Lissa does Watchmen

“None of you understand! I’m not locked in here with you! You’re locked in here with me!”

The Scoop: 2008 R, directed by Zach Snyder and starring Billy Crudup, Malin Ackerman and Carla Gugino.

Tagline: They watch over us… but who watches them?

Summary Capsule: Alan Moore’s ‘unfilmable’ magnum opus gets filmed.

Lissa’s Rating: There are times and places for “Hallelujah”, and this is NOT it.

Lissa’s Review: This past Friday, I finished reading Watchmen for the first time. This represents the culmination of years of a mind changing process.

I am a total geek. We all know this. Come on, I write for a website called Mutant Reviewers From Hell — what else would I be? But despite that, I clung to my belief that comic books (and yes, they were ALL comic books) were lesser art forms. Meant for kids. Archie and Jughead and anything else was just sort of unthinkable. Over the years, I’ve made friends (about 90% of them guys) that read graphic novels. I politely ignored their love of them and mentally patted them on the head much the same way they probably did the same thing when I waxed poetic about Harry Potter. Then I saw V for Vendetta.

V for Vendetta is everything I love in a story. End times. Dictatorial regime. Persecution. Desperation. Tight bond between two characters that is not necessarily sexual. I loved the movie, and actually considered reading the book. Hey — for me, this was a big leap forward. I really started looking at graphic novels differently, understanding what sort of stories they could tell.

Then that survey started going around on LiveJournal and Facebook. The one that asks how many of the Times Top 100 books have you read? And Watchmen was on that list. Okay, that gave me a kick, especially since a lot of the other books struck me as pretentious, and frankly boring. Shortly after I saw that, I wrote a story that I really, really liked, and someone illustrated part of it like a graphic novel. Seeing my own work brought into imagery that way… I suddenly got it. Completely and utterly got it. I now understand what graphic novels can really be if done well, and just how valid an art form they really are. So I picked up Watchmen, and needless to say, I adored it. Add me to the fan list, even if I’m the most recent name on it. (I suspect I’m not.)

So, Friday I finished reading Watchmen. Saturday I went to see it.

Now, one of the best parts about being a newly converted fangirl is I haven’t had the time to soak up all the details and the intricacies and the implications. So when I went to see the movie, I just really, really enjoyed it, especially given how freaking faithful it is to the novel. I completely agreed with what they cut, was amazed at how much they kept in, and was okay with the change at the end, although I know other people weren’t. (I’m not going to say they’re wrong. I spend too much time ranting about Harry Potter and Battlestar Galactica to tell them “hey, it’s just a movie and they just streamlined it a little.” I get that frustration. But I haven’t earned my spurs as a Watchmen fangirl, so I’ll leave that analysis and rant for someone else.)

For the uninitiated, Watchmen is a superhero story, but it’s a different take on superheroes. Instead of making these people out to be mountains of nobility, Watchmen starts with the premise that it takes a very specific mindset to dress up in a costume and go out fighting crime, and chances are these people are lunatics. Well, come on. Do you dress in latex and patrol the streets? I didn’t think so. But the idea that it takes a very extreme personality is very plausible. And then to put these personalities into proximity of each other… it’s like an especially, incredibly dysfunctional forerunner of the X-Men family. And it’s awesome.

It’s a fantastic story, yes. How is it as a movie? I wasn’t at all disappointed. The effects are beautiful, particularly those on Mars. (Although I would have liked to have seen more of Mars, just because we’ve been reading books about the planets with Ducklet.) The acting ranged from acceptable (wasn’t that impressed with Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt/Ozy) to stellar (Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian were complete standouts). There was some really neat cinematography, especially the pauses during the fight scenes where they basically shouted “Look how perfectly we’re recreating the novel!” and the “The Times they Are A-Changing” sequence at the beginning. I wasn’t even all that phased by the naked Dr. Manhattan, although when I mentioned that fact Duckie was suddenly relieved he didn’t go see the movie on the IMAX screen.

It was a bit long, I have to admit. However, I should lodge that complaint more at the people who make the movie seats than the people who made the movie. I wasn’t bored — my butt just started hurting, that’s all. (But boy, let me tell you how grateful I am that they cut the monologue at the end down a bit!) In fact, I can’t wait for the director’s cut, because I’m dying to see the stuff that got cut out.

So, yeah. I loved it. But as I said, I’m a brand spanking new fan, and I’m still in the infatuation phase, so take my review with that in mind. I’ll certainly reread the novel, and I’ll certainly buy the DVD and watch it that night, and probably several more times. Really, unless you truly despise any sort of fantastical elements whatsoever in a plot or are very, very squicked by violence or are under a certain age, there’s no reason not to see this one.

Want a second opinion? Check out Mike’s review of Watchmen here!

Whoever said purple is the new gray was seriously disturbed.

Didja Notice?

• Ozymandias’ German accent when he’s not in public?

• How much Nite Owl and Silk Spectre look like Clark Kent and Lois Lane?
• Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” playing in Veidt’s lobby?
• Doc Manhatten’s package? Yeah, if I was packin’ that much heat, I’d walk around naked all the time too.

Intermission!

Nathan Fillion was considered for the roles of The Comedian and Nite Owl.

Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were both previously scheduled to direct.

The first official image from director Zack Snyder – a test shot of Rorshach holding The Comedian’s button – was actually hidden in a trailer for Snyder’s previous film, 300. It features the film’s associate producer, Wesley Coller, wearing a makeshift mask in front of a composite New York backdrop, and was created as an experiment by Snyder to establish the mood and look of his proposed Watchmen project. Snyder’s wife, Deborah Snyder, bet him $100 that no one would discover it, while he was convinced that someone would find it almost immediately. He won.

Groovy Quotes

Nite Owl: At least I’m not the one still hiding behind a mask.
Rorschach: No, you’re hiding in plain sight.

The Comedian: Here I am spilling my guts to my arch enemy. Truth is, Moloch, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend. What does that say?

Silk Spectre: Breaking into a national security prison is not the same thing as fighting a tenement fire.
Nite Owl: You’re right. It’s more fun.

Lee Iacocca: And we all know ‘free’ is just another word for communist.

Rorschach: Funny story. Sounds unbelievable. Probably true.

Rorschach: You keep calling me Walter. I don’t Like you.
Dr. Malcolm Long: Oh… why not?
Rorschach: You’re Fat.

Rorschach: None of you understand! I’m not locked in here with you! You’re locked in here with me!

If You Liked This Movie, Try These:

• 300

• Sin City
• Wanted