Last eve, Barry, Jeremy, Dave, Brian (and significant other) and Charlie saw the preview of the Watchmen film.
Bear, BK, and Jer have all read the graphic novel; Big Dave is in the throes of reading it now. I've not read it at all but might after viewing this film.
First of all, the feelings of the others. Bear gave it a big recommendation by saying he would be willing to see it again--and pay this time to do it. He spoke to the authenticity of the film--how it captured the essence of the novel, how the director seemingly took comic cells as his storyboard for the film shoot. Jer liked it ok. BK really, really liked it. Dave seemed satisfied as someone who is only now able to compare what he's reading to what was on the screen.
This is why my review may be helpful to those who have yet to read the novel. For the graphic novel/comic book film neophyte, as I am, let me first say that the film is beautifully shot. What I don't know is how much this is due to the original version in the graphic novel.
Secondly, two characters/actors stood out; the narrator, a character called Rorschach, seemed to be the most fascinating character and the most compelling from a crime-fighting sense--he has a strong feeling that wrongs must be avenged. The other strong character was The Comedian. He is a great conundrum, a yin and yang of everything that's good and bad about America--often in the same scene.
Finally, for me, the story seemed a little unsatisfying at the end. Perhaps I wanted a different outcome or wanted there to be more of an 'open' ending that allows for a follow-up in the near future.
As another note, the female lead was lovely--truly--but her lines seemed stilted at times. In fact, I've seen better acting from high school drama productions. Did I mention that she's lovely? Yeah.
So, on a scale of 0 to 4, I'll give the film a 2 1/2.
UPDATE 3/6/09=Ebert gave it a ****: See review here.
3 comments:
Going back and reading the GN (or rather, watching it through the motion comics) I was reminded just how much difficulty Moore had writing the female characters. His best treatments are probably Joey, the likable butch lesbian (who in the end beats the snot out of her petite girlfriend!), and Gloria Long, Rorschach's psychiatrist's wife.
Oh, and yes, in case she missed the movie entirely, Joey was a real character in the book. That was not a joke, although it would have made a great one.
No, no; Joey was definitely in there (an' lookin' good).
She got some laughs and one rather large and sad *sigh* from the audience.
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