Hate for the Watchmen movie

[crookeddy]

So I have a bunch of friends who are major movie buffs. We all go see about 20-25 movies a year and share similar likes and dislikes. A major disconnect happened with Watchmen though. I absolutely loved the movie. Loved the direction, loved the story, loved the questions it asked.

However 3 out of the 4 friends I saw it with absolutely hated it. and I can't really explain why. One said it's too violent (so?), another said the story sucked (how can one think that?), and I got random crap from the other two.

So, did anyone else here hate (or love) the Watchmen movie? Can you explain why its so divisive, even among genre fans?

 

[RoJoHen]

I found it boring, like it was trying too hard to be dark and moody. It wasn't bad, but I feel like it could have been a lot better.

 

[BillJ]

I liked it.

 

[Shurik]

I absolutely love Watchmen.

 

[Sindatur]

I saw it on On Demand, it was 3 1/2 hours, that was way too long for such a dark depressing movie.

I don't know the source Graphic Novels, so I can't judge the true-ness of it to the source. Many thought it was pretty true word for word, but, some of them thought despite it, it didn't capture the spirit of the Graphic Novel.

For me, there were no good guys, no one to identify with, no actual heroes, just a bunch of skeezy, raping and violent thugs. I saw the commercials and thought it was going to be a Super Hero movie, but, there were no Heroes in it, they were all pretty much villians

 

[Mr Light]

Watchmen is one of my favorite comics. And it's a great movie and a very loyal adaptation... but it is also a bit slow and brooding. The material works better as a graphic novel than as a single long movie.

 

[DarKush]

I really really liked it. I remember leaving the theater and wanting to immediately watch it again (I didn't, but I did buy it when it came to DVD). I actually liked the film ending better than the one in the comic, which just felt too out there to me. The only thing about the ending was the aside about Reagan. I would've kept it Redford, and hoped the audience got the joke.

I can only guess why people might've hated Watchmen:
-Wasn't what they expected. If people went in thinking they were going to see a bright, popcorn type superhero movie they were quickly abused of that notion in like five seconds of the credits.
-The run time was long.
-Some hated the new ending
-Some probably hated some of the actors. I read about criticism of the dude that played Oyzmandias.
-The faux 1985 might've been too disconcerting. I know for me some of the makeup looked bad. Nixon looked more like Nelson, as in Craig T. Nelson.

 

[AJ86]

It's one of the few superhero movies I find watchable.

 

[DarKush]

I saw it on On Demand, it was 3 1/2 hours, that was way too long for such a dark depressing movie.

I don't know the source Graphic Novels, so I can't judge the true-ness of it to the source. Many thought it was pretty true word for word, but, some of them thought despite it, it didn't capture the spirit of the Graphic Novel.

For me, there were no good guys, no one to identify with, no actual heroes, just a bunch of skeezy, raping and violent thugs. I saw the commercials and thought it was going to be a Super Hero movie, but, there were no Heroes in it, they were all pretty much villians

To some extent that was the point. It was all about deconstructing comic book superheroes, ripping off the masks and capes.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I thought it was pretty good but my friends disagreed. Despite a very faithful adaptation, it definitely loses something in translation to the screen. People who went in expecting a superhero film were obviously disappointed because that's not what it is.

 

[ITL]

I loved it. Not as much as I love the original graphic novel, but still.

Sometimes Zack Snyder went a little too...Zack Snyder (the slowdowns, a few of the very violent bits), but it's still a great movie. With one of the best title sequences I've ever seen.

BTW - Snyder's audio commentary on the Ultimate edition is boringness personified - the Gibbons one is much, much better.

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I absolutely love Watchmen, it's one of those films I can watch again and again and never tire of. For some reason it just strikes a chord with me.

I saw it before I read the graphic novel, and although the graphic novel obviously has a lot more depth I think the film is a good adaptation of it.

One of my friends has the complete opposite opinion to me, he hasn't read the graphic novel but he watched the film for the first time a few months ago and hated it. He said "It's the kind of movie a ten year old would make" which suggests to me he didn't actually pay attention to the story and got put off by Snyder's visual style and his use of slo-mo etc.

 

[Sindatur]

I saw it on On Demand, it was 3 1/2 hours, that was way too long for such a dark depressing movie.

I don't know the source Graphic Novels, so I can't judge the true-ness of it to the source. Many thought it was pretty true word for word, but, some of them thought despite it, it didn't capture the spirit of the Graphic Novel.

For me, there were no good guys, no one to identify with, no actual heroes, just a bunch of skeezy, raping and violent thugs. I saw the commercials and thought it was going to be a Super Hero movie, but, there were no Heroes in it, they were all pretty much villians

To some extent that was the point. It was all about deconstructing comic book superheroes, ripping off the masks and capes.

I can understand that to a point, and could've even appreciated it to a point, but, for me to have enjoyed it, there had to be some kind of redeeming qualities to the "Heroes", and there weren't any, so the 3 1/2 hour version I watched was torture.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Great graphic novel, great movie.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I thought it was a cracking movie, loved the twist at the end, cracking effects and i loved the darkness of it all.

 

[RoJoHen]

Cracking?

 

[ITL]

Cracking?

Cracking is a positive thing in this context. It can mean great, very good, excellent, etc.

 

[Silvercrest]

I saw it on On Demand, it was 3 1/2 hours, that was way too long for such a dark depressing movie.

I don't know the source Graphic Novels, so I can't judge the true-ness of it to the source. Many thought it was pretty true word for word, but, some of them thought despite it, it didn't capture the spirit of the Graphic Novel.

For me, there were no good guys, no one to identify with, no actual heroes, just a bunch of skeezy, raping and violent thugs. I saw the commercials and thought it was going to be a Super Hero movie, but, there were no Heroes in it, they were all pretty much villians

To some extent that was the point. It was all about deconstructing comic book superheroes, ripping off the masks and capes.

I thought it was pretty good but my friends disagreed. Despite a very faithful adaptation, it definitely loses something in translation to the screen. People who went in expecting a superhero film were obviously disappointed because that's not what it is.

Visually the movie makers did a fine job. But they missed the boat when trying to convey the themes. These characters are not supposed to be "SUPER-HEROES", shining icons of goodness and morality. They're supposed to be kooks running around in costumes beating people up... and perceived as such by the public. Just as they would be in real life. Virtually every one of Moore's costumed characters either had some pretty strange quirks/hangups, or lived an alternative lifestyle, or was a certified wacko. Or more than one of the above.

The first trailer I saw said something like "They have always watched over us... but who's watching over them?" My first reaction was, "Oh, no. They went and did it. They fell for the superhero hype."

I always felt that Watchmen wouldn't translate effectively to the screen because you'd get one of two results: Either 1) they'd try to make it into a standard superhero movie and totally miss the point, or 2) they'd manage to convey the point and totally turn off the audience who were expecting standard superheroes.

Strangely, both things happened! Although it was more 1).

 

[crookeddy]

The movie didn't do quite what the graphic novel did. But it did a lot of things so well on it's own. It tackled questions most blockbuster movies wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.

1) What it means to be human
2) What it means to be a hero/villain
3) Do the ends always justify the means?

And there are whole bunch of other very complicated themes that the movie touches on. To the guy who said this is a movie a 10 year old would make - I think he went into the movie and turned off his brain, like someone would do going into a Transformers movie. If you do that, sure, the movie falls apart.

It's a movie that looks super simple on the outside but has a whole bunch of layers right below the surface.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

So I have a bunch of friends who are major movie buffs. We all go see about 20-25 movies a year and share similar likes and dislikes. A major disconnect happened with Watchmen though. I absolutely loved the movie. Loved the direction, loved the story, loved the questions it asked.

However 3 out of the 4 friends I saw it with absolutely hated it. and I can't really explain why. One said it's too violent (so?), another said the story sucked (how can one think that?), and I got random crap from the other two.

So, did anyone else here hate (or love) the Watchmen movie? Can you explain why its so divisive, even among genre fans?

I feel your pain. I'm the only one of my friends who thinks Ang Lee's Hulk is better than the one directed by Louis Letterier.

As for Watchmen, I really like it. I truly enjoyed seeing the graphic novel realized with real people. Jackie Earl Haley was pure genius as Rorschach. I also really enjoyed the Dr. Manhattan segments. I do find the movie a little stiff in places, like it was undecided whether it wanted to be a movie or the graphic novel. It was a weird synthesis of both. A really fascinating work.

In all I would give Watchmen a B+. It's not my preferred adaptation of the graphic novel-that would be the motion comic-but it's still a fun way to pass an evening.