Did You Watch The Watchmen? *possible spoilers*

I saw a midnight showing and I thought it was...brace yourselves...good.

Snyder stayed true to the general spirit of Moore and Gibbons's book. The most significant aspects of the story stayed in tact and the change to the ending actually worked.

Haley was flawless as Rorschach. The detective side alone was good, but when he lost his mask and went to prison, it just brought his performance up. Amazing stuff.

Doc Manhatten was very solid. He was emotionless, but heartfelt when he needed to be. The audience really got the feeling that he's a god. His non-linear monologue on Mars was skillfully done. And his junk wasn't too distracting.

Comedian was great. Creepy, sadistic bastard with just enough sadness for you to not completely hate him.

Dan and Laurie fell short a bit. Their acting was fine, but their individual problems (Dan's weight problem, Laurie's mommy issues) were somewhat glossed over in favor of making their relationship stronger. They were made to be better fighters than they were in the comic, which is okay. I really think the sex scene between them didn't need to be there.

Ozymandias was the worst of them. His backstory was barely touched upon (leaving audiences to ask "What's with the cat-thing?") and his accent switching didn't add anything, but mostly, he never really seemed human. He's always in control and on top of everything; he never falters and never doubts himself. Just doesn't seem right. Plus, he was more of a dick than he was in the comics.

It was generally more violent and gorey than the book. Violence was okay because it keeps the not-fans interested in what's going on. The gore was just plain unnecessary (e.g. the prison riot).

A lot of it seemed to campy. Dan and Laurie, being the only "normal" characters in the story, were the only people able to provide comic relief, which Snyder seemed to take advantage of. Not really that good of an idea.

The music worked for the most part, but a lot of it seemed out of place and distracting (e.g. playing "Boogie Down" during the Keene act riots).

Needless to say, special effects rocked. Especially Mars in general and a lot of the scenes with Doc.

Overall, the film is a great adaptation of the book. Some of the changes work to it's favor, and some don't. Overall, i'd rate the movie as an 8.75 out of 10.

-UDC

I went last night to the opening. At this time I will pass on giving a detailed response to the movie. Some of my thoughts were already touched on above. Though some I disagree with:

I thought the music worked beautifully. Loved "Boogie Man" during the Keene act riots but hated The Ride of the Valkyries music during the Vietnam War scenes.

I thought the movie was amazing. There were parts that worked and some that didn't. The parts that did work were so over the top amazing that I think it more then made up for the off parts.

I went with 7 other people who were not familiar with the source material and it seemed all of them liked it. Some even want to read the graphic novel now.

I've never been an obsessive fanboy when it comes to Watchmen. I do hold it in high regards for where it stands in history and I believe that the movie did the book justice.

If I had to guess based on what I saw, it will be a love it or hate it type of flick. Some will want to dissect it frame for frame and tear it down, while others may not care. Either way, I will go out on a limb and call it a $300 million dollar hit for Hollywood and one that I will eagerly buy on DVD the day it comes out.

I think the tagline for this movie should have been "more blue wangle than you can shake a stick at!" ;D

I liked it pretty well. It worked on most every level with the exception of some off-scenes. It started a little slow and at first I wasn't sure, but once it picked up and you saw all the craziness being filled in storywise I think it really rocked it. I agree with John, the Ride of the Valkyries seemed like a bit much but you've gotta love the Bob Dylan tune with all the "frozen" scenes at the beginning. 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World during the Ozymandias hitman scene and the bit with 'All Along The Watchtower' near the end were also nice. I didn't have a problem with the sex scene. It was nice to see some female nakedness after all the man junk and bare asses. I was reminded though how long it'd been since I'd seen some full-on sex on the big screen. Scenes that shined were backstory flashes for Dr. Manhattan and pretty much everything with Rorschach in prison. The graphic violence was shocking in places but seemed to add weight to the intensity of the story. And the modified ending made total sense. A squid monster would have yanked you right out of the movie at that point. A good move I think.

Great stuff. Well done. I'd give it an A-.

the music didn't bother me at all, though I did laugh out loud when they started playing "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Talk about a major wink.

All I'll say about the major amount of man junk is that I was impressed that John maintained during his trip to the Antartica. George Castanza would have been shouting. "It's cold here!"

Just one question.
I saw the movie yesterday and in the german version there was the song "99 red baloons" from Nena. Was this also in the original version?

haha, okay. In the German version the had the german text of the song, so I wasn't sure if that was just an "easter egg" from the synchronisation team or if that was also in the original version.
But that's pretty cool.

I absolutely loved it. Every scene. The only problems I had if any, was stuff that did not make it. The costumes were great down to the nipples molded onto the Ozymandias suit. I think it poked some fun at comic book movie trends the same as the book did to comic books. The sex scene mixed with the Hallelujah song I thought was perfect given Dan's predicament. Viagra didn't come along til the nineties after all. I find it very telling about our culture that in a movie where people are getting their arms sawed off, bones breaking through skin and nuclear holocaust that the sex scene is a problem for people.

That Saturday Morning cartoon bit is genius.

hahaha, that's so cool

RE: "Happy Harry" Watchmen toon...I think I'm blind now.

I couldn't get the second link to load, but I liked the "Click on this to prove you're human" button to access it. ;D

Hitler really, really wanted the squid monster.

NSFW

(subtitles are small, you might have to click in to read them)

Got the clip to load, Chris, and watched twelve minutes of it...had to stop 'cause I have to go to work. Looks good, but strangely shot. Maybe it's the resolution. Nixon has a rubber face, for sure.

Awesome I have been listening to Smodcast to see what his review was.

This is beyond my comprehension.