Watching

[digitaldiscipline]

Saturday, saw The Watchmen. At that point, I'd read about the first fifteen or twenty pages of the graphic novel, so I'd been introduced to most of the characters, but had no idea what the story was like. That said, I enjoyed the movie, but could have used ten or fifteen fewer decibels for some of the explosions.

That isn't to say that I didn't have problems with some things - the skills and motivations of some of the characters seemed suspect and/or contrived, and Nixon's makeup was possibly the worst fake nose this side of Pinocchio porn.


Interesting, mildly spoilery discussion of the fighting styles: http://matociquala.livejournal.com/1586765.html


In summary, when people have asked for my reactions, I tend to answer, "I like explosions and moral ambiguity, so I'm okay with it."

Comments

[tomakins.livejournal.com]

I keep forgetting to mention the nose to people. I think I am blocking it, like it never happened or something.

I think one of the overall things I liked the most was that although the movie did a great job of representing the book on screen, both can be enjoyed separately. Neither is so different from the other that they pale in comparison, or so like the other that it is like, in the case of the book, reading a screenplay.

[mitejen.livejournal.com]

What bothered me most about Nixon wasn't the nose, but that it sounded like he was speaking through a rubber mask, which he was.

I think Snyder just really wanted to prove that the makeup worked, and so instead of having some long shots everything was EXTREME CLOSE UP on people's faces. Whenever Old Sally Jupiter was talking I was staring at her makeup instead of her character.

It would have been interesting if they'd gotten someone who sounded like Nixon and could do the gesticulations, but still looked just a bit less like the real thing. It would have shown more imagination than Snyder trying to slavishly reproduce everything, which wore me out.

[smaugchow.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit of a comic book nerd (I still re-read The Dark Knight Returns every 2 years or so) but I have zero knowledge of the Watchmen. All this noise about the film just makes me want to check out the source material. I have no desire to see the film. Maybe it's all the bitching and moaning I've been reading about that adaptation to the screen that has turned me off.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I thought it was pretty good. It's not the gee-whiz action crapfest that spider man or x men has turned into; it's dark and violent, which is a plus.