The activation game was all over San Diego Comic-Con this year. I checked out the Pennyworth London Underworld activation at the Oxford Social Club– which captured the style and mood of the television show (airing now on EPIX). You are led into a speakeasy style space with music, as well as a cigar-shaped chocolate… if you so desire! Attendees had a taste of the mysterious Raven Society as well as receiving a hand-written poem.
Check out our collection of photos below!
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.
The long anticipated movie by the citizens of NerdLand has finally come out!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it on midnight last night and I’m currently sitting at work, so I do not know yet when I’ll get to see it. I don’t really have my own geek-squad to drag around at midnight showings anymore, especially since we’ve all scattered around the country and world after high school. It’s cool though… I don’t have the same teenager energy to stay up for a movie. Hear that creaking noise?? It’s mah joints and old bones!
I read the review of the movie in the current issue of LA Weekly Magazine, and the critic basically stated a lot of the deficiencies I fear it will have (also, I find it funny they pointed out that the director of this film is described as “visionary” which is a code word for “a hack”– hahaha!). Well… perhaps “fear” is not the word, more like what I anticipated would happen when the comic gets translated onto the big screen.
I believe I will definitely enjoy watching this movie especially since it looks visually stunning. As for the story, I don’t believe a 2 hour flick will fully grasp and communicate the heaviness of the original plot. This movie will basically be just for show and a sweet, sweet giddy high of watching the characters ‘come to life’!
In conclusion, I look forward to watching Watchmen on the big screen, but I’m not really expecting much in terms of doing the story justice.
And I admit it, I love how the costume design for the film is a little bit campy/cheesy superhero style! Even in the comic book I love how cheesy their costumes were because of how much it just contrasted the dark plot.
In other news, I got this awesome package in the mail the other day!!!
