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Watchmen 2009. Liked it?
- Thread starter TissueBox
- Start date
The comic is so good it kind of falls short by default. That said, I really liked it outside of the lack of squid.
Oh and the TV series was great.
Oh and the TV series was great.
I agree completely with this but in a way it was actually fascinating just from a filmmaking standpoint seeing how it really was, almost bizarrely, a panel-for-panel recreation. I re-read the entirety of Watchmen right before watching the movie (all in the same day in fact, it was an interesting Watchmen day), and it was genuinely odd how faithfully it was re-created on the surface.
My controversial view also as a major fan of the comic and general critic of Snyder and this movie is that I don't actually mind the ending change. I think it's a fairly okay change to have the disaster faked as caused by Manhattan himself. It's less arbitrary and far less bizarre and fun than the giant squid so in that sense it loses some power, but I still thought it worked in presenting Manhattan as an otherworldly, unknowable scapegoat who fucks off to outer space afterwards.
However beyond that decision, the worst part of the movie was easily Veidt. Everything from the casting to the writing there was dreadful, and it's particularly unfortunate to screw that character up. It single-handedly sinks the entire thing.
It's a terrible adaption and a mediocre movie on its own made by someone who absolutely did not understand the source material. It was the beginning of a decade of proof that he doesn't understand the medium at all.
The best thing Snyder has ever doneI loved it when I first came out (I like it a little less now on rewatches). Got me to read the graphic novel.
Also, this scene is great with the music and all.
IMAX. Jon Osterman turns into Dr. Manhattan | Watchmen [+Subtitles]
Watchmen (2009)SUBTITLES: English, RussianJon Osterman turns into Dr. Manhattan'Watchmen IMAX' playlist: https://goo.gl/xTkZPBFilm discription: In a gritty a...www.youtube.com
Didn't care for it at all. The TV show is also bad but at least has a lot of great actors giving good performances.
I feel like your poll options are to limited. I wouldn't call it great but I like it better than ok.
TV show was great.
TV show was great.
The weird thing about Watchman is that I think it's one of the absolute "best" comic adaptions after 300 when it comes to how faithful it is to the source material. The problem with the movie though is that I find it hard to believe that regular moviegoers would be able to take away the deeper themes of watchmen that are so elegantly portrayed via its deconstruction of the medium of comics with the graphic novel, even with the film's Ultimate Edition cut.
To me, in the comics, it's much clearer to see the utter absurdity of the genre that is "Super heroes". The deep seeded issues of thinking there's ever a reality where we can solve all of our problems by punching them in the face. Zach Snyder's framing, lighting, and design of the action being done in such a way that it looks "cool" and even fantastical at times kind of obfuscates what the comic was trying to portray. Snyder, for the most part, ultimately caught the framing of the comic panels perfectly, but the in between points that he filled in were often more "glamourized" than I think Alan Moore intended.
With all the above been said, I enjoy watching Watchmen, and think the change to the ending was actually extremely well done for the context of the movie itself. The problem tieing into what was said earlier, is that the deeper themes and deconstructions portrayed in the Graphic novel become harder to sus out (at least imo).
I personally feel that the Watchmen television series works better thematically with the original graphic novel even though it's wildly different,and presented as a direct follow-up to the movie.(The series acts as a spirtiual follow-up to the novel...at least in its ending)
I personally wonder though of what Alan Moore hates more, The Watchmen movie, or the Doomsday Clock storyline that was done in DC comics?
To me, in the comics, it's much clearer to see the utter absurdity of the genre that is "Super heroes". The deep seeded issues of thinking there's ever a reality where we can solve all of our problems by punching them in the face. Zach Snyder's framing, lighting, and design of the action being done in such a way that it looks "cool" and even fantastical at times kind of obfuscates what the comic was trying to portray. Snyder, for the most part, ultimately caught the framing of the comic panels perfectly, but the in between points that he filled in were often more "glamourized" than I think Alan Moore intended.
With all the above been said, I enjoy watching Watchmen, and think the change to the ending was actually extremely well done for the context of the movie itself. The problem tieing into what was said earlier, is that the deeper themes and deconstructions portrayed in the Graphic novel become harder to sus out (at least imo).
I personally feel that the Watchmen television series works better thematically with the original graphic novel even though it's wildly different,
I personally wonder though of what Alan Moore hates more, The Watchmen movie, or the Doomsday Clock storyline that was done in DC comics?
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As an adaptation of a mammoth book, it did pretty well. The only things I'd change are to add a few of the deleted scenes, an have the fight scenes more grounded so it didn't look like ordinary people could send bad guys flying across the room with a single punch.
It's a great movie and is overall excellent. There are parts I would change (Hallelujah, and clarifying that Rorschach is a raving psychopath, not an anti-hero) but overall, taking it on its own: It's far superior to the majority of cape movies. As an adaptation, it does miss the mark a few ways, but with the source material being what it is, I'd rate it overall a success, as well.
This has always been my take of it. I like the movie, but I like the movie as someone who has read the graphic novel and already knows the actual substance - so I'm just getting big-budget visuals of the scenes in the novel, recreated to an almost absurd degree at times. To be fair to Snyder there's lots of well directed shots in the movie - I love the Dr. Manhattan stuff, and Rorschach in prison in particular - but he kinda misses the point of the novel when it comes to the high-level themes. And as he's an Ayn Rand fan, it doesn't surprise me at all that he'd miss the point of Alan Moore's work lol.
Snyder seeing Rorschach as an anti-hero is just so perfectly Snyder.
So yeah, I don't dislike the movie... but nor is it a movie I go back and rewatch much.
I thought it was a decent adaptation, especially for the time it was released. I do think the tone wasn't right, though (as others have said, the fight scenes being superhero-ish instead of just normal people duking it out like in the comics really does take away from the humanization of the heroes) and the switch to Dr. Manhattan at the end doesn't really make as much sense as I think about it now, but it's fine. Considering most comic based movies of the time, it came out decently well.
I do feel the TV series nailed the tone and themes of the comic much better, however.
Well said, matches very closely to my thoughts on the adaptations as well.
I do feel the TV series nailed the tone and themes of the comic much better, however.
Well said, matches very closely to my thoughts on the adaptations as well.
"Objectivism is stupid and we can't just get a bunch of Great Men™ to punch away all our problems."
Zack Snyder is so thoroughly opposed to both those ideas that he didn't even perceive them.
Also probably the best movie trailer ever made.
yeah this trailer was dope
but also it should've tipped me off that snyder was going full "rule of cool" for the adaptation
it's 100% "zack snyder's watchmen", which is surprisingly reflective of how i'm sure a lot of people interpreted the comics, especially with its portrayal of rorschach
his direction, while being a complete misfire in capturing the essence of what moore was saying, certainly made for a visually distinct movie that i still remember scenes of to this day.
Love it. One of the best superhero movies. Considering the material, I think Snyder really pull it of.
It specifically doesn't follow up the movie. They show pretty clearly that it continued off the comic's ending instead of the movie's.
Came here to post this but wouldn't have said it half as well.
Sorry, it's been awhile since I watched the the series. I forgot that it specifically mentioned the "Alien Attack".
Could you possibly expand on this? I read the graphic novel many years ago but feel like I've forgotten what you're referring to.I liked it a lot until it shat the bed with the ending, misunderstanding a lot of stuff along the way. And no, I'm not talking about the lack of psychic squid from outta nowhere, I'm still pissed they left off Doc Manhattan's conversation with Veidt *after* he won.
It's basically one of the main statements of the entire work and it was nowhere to be seen, which means Snyder didn't think it was important (meaning he didn't really get "it").
I'm still pissed off by that change, despite the years. I was really looking forward to that moment but... nope.
Beautiful opening montage, though. Best thing in the movie by far.
I liked it, I think it missed the mark a bit from the comics but it was a good movie
Yeah I agree
It was a great movie, but a flawed adaptation. I think the biggest issue was how it glamorized the heroes too much in terms of making the action look cool and super human and then the needless change to the ending. But otherwise is a very enjoyable film and mostly delivers on the comic.
I hadn't read the comic until after watching the movie.
I hate how "badass and right" the movie makes Rorschach seem. A character that was intended to be hated and shitty was turned into the badass good guy who's just too cool and dies a hero by Snyder. That said, movie does have some good moments, and the iconic Dr. Manhattan's "creation" scene was done well, at least from what I can recall. I haven't seen the movie since it first came out, but I re-read the comic every couple years.
Also, wouldn't this movie's ending ultimately make the nations turn against America, considering America created Dr. Manhattan, even if by accident? The great part about the squids is they're truly alien, they're something nobody has any explanation for.
The 2019 show was AMAZING. I had no idea it acted so strongly as a sequel to the comic, and I can't recommend it enough to anyone who enjoyed the Watchmen comic or movie.
I hate how "badass and right" the movie makes Rorschach seem. A character that was intended to be hated and shitty was turned into the badass good guy who's just too cool and dies a hero by Snyder. That said, movie does have some good moments, and the iconic Dr. Manhattan's "creation" scene was done well, at least from what I can recall. I haven't seen the movie since it first came out, but I re-read the comic every couple years.
Also, wouldn't this movie's ending ultimately make the nations turn against America, considering America created Dr. Manhattan, even if by accident? The great part about the squids is they're truly alien, they're something nobody has any explanation for.
The 2019 show was AMAZING. I had no idea it acted so strongly as a sequel to the comic, and I can't recommend it enough to anyone who enjoyed the Watchmen comic or movie.
yeah it was accurate while trying at the same time trying to feel super "cool", I dunno, like a music video, which was tonally at odds with the comic. I didn't like it.
Though I'm far from a purist and often enjoy filmmaker's alternative takes on comics and just accept them as "Elseworlds" stories like Burton's Batman, this just wasn't one of those cases.
I think I know what you mean here, but my mind went to the comic "joke" of "human bean juice". Heheh.
that panel I posted doesn't have a corresponding scene in the movie, the only reference we get is some "what did Jon always use to say? "Nothing ever ends" or something like that, awwww shucks" kinda scene between Dan Dreiberg and Laurie at the end, when they're visiting Sally IIRC, which robs us of the whole "leaving Veidt doubtful if his plan really worked or it didn't"
because the novel seems to say that human issues, complex human issues, can't be solved by punching your way out of trouble or mega-punching (via psychic squid) a hole in NYC even with a temporary truce between megapowers. Veidt thought he'd "won, in the end" but Doc Manhattan tells him his victory is pyrrhic. One way or another, it's not gonna last. And he'll have to deal with the idea that genociding millions of people maybe wasn't the be-all end-all he'd thought it'd be.
I loved it when it first came out (I like it a little less now on rewatches). Got me to read the graphic novel.
Also, this scene is great with the music and all.
IMAX. Jon Osterman turns into Dr. Manhattan | Watchmen [+Subtitles]
Watchmen (2009)SUBTITLES: English, RussianJon Osterman turns into Dr. Manhattan'Watchmen IMAX' playlist: https://goo.gl/xTkZPBFilm discription: In a gritty a...
This is an incredible sequence. Fantastic. It makes me feel things every single time.
The movie is aesthetically breathtaking, but it does miss the point of the novel in a lot of ways. Nevertheless, it was a solid attempt.
The TV show is a definitive upgrade, but I wasn't completely satisfied with it either. Loved what they did with the Rorschach stuff, did not love what they did with Dr. Manhattan. This video verbalizes all its faults better than I ever could (please excuse the clickbaity title):
View: https://youtu.be/ONrideBdiZA
I still very much enjoy both adaptations.
The TV show is a definitive upgrade, but I wasn't completely satisfied with it either. Loved what they did with the Rorschach stuff, did not love what they did with Dr. Manhattan. This video verbalizes all its faults better than I ever could (please excuse the clickbaity title):
View: https://youtu.be/ONrideBdiZA
I still very much enjoy both adaptations.
I will add a positive here in that Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comedian was absolutely phenomenal.
In fact much of the casting was totally on point, except for Veidt, who again is the worst character to screw up. I think Matthew Goode is a fine actor but man was he a terrible choice for that role.
In fact much of the casting was totally on point, except for Veidt, who again is the worst character to screw up. I think Matthew Goode is a fine actor but man was he a terrible choice for that role.
Loved it. It's been a while but I doubt. My feelings have changed. But I have low standards for my comic book movies.
Agreed that Ozymandias is terrible, but I won't put it all on Goode. The film turns him into a moustache-twirling villain from the get go, both ruining the twist at the end AND removing all of the moral weight from his choice and the rest of the characters' reactions to it.
The movie has some definite highs, and the first 45 minutes are pretty great, but the complete misunderstanding of this character really ruins it for me.
The writing for Veidt was terrible but frankly so was the casting. A big part of the character is that he's not only the smartest human on the planet but an Olympic-level athlete who can trounce anyone in a fight, and is borderline superhuman.
It's not that he has to be some hulking character (Jeremy Irons is not) but that he has to come across believably as a both a real physical and intellectual threat, but Goode doesn't even come close, and that was the character in his prime. He never gave the sense that he was a step ahead of everyone else. Honestly, Goode played him like a putz. This failing reverberates throughout the rest of the movie.
I realized this after watching the panel for panel comic miniseries after watching the movie. I loved it and the tone was completely different.
Pretty good overall. Some of the violence was dialed up a bit too much in a way that felt indulgent and over-the-top. Example: Rorschach hacking the guy vs leaving the hacksaw (likely changed b/c audiences would think "Watchmen copied Saw"). Slo-mo bone crunch alley fight was another, though I don't recall how brutal that was in the GN.
The primary issue is that while removing the squid is understandable from a story-tightening/pragmatic point of view, replacing that plot point with Dr. Manhattan doesn't quite work.
Ozy's plan works because the world unites against a perceived shared foreign threat, the squid.
Even if the movie's narrative is to say that Dr. Manhattan went rogue, it's much less plausible that the nations would unite. If anything they'd blame the U.S.A. for creating him.
The primary issue is that while removing the squid is understandable from a story-tightening/pragmatic point of view, replacing that plot point with Dr. Manhattan doesn't quite work.
Ozy's plan works because the world unites against a perceived shared foreign threat, the squid.
Even if the movie's narrative is to say that Dr. Manhattan went rogue, it's much less plausible that the nations would unite. If anything they'd blame the U.S.A. for creating him.