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<blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 4701613" data-attributes="member: 32740"><p>Just got back from seeing it. I was beginning to be unsure of what to expect from it. I avoided the escalating publicity campaign for it because I wanted to be better able to judge it on its own terms - which was already difficult enough because I know the original material so well. Then I started getting mixed signals about how good/bad it was and couldn't tell if it was adverse fanboy reaction or inappreciative criticism. The movie is generally good, but unfortunately I gotta say that it could have been better. Not "should", just "could".</p><p> </p><p>I agree that the altered ending is superior to the original because of the requirements of a movie. All the little clues and subplots setting up the original ending would have added a lot of time and been FAR harder to adequately explain to an audience.</p><p> </p><p>I think it must have been a tough decision to remain as faithful as they did to the original material because it seriously affected the pacing. Now I don't mind slow-paced movies. Heck, this one practically wins points for being a "superhero" movie that DOESN'T come off as being hopped up on crack and amphetamines. But it nonetheless plays <em>unnecessarily</em> slow in places. It's a tough adaptation to perform, but I can't help but feel they'd have made a more widely accessible movie if the editing had moved the STORY along a little quicker and used less montage and more flashback, or perhaps even [sacrilege!] reorganized exposition scenes in a more chronological order. Given the depth and complexity of the material they did VERY well. You just have to accept that the movie is NOT an ACTION film going into it - and that's difficult for someone not familiar with the original material to grasp.</p><p> </p><p>The music <em>choices</em> were great, but the volume was obnoxious, hamfisted, and generally BADLY handled. It drew attention to itself, which means it committed the crime of drawing attention away from the film to focus just on the music.</p><p> </p><p>Good performances from Jackie Earl Haley (Rorshach), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Comedian). Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre) for some reason doesn't <em>quite</em> come across with as strong a performance (but damn! is she hot - so all is forgiven), and Matthew Goode (Ozymandias) wasn't written/played as the wunderkind with the thinly veiled ego as I thought he should have been and I think it was a mistake not to cast someone who had a more developed physique that he had in the original - the wannabe god to Manhattan's genuine deific abilities. As it was it felt too underplayed.</p><p> </p><p>I also agree about the casting and performances of real-world characters like Nixon, Kissinger, etc. Bad makeup, vocally off, and actually played too seriously. I think if they'd have gone for more caricature it would have worked better since these were very much background parts in the original material. They needed caricature in order to be more familiar.</p><p> </p><p>Still quite enjoyable though. I gave it a 7/10, but then I try to score low to counter the proven tendency to actually score movies high right after you've seen them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Man in the Funny Hat, post: 4701613, member: 32740"] Just got back from seeing it. I was beginning to be unsure of what to expect from it. I avoided the escalating publicity campaign for it because I wanted to be better able to judge it on its own terms - which was already difficult enough because I know the original material so well. Then I started getting mixed signals about how good/bad it was and couldn't tell if it was adverse fanboy reaction or inappreciative criticism. The movie is generally good, but unfortunately I gotta say that it could have been better. Not "should", just "could". I agree that the altered ending is superior to the original because of the requirements of a movie. All the little clues and subplots setting up the original ending would have added a lot of time and been FAR harder to adequately explain to an audience. I think it must have been a tough decision to remain as faithful as they did to the original material because it seriously affected the pacing. Now I don't mind slow-paced movies. Heck, this one practically wins points for being a "superhero" movie that DOESN'T come off as being hopped up on crack and amphetamines. But it nonetheless plays [I]unnecessarily[/I] slow in places. It's a tough adaptation to perform, but I can't help but feel they'd have made a more widely accessible movie if the editing had moved the STORY along a little quicker and used less montage and more flashback, or perhaps even [sacrilege!] reorganized exposition scenes in a more chronological order. Given the depth and complexity of the material they did VERY well. You just have to accept that the movie is NOT an ACTION film going into it - and that's difficult for someone not familiar with the original material to grasp. The music [I]choices[/I] were great, but the volume was obnoxious, hamfisted, and generally BADLY handled. It drew attention to itself, which means it committed the crime of drawing attention away from the film to focus just on the music. Good performances from Jackie Earl Haley (Rorshach), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Comedian). Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre) for some reason doesn't [I]quite[/I] come across with as strong a performance (but damn! is she hot - so all is forgiven), and Matthew Goode (Ozymandias) wasn't written/played as the wunderkind with the thinly veiled ego as I thought he should have been and I think it was a mistake not to cast someone who had a more developed physique that he had in the original - the wannabe god to Manhattan's genuine deific abilities. As it was it felt too underplayed. I also agree about the casting and performances of real-world characters like Nixon, Kissinger, etc. Bad makeup, vocally off, and actually played too seriously. I think if they'd have gone for more caricature it would have worked better since these were very much background parts in the original material. They needed caricature in order to be more familiar. Still quite enjoyable though. I gave it a 7/10, but then I try to score low to counter the proven tendency to actually score movies high right after you've seen them. [/QUOTE]
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