So the blog gets a new name, I have a new job, and I deliver a promise to deal more niceties and less expletives towards the general public on a more regular occasion...
Todays Ravings:- Watchmen
Right, so I have read the Original Series, but had not memorized it, nor re-named my children appropriate monikers from the several characters....How does the tale of the 'Big Blue Pipe' fare on the big screen?
A deserved 'meh'.
Begining very pointedly, with a great use of opening sequence to get a lot of exposition dealt with, Watchmen is brave and full of ambition for trying to capture one of the most dense works in Comic History, and also, we need to remember, that almost consistently deals with its 'heroes' with a dour and vindictive hatred. Moore never liked these people, he only sees their flaws, never their potential.The film makes sure you never get the chance to either.
In ambition and scope, we have the films only saving graces. Hard to swallow, difficult to align with anyones emotional state, and badly structured, director Snyder has managed certain parts well (Rorschach being intact is one, but even still that is mostly down to Jackie Hayley for his thrilling out of mask performance). However, lines/whole passages of Moore's fantastic dialogue are thrown away by a combination of bad, mumbly acting,being overpowered by a very loud sound effect/poorly chose song, or simply that the piece of prose is trying to get out of the way of the next large explosion or blue naked appendage.
My biggest complaint...? The Watchmen here are treated like heroes..in the book, the action set pieces had the dialogue to counteract the heroic actions, reminding that these people were only ever 'heroes' by their own beliefs/necessities, not anyone else's.... So we get the cool looking, slowed down action sequences of people doing amazing things in flash rubber costumes. Which is what the source is trying to rally against.
A failed experiment (possibly from the start), the film is not horrifically bad, as some have burnt into it already (how quickly we all forget 'Ghost Rider'!), but it's soon to be released over 4 hour re-cut can only add to it's already uneven pacing, and Bargain Bin destination.
JK
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1 comment:
Any film that features some swingin blue pipe garners some applause. My main problem was with the very snoozeworthy performance of the "leading" lady, I found myself grinding my teeth whenever she was talking. Rorschach was definitly the highlight of the film, a great performance. "im not locked in here with you, your locked in here with me!!". Indeed.
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