Watchmen: The Verdict

So, I saw the movie this evening finally after having read the comic a few weeks ago... I must say altogether I was very happy about the adaptation and found it a pretty good interpretation in movie form without disrespecting the source material, so kudos to Zack Snyder. I didn't really notice most of the small things they cut, although a re-reading of the comic I'm sure will reveal a lot of "easter eggs". I did particularly miss the backstory on The New Frontiersman and some of the characters but 2:43 was a long enough time. The choice of some songs in the soundtrack were awesome while others were a little iffy; I very much enjoyed hearing Bob Dylan in the EXCELLENT opening montage, and Nat King Cole's Unforgettable was a very good accompaniment to the Comedian's murder, but Simon and Garfunkel during the funeral scene was just out-of-place, as was the 30 seconds of "99 Luftballoons" during Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II's dinner, and while I know the scene is intended to be silly, playing Hallelujah during the Archie sex scene was very off-putting. Not to mention that the inclusion of a My Chemical Romance cover of Bob Dylan will forever prevent me from purchasing the 12" vinyl picture disc, but I digress. Overall I think the movie had a little more gore and sex than was really warranted - it takes a great director to imbue a film with a dark and crawling undertone without blatantly filling it with broken limbs and ecstasy, and I guess Snyder isn't quite there yet... A lot of the scenes freaked out Lauren and I had to do some hand-holding, but she's a trooper for watching it with me. Some cinematography really jumped out at me as well, for example the swinging bathroom door in the prison while Rorschach kills the midget, and the slow motion of the Comedian's death was well done too. I also gained a big appreciation for how badass the Comedian was despite his obvious sociopathic tendencies; Rorschach is unquestionably hard boiled, but with his oppressed past he seems less of a heroic personality than the Comedian's stogie-smoking flamethrowing tear gas shotgunning attitude.

Either way, go see it if you haven't already, and in the words of millions of clammy-palmed nerds everywhere, I recommend you read the comic first ('cuz otherwise you're a poser).