Okay this post is for the nerds. It's spoiler-free and probably also free of pesky things like grammar and spelling, cos I literally just got out of the cinema and these are my very earliest impressions. So bear with me - my opinion may soften over time.
Ok, let me be clear about the 3 hour(ish) epic that is Watchmen - it isn't a bad film. Lots of things work really well - the opening montage of a parallel universe with Superheroes to Bob Dylan's 'Times They Are A' Changing' is gorgeous - it's a stunning sequence that forces you to instantly re-evaluate key moments like the JFK assassination or Nixon's Election. Can you imagine America today if the Vietnam War hand been ended cleanly by a couple superpowers. Can you imagine the pride they would have without that cultural scar? Visually, the movie is obviously stunning, though largely that goes down to the source material. However, credit where credit is due, Director Zack Snyder has realised in a way that is thrilling and terrifying. Particularly the CGI Dr Manhattan, whose vaguely translucent skin is so impressive you almost forget that the lipsynching to actor Billy Crudup is way off. In many ways the film is commendably uncompromising - the violence is bloody as hell (seeing people being eviscerated is powerfully horrifying). There are also moments that genuinely break your heart (Rorscach's backstory anyone??). But the best thing about the film is that it just covers such a fascinating mix of Religion, Politics and Modern Mythmaking.
However.
Here's the thing: The Watchmen Graphic Novel had an operatic quality to it. It felt as though every scene was intertwined together and it didn't progress like a narrative but more like an orchestra, complete with movements. All of the Graphic Novel's different elements - the journal, the flashbacks, all of it - were played in concert in one virtuoso piece. With the film, perhaps in Snyder's admirable attempt to remain faithful to the book, he's lost that spirit. By moving those individual scenes and sequences into a narrative order exposes a lot of them as being quite weak, frequently driven by shocking/clunky dialogue ("What happened to the American Dream?" anyone? I s'pose that line was never going to sound good). And I also suspect that it prevented the actors from truly creating something alive and human with their roles - which requently felt quite mannered and inauthentic. That said there were some killer moments, usually involving Rorschach. In fact the only thing Snyder has really added was a lot of Bullet-time kung fu.
The storytelling inspiration for this movie shouldn't have been conventional cinema - it should've been Baraka or something else that draws together disparate elements together like music. It's not that the movie is bad - it's definitely not a bad film. The source material, however had the makings of a BRILLIANT film. Please don't misunderstand, this isn't the sound of an angry fan annoyed that someone's messed with his favourite comicbook... this is the sound of someone who believes that Watchmen has the makings of stunning cinema. Sadly this isnt quite that. At least not for me.
However, as you know I always love to hear what you guys have got to say. It's still a week before I file my triple j review, so if you loved the Watchmen movie please tell me why.
12 comments:
The Comedian's answer to the question you consider to be clunky dialogue is by far the best line in the novel and, frankly, most of the thematic justification for the entire exercise.
true, absolutely. Within the graphic novel its powerful, poignant and confronting but in the film it feels like a sledgehammer.
Thanks for the impressions marc. I think Watchmen is unfilmable. It is a thing wholly unique to the genre of graphic novels. Still looking forward to it.
cool man, and feel free to come back and let me know what you think once you've seen it too. dyou have a blog, i'd love to read it:)
I have a suspicion Watchmen is going to divide lots of people, I've seen it twice now and enjoyed it even more the second time. There's nuances and ticks in the actors performances and layers to the dialogue that slipped me by as I marveled at the film's stunning visual elements.
Certainly I understand that seeing just one of Watchmen's narrative arcs played out straight in this way is almost jarring, but I think second time round I filled in the gaps with my memory and just enjoyed the storytelling which retained that operatic feel as it explored the back stories of each character, touching on all the pain and tragedy that informs all their lives. I think that spirit remains in the midst of all the darkness that fills the screen.
Anyway, I shouldn't be posting comments, I should be writing my own review.
Cool man, thanks for the thoughts - but am i the only one that thinks you shouldnt HAVE to fill in the blanks? Am I just being naive?
The gaps I mean are much more to do with elements of the narrative from the film that are left out. In terms of the storytelling here I really think I hit the right marks and gave us enough background (origin stories if you will) of each of the principle characters to feel amply well fed narratively.
You're certainly not being naive, good filmmaking shouldn't necessarily ask you to fill in the gaps, but then again a good filmmaker doesn't have to do all the work either. It's a balancing act, especially with a film like this: a comic book movie, that is also film noir mixed with action, sex and philosophy.
Just found your blog a few days again and have added it to my reads. I enjoy your TJJJ reviews.
Amazing review... I'm 2/3s through the original graphic novel and it's definitely struck me how difficult, yet possibly necessary it'd be to adapt the storyline into a single, chronologically unified timeline. Still, I'm really looking forward to seeing it.
But what do you think people who haven't read the novel will make of the film? Is it a case of us having higher standards?
oh, look totally I had really high expectations. But I also think that the film will suffer from total watchmen noobs as well. I suspect it'll go a lot like this: Everyone will agree that there are some damn impressive elements to it. But the lack of clearly laid-out plot will frustrate the Spiderman-set.
As for the lovers of the movie, I totally respect what your saying but i should warn you - what im reading at the moment (in terms of reviews) is all starting to sound a lot like erudite versions of the feedback i get from Twilight fans. Only instead of
"I loved the books so much, my love is filling the gaping holes in the film's quality. robert patterson is dreamy"
it's :
"I loved the graphic novel so much, my love is filling the gaping holes in the film's quality. Rorschach is giving me nightmares"
Am i being too mean?
Partially. You're forgetting how much was left on the cutting room floor, and how much more will be added in for the DVD release, etc. There's only so much you can do to both a) keep a narrative that follows the flow of the graphic novel to please the fans and b) develop a flow around said narrative that brings in people that don't know the novel.
And that's where the divide comes in. People who love Watchmen appreciate most of the result on screen but differ in many areas, such as timing and dialogue. People who don't know the novel stare blankly at the screen asking 'what the hell?' and shake their heads. Though, I notice Margaret and Dave over at At the Movies rated it very highly.
In the end, we'll all see it differently. You have to admit, they tried really, really hard to do justice to the source material. I loved it, flaws and all, probably because the graphic novel itself has its flawed side too. And, of course, a lot of it has a dark, humorous undertone, again maybe lost in translation by the director, or maybe even by the fans ... who knows.
I just stumbed upon this site, and as someone who has never read a comic book or graphic novel in my life (I'm a girl for gods sake); I found the movie really very good, with a complex, yet intelligible storyline. I fully understand the feeling of a treasured book being murdered on the big screen; but to this newcommer the movie was one of the best movies I have seen in ages.
I think watching the film made me want to read the comic again... parts of the Moore/Gibbons book were so overwhelmingly powerful.
The whole thing between the Comedian and Silk Spectre... in the movie, it's a slap to the face, but in the book, it feels delicate, then rough and brutal, which shocks the reader.
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