Watchmen - The Full-Length Motion Review

I did it.

I watched Watchmen.

And not the day, or even the week it came out. I waited. I let things take their course. I wait past the hype, the hope, the anger, the disappointment, and then the silence. I waited until all the predictable bullshit had run its course and then I saw it.

And I liked what I saw.

As you all know by now, Watchmen is that super-hyped, super-long, super-hero flick based off of Alan Moore's comics (graphic novels, if you must insist on calling them that) by the same name. The prospect of taking all the twelve comics and condensing them into something you can watch in one go in the theater is no small task, but Zak Snyder did a decent job of adapting a multi-person lead action/drama about has-been a dehumanized (in more than one way) crime fighters and the impending end of the world. On the whole, Zack Snyder 's take on the comic was impressively faithful without being a shot-shot, word-for-word remake. A lot of stuff had to get cut, but he stuck to core, minus a few key scenes which made the comic so cutting, but what can you expect. He kept most of the good lines (again, unfortunately omitting a couple of my favourites) and shots, and his actors, for the most part (especially Rorschach) were pretty solid, although, I had a bit of a time swallowing Dan's ripped figure - this on a guy who used to fight crime 20 years back?

Anyway, the special effects, pretty damn good. The fighting was fine, not as super-hero-comicy as other movies but not too "300", Snyder's last gig. The music was a little off, though. I liked the opening credits, but it was too cheezy: "Hallelujah", "Desolation Row" (the My Checmical Romance version), "All Along the Watchtower", "Ride of the Valkyries", and even "Unforgettable" all were either out of place or just too damn cliche. If I ever see another movie playing "Ride of the Valkyries" in a Vietnam War context and it's not a parody, I'm gonna personally fly a fleet of helicopters into the movie studio responsible. Tarintino or someone who knows how to make music work was sadly needed.

Anyway, the story was great and the ending was done really well, if not a bit annoying regarding the "nothing ever ends" line (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the comic), which gets used in the complete opposite context. The weird-as-hell squid gets a wink in the form of S.Q.U.I.D. (look for it), but the meaning's basically the same and the effects nearly identical.

So go ahead, and despite my whining at all this minutia, see Watchmen. It's a good time, and I've known people who've seen it at least twice and haven't read the comic. Can't be that bad.

Oh yeah, if you decide to bring food into the theatre, don't make like my buddy and bring a can of chilli con carne with no spoon. That just doesn't work.