Watchmen

[tommo]

Just a quick post to say I really liked it. A few dot points follow, cut for some light spoilers:

- I thought the casting was fantastic. I was genuinely amazed that there wasn't a single dud choice. In most adaptations, you're lucky to get one or two casting choices that make you go "Yes! That is a perfect fit!" For me, this movie had about half-a-dozen of them.

- I think the film's makers did an admirable job of translating the comic to the big screen, with some potentially controversial storyline changes that I think were made for the best.

- On that note, I really liked the ending. I think it was a smart way to retain the essence of the comic's ending via a more streamlined, easier-to-fit-into-160-mins approach that tied neatly back into the existing storyline, and was probably a little easier to digest for the average movie goer than the whole squid monster dealie. To be totally honest, I think I like the movie ending even more than the book ending, and from assorted messageboards and lj posts I've read, it seems I'm far from alone on that one.

- Unlike ataxi, I really liked the soundtrack, and found it did what they were obviously aiming for - it provided a sense of firmly tying the fiction to the alternate "real-life" history, which I totally bought into and thoroughly enjoyed, particularly the Bob Dylan backed opening sequence. That being said, I haven't seen Forrest Gump in its entirety, so perhaps the lack of that association is what saved it for me.

- I enjoyed the look of the film in general. It had that dulled, retro, noirish look that made it feel like you were watching pictures from old newspaper articles in live motion.

- [obligatory blue wang reference]

I need to re-read the book. Over the years my information retention from reading has improved from "fucking terrible" to "kinda bad but not too bad", and I last read it about 5 or 6 years ago, so other than major plot points I couldn't actually remember much. It did make watching the movie kind of interesting, though, having vague recollections reignited every 10 minutes or so.

Comments

[greyreviews.livejournal.com]

Nothing worthwhile to add since we seem to agree on everything there.

However, I discovered this on the net and it gave me some chuckles.

"Why would I save a world I no longer have any steak in?"
"Do it for meat."

Oh and incase you havent seen it, this is awesome:

http://gorillamask.net/gm_media.php?show_page=video&page_id=22238

[tommmo.livejournal.com]

I had already seen the Saturday Morning Watchmen thingy and it is indeed brilliant.