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ellefliesI snuck into an Abandoned Boat Graveyard and saw Watchmen yesterday. You'll have to wait for the Boat Graveyard photos but I do have thoughts on Watchmen.
Watchmen was kinda fucking awesome.
It's nothing I'll obsess over but I did enjoy it. I guess you could say I enjoyed it enough to will my bladder into submission and save the charge to the bathrooms for the credits (as opposed to the middle of the movie, when those things normally occur)
Anyways. I went into this movie knowing only that Doctor Manhattan liked to walk around naked and was thusly full of full frontal and that JDM was in it smoking a cigar. Also, there was apparently something to do with a smiley face. I once tried to flip through the comic at Reg's house and was given a royal smackdown.
That being said... I enjoyed how this was not your typical superhero movie with Evil versus Good and Good Versus Evil and Justice always prevailing and being Right. I really appreciated that this movie was full of shades of grey and in many ways the Super Heroes were just as awful as their evil counterparts. Like JDM... his character was pretty awful actually. And it wasn't until the end of the movie that it become apparent that even though he may have been an awful human being who most likely committed some bigger atrocities then the people he pursued that he did have a heart and was probably more human then some of the characters being held up as great and moral people. I liked that the worst of the bunch was possibly the most human out of all of them.
I like that dichotomy. I even liked the ending, even though they nuked every major city out there. I liked that the man trying to save the world only saved it by destroying parts of it and that the blame for that destruction rested on the shoulders of someone who would never willingly and actively participated in such a thing (For all his smarts and abilities, Doctor Manhattan can be pretty stupid)
Movies like this, the superhero movies, the scifi movies, those types often seem to be used as a way of talking about the human condition and delving into who we are and what makes us tick and I think this movie did a good job of asking those same questions and trying to figure out the answer.
I did not like that they killed Rorschach. He was fucking awesome. And I have to say that I agree more with his take on the fraud perpetuated by the Blonde Guy (see how lazy I am that I'm not even bothering to look up his name) and Doctor Manhattan. It may have saved the world and created peace, but it was peace based on a lie and in the end he stood by his principles. He died by his principles and you have to respect that.
I also think in the end he was the one who had the last laugh. Not the Comedian. For all the silencing Doctor Manhattan did in the end there was a diary.
The power of the written word. Ignore it at your peril. And I liked that it ended that way, with the viewer able to make up their own minds as to what happened next. The world is happy and holding hands and being peaceful, but here's this diary, you choose.
On a more shallow note. The guy that plays Night Owl: he has very pretty lips and a nice butt. A very nice butt. I could not help but notice these things (I also could not help but notice Doctor Manhattan's blue dangly bits but I was warned that they were all front and center to begin with so that probably didn't help things.)
Oddly enough I think my absolute favorite part of this movie was the opening credits. They were amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. I love that they recreated the Last Supper out of Super Heroes. They were creative and lovely, I could watch them again and again.
The soundtrack was a bizarre amalgamation of stuff. I'm musically inept and even I noticed this. Even though I did enjoy it. It was like someone went through, picked a bunch of songs they liked and didn't stop to think whether this was the most relevant song for this scene.
My biggest beef with the movie oddly enough was the gore. I have no gore tolerance whatsoever. I spent many a scene peeking between my fingers.
Some things I didn't quite get, like whether there were actual superpowers involved and the history of the Watchmen and how is started, how these people got involved is all a little hazy. Also the whole Nixon thing. 5 Terms of Nixon? Good Grief.
Overall, I really liked it. The bits I didn't like were minor and easily ignored. I loved how grey everything was, that there was really no TRUE bad guy in the end and that the outcome was not ideal but one that everyone had to learn to live with (or die with).
I think overall I just like that it got me thinking a bit. That's probably the best part.
Watchmen was kinda fucking awesome.
It's nothing I'll obsess over but I did enjoy it. I guess you could say I enjoyed it enough to will my bladder into submission and save the charge to the bathrooms for the credits (as opposed to the middle of the movie, when those things normally occur)
Anyways. I went into this movie knowing only that Doctor Manhattan liked to walk around naked and was thusly full of full frontal and that JDM was in it smoking a cigar. Also, there was apparently something to do with a smiley face. I once tried to flip through the comic at Reg's house and was given a royal smackdown.
That being said... I enjoyed how this was not your typical superhero movie with Evil versus Good and Good Versus Evil and Justice always prevailing and being Right. I really appreciated that this movie was full of shades of grey and in many ways the Super Heroes were just as awful as their evil counterparts. Like JDM... his character was pretty awful actually. And it wasn't until the end of the movie that it become apparent that even though he may have been an awful human being who most likely committed some bigger atrocities then the people he pursued that he did have a heart and was probably more human then some of the characters being held up as great and moral people. I liked that the worst of the bunch was possibly the most human out of all of them.
I like that dichotomy. I even liked the ending, even though they nuked every major city out there. I liked that the man trying to save the world only saved it by destroying parts of it and that the blame for that destruction rested on the shoulders of someone who would never willingly and actively participated in such a thing (For all his smarts and abilities, Doctor Manhattan can be pretty stupid)
Movies like this, the superhero movies, the scifi movies, those types often seem to be used as a way of talking about the human condition and delving into who we are and what makes us tick and I think this movie did a good job of asking those same questions and trying to figure out the answer.
I did not like that they killed Rorschach. He was fucking awesome. And I have to say that I agree more with his take on the fraud perpetuated by the Blonde Guy (see how lazy I am that I'm not even bothering to look up his name) and Doctor Manhattan. It may have saved the world and created peace, but it was peace based on a lie and in the end he stood by his principles. He died by his principles and you have to respect that.
I also think in the end he was the one who had the last laugh. Not the Comedian. For all the silencing Doctor Manhattan did in the end there was a diary.
The power of the written word. Ignore it at your peril. And I liked that it ended that way, with the viewer able to make up their own minds as to what happened next. The world is happy and holding hands and being peaceful, but here's this diary, you choose.
On a more shallow note. The guy that plays Night Owl: he has very pretty lips and a nice butt. A very nice butt. I could not help but notice these things (I also could not help but notice Doctor Manhattan's blue dangly bits but I was warned that they were all front and center to begin with so that probably didn't help things.)
Oddly enough I think my absolute favorite part of this movie was the opening credits. They were amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. I love that they recreated the Last Supper out of Super Heroes. They were creative and lovely, I could watch them again and again.
The soundtrack was a bizarre amalgamation of stuff. I'm musically inept and even I noticed this. Even though I did enjoy it. It was like someone went through, picked a bunch of songs they liked and didn't stop to think whether this was the most relevant song for this scene.
My biggest beef with the movie oddly enough was the gore. I have no gore tolerance whatsoever. I spent many a scene peeking between my fingers.
Some things I didn't quite get, like whether there were actual superpowers involved and the history of the Watchmen and how is started, how these people got involved is all a little hazy. Also the whole Nixon thing. 5 Terms of Nixon? Good Grief.
Overall, I really liked it. The bits I didn't like were minor and easily ignored. I loved how grey everything was, that there was really no TRUE bad guy in the end and that the outcome was not ideal but one that everyone had to learn to live with (or die with).
I think overall I just like that it got me thinking a bit. That's probably the best part.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 02:29 am (UTC)I think what you say about the power of the written word comes through even more strongly in the comic than it does in the movie. It's one of the things I found really impressive when I read it, how many different texts there are that help to shape the story and how it's told.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 02:52 am (UTC)I really should read watchmen. Everyone I knew who has read it before they saw the movie has loved it.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 04:20 am (UTC)Hope you enjoy the original graphic novel as well.