Here're my thoughts:
Watchmen is a really and truly wonderful graphic novel. I really believe that it may be the only comic book to have fully transcended the medium to arrive at that higher, ivory tower guarded realm called Literature. It's layered and profound and filled with three dimensional characters. It speaks to and about comic books, hero worship, the cold war, fascism, the purpose of art in the world, and the philosophy of consequentialism.
It has a lot on its plate. I think it mostly is able to handle what it sets out to do.
But the film Watchmen is another thing.
I wanted to like it, but it is a deeply flawed creation. First, it is interminably long. Second, some of the casting (acting) is dreadful. Third, the plot that slinks along so well in the book just feels slow and bloated in the darkened theatre.
That said, it has parts that are really something to see; moments that actually do manage to stay with you when you leave your seat and walk the stickum off of your shoes on the way back to your car. The Dr. Manhattan stuff, which I would have laid money on failing, actually works pretty well. Billy Cruddup does an admirable job emoting through a character whose defining characteristic is his failure to emote. Ironically, it is the scenes where normal everyday humans are supposed to be talking seriously that rang the most hollow and community theatre-esque.
Anyway - capsule review: if you liked the comic book, give it a shot. It won't ruin the book or anything and some of it is fun to see on film. If you haven't any idea what Watchmen is or any inclination to read the book - I'd pass. It is, after all, a bloated, gassy movie filled with unnecessary slo-motion fight sequences and gigantic blue penises.
No comments:
Post a Comment