"Watchmen" review
Mar. 23rd, 2009 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asterrocI'm assuming you've already watched the movie here, since I expect most people who care about it have already done so.
I read the comic book (graphic novel, whatever you want to call it) in the late 1990's or early 2000's I think. It was my second big graphic novel to read (after Sandman) At the time it seemed amazingly anti-establishment in its treatment of making superheros register, deconstructing what it is that makes them put on the mask, where they go when they get old, how society would really react to them, and so on. I am not sure whether the movie played down this anti-establishment/deconstructionist feeling, or if seeing the X-Men on the big screen previously (with its registration of mutants, prejudice among the populace, etc.) lessened the impact of the movie Watchmen and made it appear more derivative.
(Anyone happen to know when the X-Men series started mutant registration, and how that compares to when the Watchmen came out?)
On the other hand, I really appreciated the timing and complimentary musical score of the movie. The book extensively uses flashbacks to convey the story/history, and the movie does as well. The contemporary music selections set the stage, so that the viewer knows exactly what time period we're looking at (the 80's setting of the majority of the film, Vietnam War, 70's era protests on US soil). The music helped to make a connection for me that I never saw in the graphic novel - I suspect through my own oblivion rather than due to the movie adding something the book did not have - that the anti-mask riots took the place of the Vietnam War riots. Although the Vietnam War was easily won by Dr. Manhattan, riots back in the US still had to take place, and all there was left to riot over was the masks themselves. Songs such as Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" evoked the anti-war riots put down by the Comedian and the original Nite Owl; imagery of flower children facing down the guns of National Guardsmen clearly meant to be the Kent State Massacre; these were very powerful to me in the movie while they held little meaning for me in the comic book.
Usually sex in movies turns me off as being unnecessary, but they did not add any sex that wasn't there in the original (as far as I can recall), and even the flavor of the original is maintained (the awkwardness on Dreiberg's couch, the passion in Archie, Silhouette's affairs and death), so surprisingly it didn't bother me. Similarly I had no problems with Dr. Manhattan's "physique" other than the clearly CG-ed look to him and dissimilarity between his face and the original Jon Osterman's face.
There were a number of minor characters with significant less development in the film than in the comic book, but the scope of the movie was already so large I do not fault them. A couple of the bit characters had pseudo-cameos in the last few scenes, and I appreciated the fanservice of having these bit characters look exactly like they did in the comic. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the change at the end of having the bomb faked as Dr. Manhattan's work rather than faked as alien work, and of course having the bomb go off in multiple cities was a trivial change.
In all, thoroughly enjoyable, and despite having just reread the comic book, I now want to rereread it again.
I read the comic book (graphic novel, whatever you want to call it) in the late 1990's or early 2000's I think. It was my second big graphic novel to read (after Sandman) At the time it seemed amazingly anti-establishment in its treatment of making superheros register, deconstructing what it is that makes them put on the mask, where they go when they get old, how society would really react to them, and so on. I am not sure whether the movie played down this anti-establishment/deconstructionist feeling, or if seeing the X-Men on the big screen previously (with its registration of mutants, prejudice among the populace, etc.) lessened the impact of the movie Watchmen and made it appear more derivative.
(Anyone happen to know when the X-Men series started mutant registration, and how that compares to when the Watchmen came out?)
On the other hand, I really appreciated the timing and complimentary musical score of the movie. The book extensively uses flashbacks to convey the story/history, and the movie does as well. The contemporary music selections set the stage, so that the viewer knows exactly what time period we're looking at (the 80's setting of the majority of the film, Vietnam War, 70's era protests on US soil). The music helped to make a connection for me that I never saw in the graphic novel - I suspect through my own oblivion rather than due to the movie adding something the book did not have - that the anti-mask riots took the place of the Vietnam War riots. Although the Vietnam War was easily won by Dr. Manhattan, riots back in the US still had to take place, and all there was left to riot over was the masks themselves. Songs such as Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" evoked the anti-war riots put down by the Comedian and the original Nite Owl; imagery of flower children facing down the guns of National Guardsmen clearly meant to be the Kent State Massacre; these were very powerful to me in the movie while they held little meaning for me in the comic book.
Usually sex in movies turns me off as being unnecessary, but they did not add any sex that wasn't there in the original (as far as I can recall), and even the flavor of the original is maintained (the awkwardness on Dreiberg's couch, the passion in Archie, Silhouette's affairs and death), so surprisingly it didn't bother me. Similarly I had no problems with Dr. Manhattan's "physique" other than the clearly CG-ed look to him and dissimilarity between his face and the original Jon Osterman's face.
There were a number of minor characters with significant less development in the film than in the comic book, but the scope of the movie was already so large I do not fault them. A couple of the bit characters had pseudo-cameos in the last few scenes, and I appreciated the fanservice of having these bit characters look exactly like they did in the comic. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the change at the end of having the bomb faked as Dr. Manhattan's work rather than faked as alien work, and of course having the bomb go off in multiple cities was a trivial change.
In all, thoroughly enjoyable, and despite having just reread the comic book, I now want to rereread it again.
