Barbelith Underground > Film, TV & Theatre

OK, this is disconnected and not very well reasoned, like the film itself. Also there are spoilers, obviously, although not if you’ve read the book...
It was an interesting mishmash, veering wildly between Forrest Gump, Dick Tracy, and X-men 3 scripted by David Mamet. Cutting the story down to fit into even this extended time-span sometimes renders it a bit like the ‘Previously On’ section of some weird, soon to be cancelled superhero TV show. It’s mutilated and mortally wounded, but not, surprisingly, dead.
There were moments that really worked and I actually found myself compelled to sit all the way through it.
Stuff that worked: Sporadically pleasing visuals and performances, many directly quoted Alan Moore lines and schticks. Strangely pleasing to see people playing dress-up as the Watchmen characters as well. Maybe they’d have been better off doing this as a theme park. The actor playing the comedian has the right amount of unpleasant relish. Rorschach’s voice is like a bad Clint Eastwood impression but it grows on you like ginger stubble. The silly Blade style fight sequences have obviously been put in as a sop to audiences who like kicky kicky in their comic book films, but it doesn’t seem totally incongruous. And the gambit of the ‘villain’ winning still has a kick to it, possibly enhanced by the more vanilla nature of the content before it.
Stuff that failed: I’m not sure how comprehensible the film will be to anyone who hasn’t read the novel, due to key stuff being left out and some of the dialogue being a little mumbled . It’s all about cutting for time. The non-superheroes’ stories go out the window and the superheroes themselves don’t really have enough time to make the appropriate amount of impact. The revelation that The Comedian is Laurie’s father falls totally flat.
The ending seems to have been changed not because the squid is inherently ridiculous but that without the build up of all the different people disappearing and working on it would totally come out of the blue. However the replacement, of blaming Dr Manhattan, lacks the same idea of humanity coming together to fight an alien force, as it was the US who created him. The deaths also lack the same impact as we don’t know the people involved and there’s no piles of dead, staring corpses as in the comic. Basically in trying to keep it complete yet chopping stuff out Snyder’s lost some of the point. That’s not to say I think his director’s cut will be any better...
Other things: The music seemed to have been arranged by whoever did it for Doctor Who Confidential. ‘Ooh, the times are a’changing! Because times are changing!’ Worst offense is the use of Hallelujah in the hilariously silly sex-scene on Archie. The poor quality celebrity lookalikes were distracting, especially Rubbermask Nixon. I can’t speak for anyone watching it who’s not read the book but it seems really obvious that Veidt is the villain in this one, sibilant English/German accent and significant stares. Rorschach’s mask doesn’t really work in motion. And sadly, Haus, Billy Crudup’s balls are mostly obscured by his penis and there’s no really quality close-ups so you’ll have to hope for a better view in the DVD extras.

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