Holla Back: What Did You Think of Watchmen?
Note: Holla Back is a weekly segment we will begin running so we can have active discussions about relevant topics of the week. This week has been all about Watchmen, so it only makes sense we make our first discussion about this film. So for those of you who have seen Watchmen, who have read the novel, or who just have something to say – let us know your thoughts and your feelings, and our staff at Fanboyz.net will Holla Back.
By Jeff Olson
March 8, 2009
We hope you enjoyed our week long coverage on everything Watchmen. If you happened to miss some of our articles just search “Watchmen” in our Fanboyz search bar and you will find everything we have covered. Today we bring you our inaugural segment we have titled Holla Back. We want to hear your voice, so this is the opportunity as well as the forum to be heard. This is an active website and we really want to encourage participation from all of our readers Today’s discussion is about your reaction to Watchmen. Even if you have yet to see the film you can still participate by letting us know what your expectations are. If you have read the graphic novel let us know if you feel Zack Snyder did it justice.
Other questions to consider:
Did Watchmen live up to the hype surrounding it?
What were your expectations going into the film?
If you have read the graphic novel – was it better, the same, or worse than the book?
What did you think of the cast? Were the actors believable in their roles as these characters?
What would you like to have seen in the movie?
What do you think could have been left out?
Let’s talk about it….
13 Comments
i think when i read the story, i felt it was a complete work that from the beginning caught me and at the end left me back in reality.
the movie, however, left me wanting more of a few things. for one, i think rorschach and the comedian were both very well done and i would have loved to see more (especially concerning the story around his mask). understanding that having everything in the book would have pushed the movie over 3 hours though, i understand cutting it out.
i agree with everyone that a second viewing makes for a more enjoyable experience. it allows die hard fans the chance to catch things that might have gone unnoticed (S.Q.U.I.D. on the computer towards the end)
The make-up for Nixon was laughable. Extremely laughable.
Oh, and you need to see this movie twice. It was MUCH better the second time.
I plan on seeing it again and I hope I enjoy it more the next time. I honestly think it was as good as it could be. I didn’t have any expectations, and like I have said before, I felt very underwhelmed with the entire experience.
I also liked it much better the second time around.
Overall, it lived up to my expectations but didn’t exceed them in most areas. I didn’t agree with the near comical portions, specifically Nixon and the Leonard Cohen background music during Dan and Laurie’s ‘intimacy’.
All the action was really well done and very engaging. The surreal feeling that permeated all of Snyder’s piece was palpable throughout the film.
It was the best adaptation that could have been made, and it succeeded at that if anything.
I liked the graphic novel, but loved the film. They took out a lot of the parts that i thought were boring and put in some great action. I watched it twice and enjoyed it just a much the second time
I was a huge fan of the blue man’s junk flopping at me every other scene.
I am not a fanboy of comic books or their movies. I didn’t even know Watchmen was a comic book until the weekend the movie came out. So take this as an outsider’s look in, the movie was cool! I liked it. It explained the history of the Watchmen enough where I understood the characters and the story without ever having heard of “Watchmen” before.
Just before going into the movie I did hear it was a fairly long film. – This made a particular quote in the film very humorous… “Nothing ends, nothing really ever ends…”
(b’.')b
While i enjoyed the graphic novel, i was bored to tears by this overly long film. It didn’t help that i watched the midnight showing, but still, the film added nothing to what the book was, and fell completely flat in my eyes. It was a very literal translation, and while i respect Snyder for wanting to remain true to the comic, i felt that it was killed in the translation, and none of the enjoyment was carried over.
On a side note, the actors portrayed the comic’s characters brilliantly, especially the comedian and rorshach, who looked exactly like their comic book counterparts.
Matt – I really agree with your opinion that it was a very literal translation. I think sometime it is important to take a few creative liberties when making a movie. Just because something looks good on paper doesn’t always mean it will work on the big screen.
In my first viewing, I was in all sense of the word, underwelmed. But on my second more casual viewing, the movie really came alive to me. It was mad good! lol. Every single character was beautifully acted (except Silk Spector the First) and the action scene were BAD-ASS. SERIOUSLY considering a Rorsach tattoo. Love the site and I’m not a frequent user. KEEP DOIN WHAT YOU’RE DOIN!
The film and the novel are not one in the same. The novel is a great, very clearly written book with so many twists and tuns you throw up at least 6 times before finishing the book. Film makers have spend decades trying to turn the novel into something on screen which would do justice to the book.
So in order to do this certain elements had to be changed, which in my opinion, works well. Ok they changed the end but without making the film 6 hours long they could not have covered the comic creators and the deep back story of the first group of heroes and their demise ( which they tried to cover in the titles , which again are amazing, but having the Comedian assassinate Kennedy was just purely making things up!)
Also the opening fight scene where hands fly through walls! they are not super human! that's the point (well except Dr Manhattan) but thats hollywood. The Ozymandias character was the biggest mistake in the film as he is seen as sly and geeky, where as in fact he is the 'perfect' human, woman want him, men want to be him, not a skinny guy who the audience knows straight away is clearly up to some thing!
For all the negatives this film has , i loved it, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd time.
Watchmen the film will never compair to the book purely because you cannot classify them as the same.
If you watch the film as a stand alone piece of cinema its brilliant
Oli, I agree.
Although, I have to admit the first viewing of the movie I did not enjoy it as much as subsequent viewings, great movie. I do wish they could have fleshed out some of the characters/went into their backstories a bit more!!
True Joshua, but 3 hours is a long time! to go into details just means a 12 hour film, which is a long bloody movie in anyones books