Hello All,
Today, I saw the Watchmen at my local movie theatre for the second time. I went last Saturday for the first time and have to say that it was just as enjoyable as the first time. I was thinking about it the other day and told my wife that I wanted to see it again and asked her if she wanted to go with me. She was unable to go with me previously because she was sick at the time. My father-in-law also came along with us. Both of them really enjoyed the film as well, although neither had read the graphic novel. I have read the graphic novel once, but did not remember all of it, but I flipped through it today and noticed that they did not leave much out; I knew that from memory but I could not remember what they had left out. SPOILER
FOLLOW.
The biggest plot element that was left out was the young man who reads the Tales From The Black Freighter comic at the newspaper stand, although both the characters were featured briefly in the film and the Tales From the Black Freighter comic story is feature in a short animated film that will be out on DVD March 24Th, featuring the voice of 300's Gerard Butler. They also did not kill Hollis (the original nite owl)who is killed in the graphic novel. There was also a bunch of people that go missing in the graphic novel that worked on a movie that featured a giant squid creature, which is brought into reality in the graphic novel. These plot elements were a bit bizarre and I did not miss that they were not included in the film. Overall, I would say the resemblance between the graphic novel and film is very strong.
Now, back to the movie proper. Casting; Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson and Carla Cugino were all excellent. Matthew Goode and Malin Akerman were both pretty good. I loved the soundtrack song selections (bought the soundtrack after I saw the film the first time), but thought that the score was just alright (Tyler Bates is a pretty good composer, but I prefer David Julyan and John Murphy). I thought the characters had a lot of depth to them and this indebted to the way the story unfolds with flashbacks of the past so you get a feel for how the characters interacted and viewed each other.
I think that most dramatic and well done character background segment was Dr. Manhattan's. I enjoyed the music in this sequence very much (philip glass ensemble from music from Koyaanisqatsi), I thought the voice-over was very well written and spoken and was shot very nicely (artistic but not over the top; great special effects). The prison break sequence fights were very well choereographed, but not overly stylistic and not overly long. I love the way Rorschach spoke; a voice that was for a guy who looked bigger and rougher than Rorschach did.
I believe that the end of the movie is a yearning for change in the world and definitely in North America. I think that the unity between The United States and the U.S.S.R./Soviet Union at the close of the film is what should have happened globally after 9/11, and it is partially what happened after 9/11 but then the U.S. government used the emotions and anger over 9/11 to convince the American public that they need to go to Iraq and take down Saddam Hussein and now the United States is in a recession because of this and the global financial market is affect by this. I take the ending of the Watchmen as cautious but hopeful for the future.
I hope that in the future, movie fans will continue to be able to see darker, more realistic comic book films, which feature more character depth and better writing. I would like to see a comic book film nominated for best picture at the Oscars within the next 3 years. The Dark Knight should have been nominated and Watchmen should be nominated but it very likely will not be, but it will still be on my list of top films of all time whether it wins awards or not.
This is fanboy Dave signing off and please if you have not seen the Watchmen, please go this weekend. You will not be disappointed.
