different things, from tail ends to haikus. Sometimes, they fail.

But some good comments here and on Digg. I really like hearing from people who haven't read the book, but it seems even they're split on the film. More of them are liking it than I would have thought.

Does anyone here think it was a "bait and switch?" Did you think you were going in for a ACTION SUPER HERO JUMP KICK movie and instead you got a superhero mystery?

MeatStar · 8 months ago

I haven't read it yet. Was going to before seeing it but read your other article about how Watchmen virgins enjoyed it so I held off. Saw it last night. I liked it, but I also didn't go in with any crazy expectations, so I kind of dug the mystery aspect.
Wish you hadn't pointed out the "So" thing in the article itself... and maybe reserved it just for the comments, but regardless, from the comments, it looks like you may have had to either way.

Sarcasm · 8 months ago

The 'so something' is so cliche

Dhruv · 8 months ago

umm, honestly? the CGI and effects were horrible. Mars was horribly done. The ending zoom out was so bad I was screaming. His cat was badly done.

The only thing they seemingly spent money on was the ink-mask look and dr.manhatten. everything else was horrible

psyberkilla · 8 months ago

Whoever says they like the film ending better probably didn't understand the full scope of the book ending. Yeah, the squid was cheesy, but after reading the book you felt more of an emotional impact at what just happened. That humanity had to band together to fight some unknown threat.

The movie felt more like 'oh darn, 15 million people just died... stupid dr. manhattan'. Without the threat of possible extra-terrestrial threat (that we needed to band together and stop fighting amongst ourselves to stop), the whole movie storyline just fell kinda flat for me. What could have easily been a 4 1/2-5 star movie for me went down to probably 3 1/2 stars. Where's the petition to get the real ending on a directors cut dvd? :)

Shark_Bite · 8 months ago

This film was awesome and sucked at the same time. I like comics but im no fanboy and never read Watchmen. I got ****ing tired of seeing cocks and graphic porno scenes. That wasnt necessary. This would have been so much better without the drull spiels of love with Silk Spectre II, fwap-wappity all the time and the over the top graphic sex scenes. Rorscharch and the comedian made the whole damn film, everything else was a cheap shot and a milf's fantasy.

Danielle · 8 months ago

I really enjoyed the movie, and my boyfriend and I are avid fans of the graphic novel. We both starting laughing aloud during the sex scene on the owl ship. I think "Hallelujah" was perfect. I was VERY dissappointed with Silk Spectre II, but she wasn't a very interesting character to begin with. All things considered, I liked it. I liked it a lot.

curt · 8 months ago

the soundtrack is pretty sick but where the fuck is 99 red balloons

eroll · 8 months ago

I'm fairly sure that 99 Red Balloons in the movie. I remember hearing it during the film, but i don't remember at which point.

curt · 8 months ago

99 luftballons is in the movie thats why i was asking where the fuck it was on the soundtrack

curts mom · 8 months ago

Not enough fighting

Josh · 8 months ago

Just got back from the theater, it was a good movie, just not as amazing as it was marketed to be.

djjeffhall · 8 months ago

Robert,
Your review of Watchmen was great and certainly appreciated. I think I enjoyed the film far more than I might have otherwise without having prepared myself with your review. I found I appreciated certain things I was waiting for, and able to ingore other parts that would have taken me out of the film had I not been "warned" so to speak.

Nevertheless, I find that I disagree with many of your 10 and 5 list.

While I did enjoy the film I think there were many things that could have been improved. I thought the soundtrack was awful. Not the individual songs, most of which I own on CD or LP, but their use was so intrusively wrong.

djjeffhall · 8 months ago

I also think that Snyder is a terrible director. He is all style, no substance. Malin Ackerman was pretty weak as an actress. I'm not familiar with her other work, so I don't know if this performance was indicative of her work in general? However, getting back to Synder, it's the directors job to get the most out of his cast and I find it hard to believe this was the best he could get out of her. Especially with the powerful performances put in by Haley, Crudup and Jeffrey Dean Morgan who was amazing as the Comedian.

djjeffhall · 8 months ago

Snyder's (seeming) obsession with slo-mo action took all the drama out of the fight scenes. I never once had the impression that any of the Watchmen were kick ass fighters. If the film Taken can turn Liam Neeson into a action hero, (Not something I ever would have thought of for Neeson, who is a great actor but not an action hero actor.) than certainly Snyder could have made the fight scenes in Watchmen effective. Showing us bones popping and legs breaking isn't action, it's gore and lowered the film in my estimation..

djjeffhall · 8 months ago

Sorry for the four comments, but I keep getting a "Too long" error message.

Since you mentioned the sex scene, that is another strike (In my mind) against the film. Yes, Malin Ackerman is quite pretty and I've got nothing against seeing her nude, but the sequence in Archie completely took me out of the movie. In the book the sequence showed Dreiberg's character coming into his own and finding his true character, so to speak. It reflected his self realisation and understanding that the Keene act had neutered him, so to speak and he was only truely alive when in costume. In the film it merely turned into 5 minutes of soft core porn. I've got nothing against porn, it has it's place and this wasn't it. At least not as portraited by Snyder. In the comic the sequence takes up a few frames, in the movie it seems to go on forever

Angel · 8 months ago

Speaking of film school, a little background might help. Zack & Larry, the DP, were classmates at Art Center, famous for "all style, no substance." They were in the same exact class as Michael Bay & Tarsem (The Cell). So the visuals & slick style are hallmarks of their education. I thought the film was a HOT MESS. Casting: good. Effects: good. Plot: confused. Gratuitous sex & violence scenes: gutwrenching & so distracting that it's hard to get past them. Running time: WAY too long. I wish I hadn't seen it: yuck! Better not to have that crap rolling around in my brain. If you are at all sensitive, do yourself at favor and SKIP IT. If you never saw this stuff, you'd have more peaceful dreams.

Ashley · 8 months ago

Okay, I decided after watching the trailers that I should read the comic before I watched the movie so I could enjoy it to its fullest. Glad I did, cause I could have been tricked into thinking this was an awesome movie. I'm not a Zack Snyder fan at all, too much action takes away from the plot of both the movie and the novel. Plus the gore? Ridiculous. These heroes are suppose to be normal people, good fighters, but not super human, yet super human strength was what Snyder gave them. Rorschach flying with his grapling hook instead of having to climb up the building. Adrian (who looked like a skinny wimp, mind you) kicking Nite Owl/Rorschach across the room. Dan and Laurie beating the crap out of gang members I can handle, having their bones pop out of their skin, not so much. Now, I did think it was a good movie, but that was mainly because of the parts that were taken directly out of the novel. Rorschach was AMAZING, the Comedian was as well. Doctor Manhattan was also done very nicely. I don't agree with the soundtrack for a few reasons. When you have music in a movie it has to have some flow to it or else it just seems like the random mixings of a DJ. 99 Red Ballons? Ridiculous. Period. I think enough has been said about the sex scene and I won't give it anymore attention than it deserves. The ending... whatever. Didn't make sense or grasp the whole concept of the novel, at all, but whatever. Too much to say about that. Mainly, what gets me is the at times total disregard to staying faithful to the novel when time wasn't even an issue! Adrian's secretary gets shot through the chest, NOT the leg! Why did that have to change? Because it looked cooler? It wasn't a grinder in the jail to cut the bars, it was an arc welder! Boyfriend made mention arc welders are big, I say it's a fucking movie, you can make a fake one whatever size you want and put in special effects like it works! Rorschach does not smash toilet open with guys head, but kicks it while he's on top of his bunk. In the comic that shows foresight of action, in the movie? Accidental electrocution because, well, oops.

Dustin · 8 months ago

I liked the movie. I don't think that people who never read the comic would like it very much. Also there were way too many children in the movie theatre. Why a parent would bring their child to any R rated movie is beyond me, I geuss because it was a "super-hero" movie they figred it was kid safe. So that took away from my experience a little. There definately was a bait and switch angle going on. If you didn't know anything about the comics I think you might have believed this was like an R rated "Mystery Men" or some other junk like that. As for the sex, I thought it was appropriate. There was banging in the comic so there should be banging in the movie. And to all the homo-phobes out there, Dr. Manhatten was a 6'5" blue diety and all you noticed was his dong; grow up.

Nathaniel Mounce · 8 months ago

It's nice to see someone else noticed his strange accent that was there one scene and gone the next. The whole time I watched the movie, I was confused if that was on purpose or not. I think the accent made him sound cool, but I didn't like it when it fluctuated. Also, if anyone cares, almost everything about him made me think of Nikolai Carpathia who is the AntiChrist in the Left Behind movies.

Pat Ryan · 8 months ago

I think the film is very,very good.I also think that this film will do better on dvd than it will in the cinema. I just watched it a second time and am convinced that it will get better upon numerous viewings. The actor who played Viedt was very good .All the bullshit talk about him needs to be capped. The only problem I had with him was that he wasnt in it enough. I also think the directors cut will help to make the quality of the overall experience better, and I cant wait to see it. I take my hat off to Zach Snyder. The guy is a very capable director and he has proved that with this "unfilmable" film. I think the critics were waiting just to hate, and tear into this film as best they could, as soon as it came out. One thing I was afraid of happening was that the film might have turned out and incohesive whole along the lines of something like David Lynchs Dune. Its great to see that this has not happened despite what one or two critics have said. Over the timespan of the next decade the film will be looked back upon by critics as being a classic. Mark my words!

WLPowell · 8 months ago

I watched the movie and walked away feeling empty. Snyder was more focused on getting the look of the comic more than the reasoning, plot, or weight of it. The ending would've been harder to sell, but it brought the whole thing home. (I read to that part and was more "oh F*CK", than "WTF") I think if snyder understood the fans like the book because of the story and hired a better suited director to really add weight to the film, it would have been better. Snyder IMO wasn't qualified for this type of thing.

vladsocaciu · 8 months ago

you liked the sex scene and the soundtrack ??? well that's pretty sad... that means that you think Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was a good choice for that awful sex scene. This is really not a question of taste, the music is really bad, I mean it's songs that have been overused, many many times and the sex scene... well, you haven't scene a lot of movies have you, if you think this is a good one ?

And the opening credit sequence was so innovative ??? have you seen any other movies beside 300 and Sin City ?

Negative Nancy · 8 months ago

I wish Gilliam had done it.

Negative Nancy · 8 months ago

This production could have used a consultation with a good writer / story teller.

Alex M · 8 months ago

kudos for saying that you actually liked the sex scene, that's taken a whole lot of heat. I'm not sure that I agree with your negatives though