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The Watchmen....unwatchable?
- Thread starter Felon
- Start date
I went to see the movie last night, having a great deal of interest in comics but never having read these books in particular, and I have to say ... I thought it was brilliant. It was dark and violent without apology. I love how it showed how a number of people with the same basic intentions could rationalize completely different paths based on their individual morales.
I rarely trust the opinions of mainstream movie critics when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy.
I rarely trust the opinions of mainstream movie critics when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy.
If you are a fan of the graphic novel then I think you will like the movie. A very honest and true adaptation....yes there is a change to the plot...but the change is logical, and frankly better than the ending in the book.
In terms of adapting difficult source material beloved by geekdom, I rank this movie along side the Fellowship of the Ring.
My only very minor quibble, is I feel the simultaneous temporal experience of Dr. Manhattan could have been handled a little differently for more impact...(it stayed a little too true to the comic there)...but that is a very minor complaint.
One person of my movie party had not read the graphic novel...and liked it very much.
In terms of adapting difficult source material beloved by geekdom, I rank this movie along side the Fellowship of the Ring.
My only very minor quibble, is I feel the simultaneous temporal experience of Dr. Manhattan could have been handled a little differently for more impact...(it stayed a little too true to the comic there)...but that is a very minor complaint.
One person of my movie party had not read the graphic novel...and liked it very much.
Krug
Newshound
Gah... folks need to stop dissing the squid.
[sblock]Much has been made about the changed ending in the Watchmen movie, which I initially liked. But after re-looking at the comic book, I think folks should stop dissing the squid.
The ending of the comic was more than giant calamri. It was also a ton of blood and bodies that the film's all too convenient and clean disintegration that failed to capture the horror Veidt had done. Even the other cities (Beijing? Berlin? Baghdad?) that Veidt devastated were little more than dots on a radar screen. If you go view Dave Gibbons' parade of bodies in issue #12, a slow pan across New York, there's no doubt the comic conveys the full impact of the greatest 'practical joke'.
Also, the bodies in the comic version callback to Tales of the Black Freighter, the pirate comic that has been excluded in the movie. (Available separately; figures). The protagonist of that piece builds a raft out of bloated corpses, much like Veidt has.
So remember why the big ugly mild-blowing alien squid is there. In a pre-911 world, it worked, and frankly it still could have. [/sblock]
[sblock]Much has been made about the changed ending in the Watchmen movie, which I initially liked. But after re-looking at the comic book, I think folks should stop dissing the squid.
The ending of the comic was more than giant calamri. It was also a ton of blood and bodies that the film's all too convenient and clean disintegration that failed to capture the horror Veidt had done. Even the other cities (Beijing? Berlin? Baghdad?) that Veidt devastated were little more than dots on a radar screen. If you go view Dave Gibbons' parade of bodies in issue #12, a slow pan across New York, there's no doubt the comic conveys the full impact of the greatest 'practical joke'.
Also, the bodies in the comic version callback to Tales of the Black Freighter, the pirate comic that has been excluded in the movie. (Available separately; figures). The protagonist of that piece builds a raft out of bloated corpses, much like Veidt has.
So remember why the big ugly mild-blowing alien squid is there. In a pre-911 world, it worked, and frankly it still could have. [/sblock]
Within a comics genre, the squid was good enough. A nice reference to Cthuloid horrors, and such.
But let's face it - most folks aren't comic readers. They know superheroes well enough to watch, but they aren't real deep in the genre. To them, the squid would have been kinda cheesy. CheesySquid.
I think the chosen method resonates more with the current audience, with less overt gore.
DonTadow
First Post
They built up Manhattans devastating power well enough with visuals that I did get that sea of dead bodies feeling from the end of the book. Seeing so many disintegrated people was a bit more agonizing. I guess that's how it is when you don't see a body, its just something creepy about it. It's probably an inherent spiritual thing where you want to say goodbye but there's nothing to say it too. Just emptiness.
The squid has been considered cheesy by plenty of comic readers, too - it's been a topic of much argument since Watchmen was published.
I think the squid was slightly better than the chosen method. They both got the general idea across, but the squid has better nuances.
[sblock]With the squid, mankind bands together because of fear of the Unknown, the idea that there is something else out there, and our differences become unimportant in the face of that.
With Dr. Manhattan, mankind bands together out of fear of an angry, vengeful god. A god that they created. Dr. Manhattan isn't exactly the Unknown, he is a child that outstripped his parents. Plus, I think a lot of people would blame the USA for his actions, given that he was their weapon for so long. And that cuts against the unity.[/sblock]
[sblock]With the squid, mankind bands together because of fear of the Unknown, the idea that there is something else out there, and our differences become unimportant in the face of that.
With Dr. Manhattan, mankind bands together out of fear of an angry, vengeful god. A god that they created. Dr. Manhattan isn't exactly the Unknown, he is a child that outstripped his parents. Plus, I think a lot of people would blame the USA for his actions, given that he was their weapon for so long. And that cuts against the unity.[/sblock]
Ed_Laprade
Adventurer
This is my biggest problem with the change to the ending.
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