The Watchmen....unwatchable?

[Felon]

Currently has a whopping 30 metascore over at metacritic.com based on five reviews:

Watchmen (2009): Reviews

Five reviews ain't a lot, but they include The New Yorker, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety, who tend to be trendsetters for all of those smartass reviewers who got into the business for the sheer joy of trashing other people's work.

In general, the buzz seems to be that it will be deemed impossible to appreciate by anyone who isn't a fan of the graphic novel.

 

[Mort]

Currently has a whopping 30 metascore over at metacritic.com based on five reviews:

Watchmen (2009): Reviews

Five reviews ain't a lot, but they include The New Yorker, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety, who tend to be trendsetters for all of those smartass reviewers who got into the business for the sheer joy of trashing other people's work.

Its Tomatometer rating is currently75% based on 36 reviews. With the consensus: its technical and thematic strengths overwhelm its narrative shortcomings.

In general, the buzz seems to be that it will be deemed impossible to appreciate by anyone who isn't a fan of the graphic novel.

I've also heard (and read) the opposite. That fans of the comic book won't be as impressed because the comic book does everything the movie does, but better.

Will just have to see and judge for myself.

 

[Mallus]

The reviews in the British press after the premiere were positive. As for Metacritic... Anthony Lane at the New Yorker is physically incapable of liking a science fiction, fantasy, or comic book film. He lacks the necessary gene. Why they send him to do so at this point is a mystery. I don't know the Hollywood Reporter guy, but the consensus seems to be the the film is too reverential towards the source material, and if he thinks it's all nonsense, well then... David Edelstein is a good critic and actually capable of enjoying genre movies, so his opinion is worth considering.

Still, I won't know if it's unwatchable until Saturday afternoon after I've seen it. As for predicting how accessible the general public will find it... who knows? I sincerely thought The Dark Knight should have been a bomb (great film, not exactly an uplifting, cathartic superhero story).

 

[Felon]

Its Tomatometer rating is currently75% based on 36 reviews. With the consensus: its technical and thematic strengths overwhelm its narrative shortcomings.

I'm not familiar with Rottentomatoes. Are those 36 comprised of professional reviewers? The "Top Critics" tab gives only 17%.

Watchmen should have a strong opening weekend at any rate, having no real competition. I'm setting my goals low: I just don't want Watchmen to bomb so bad that it sours the superhero movie craze, because I'm planning to buy a nice chunk of Marvel stock this year. Of course, by the same token, just enough of a bomb to drive down confidence in superhero films wouldn't be such a terrible thing.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

So, a friend of mine got preview tickets, and she asked if I wanted to go.

Now, this friend is, well, not into comics. At all. And she doesn't like stuff that would get a movie R-rated, like really graphic violence and sex.

You know, the stuff that's in the comic book.

I felt so...odd...explaining this to her, like I was persuading her she didn't want to go.

Brad

 

[Mort]

I'm not familiar with Rottentomatoes. Are those 36 comprised of professional reviewers? The "Top Critics" tab gives only 17%.

Watchmen should have a strong opening weekend at any rate, having no real competition. I'm setting my goals low: I just don't want Watchmen to bomb so bad that it sours the superhero movie craze, because I'm planning to buy a nice chunk of Marvel stock this year. Of course, by the same token, just enough of a bomb to drive down confidence in superhero films wouldn't be such a terrible thing.

Wikipedia has a much better description than I could come up with; short version: "top critic" generally = professional, while not top critic does not = not professional.

 

[Desert Hare]

I went out earlier all by my lonesome and bought a ticket for Watchmen.

After the first fifteen minutes I got up, walked to the ticket office and got a refund.

 

[Knightfall]

I went out earlier all by my lonesome and bought a ticket for Watchmen.

After the first fifteen minutes I got up, walked to the ticket office and got a refund.

Wow. 0_o

That's not good to hear!

 

[Krug]

Well I know one guy who can't be bugged:
Profile: Alan Moore, the man with a graphic vision | Books | The Observer

 

[Crothian]

I went out earlier all by my lonesome and bought a ticket for Watchmen.

After the first fifteen minutes I got up, walked to the ticket office and got a refund.

Why?