For the record, I just want to say that I wasn't one of those people who rushed to finish the comic book right before watching the movie. I read the book a few years back, thanks to the recommendation of a good friend of mine, and truly loved it for what it was. Admittedly, I was rushing to try and re-read the whole thing right before the movie because I wanted to have a fresh memory of it in its original form.

There were a lot of good things, and definitely a lot of bad things about the movie adaptation.

Mainly, I would like to applaud the entire cast-- everyone did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life in the big screen. Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II was my definite favorite-- insta-crush for me!!! My favorite character when I read the book is Rorschach; and Walter Kovacs did an amazing, amazing job. Kudos to the acting from everyone in this film.

The visual effects were stunning, of course. I especially love watching Archie (Nite Owl's ship) come to life! Dr. Manhattan looked surreal AND real at the same time. The scenes on Mars were beautiful, especially the glass structure moving around.

My biggest peeve would have to be with the director, Zack Snyder. I won't say he's a bad director or that he did a horrid job. I enjoyed 300 too; but I think he really forced a certain style into Watchmen that worked well with 300, but not with this comic adaptation.

I LOVE stylistic violence. I will admit, I found the violence and gore in Watchmen quite awesome. Though in the end, I have to admit a lot of it was unnecessary.
What was even more embarrassing was the soft core porn between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II. It was definitely a '300 moment sex scene' that the movie didn't really need... but then again, that's just me. I don't know how many fanboys wet themselves over that scene but I could have done without it. I think the conversation after they had sex in the comic book was more poignant than the actual act itself, and from what I remember... it was completely left out in the movie.

A lot of things stayed true to the original and a lot of the original scenes were kept. I also understand why some things were compressed the way they were for the movie, and I thought the screenplay did a good job shortening the story but still making it cohesive.

Yet, I am still not convinced they really enunciated the right elements of the original story for the movie. In the end, despite the fact that I did enjoy the movie for what it was, I felt it was still very lacking.

I guess all I can say is if I had a choice between watching the movie or re-reading the comic book, I would say I would rather read it than view it. The comic stands stronger still and I think is much more fulfilling.

Labels: movie, review, watchmen