As a reader of the book, I suppose I don't really have anything useful to say about the movie. It's an interesting experience to watch something that hews to its source material so closely (up until the last reel anyway), unlike most modern Hollywood adaptations. Nothing is surprising, but there's a kind of voyeuristic joy in seeing something you know well played out on the screen. It was fun to watch, but a somehow shallow experience.
Perhaps it's that some of the characterization is lost amongst all the superfluous slick action sequences that have been added to the film, or maybe it's just that a film of this scope doesn't really have time to let the characters breathe. Let's take Rorshach as an example. He's an uncompromising S.O.B., a bit of a cross between Travis Bickle and Batman (Christian Bale, not Adam West). Morally reprehensible, but someone who deserves your respect. In the movie though, he's our cool action hero. We love him, or at worst pity him. Maybe we aren't given enough time to actually stop and think about the things that he's doing. Maybe we're so desensitized to "heroes" doing criminal acts in pursuit of the greater good these days that it washes over us as no big deal.
I can't help but think that if this movie had actually been made right away back in the mid-80s that it would have a greater impact. Not only would the setting of an alternate Cold War America on the brink of nuclear annihilation have been more socially relevant, but the characters would have felt different, too. Think back to 1985 for a second. Superheroes were popularly portrayed as either dorky goody two-shoes, campy crusaders, or roid-raged green guys. A bunch of morally ambiguous anti-heroes dressed in spandex would have seemed a bit more novel.
In the end, while Watchmen is probably a great superhero movie, it's not a great movie. If you're into that sort of thing, then check it out. If you like the movie, then I recommend the book. If you're interested, I have a copy waiting for you on my shelf.
2 comments:
Good review. I'll take you up on borrowing the book, I would love to give it a read.
On a completely different note, I hope you caught last night's stunning Cyclone victory. Even Fennelly said they got lucky.
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