CS+indproj+pg+1

  I first read //Watchmen// two years ago, and it took me a while to get through it. When it was over, I hadn't a clue as to what I had just read. So I read it again, and I comprehended the book a bit more, but was still blurry about it overall. Then I hear that a movie  is being made, and I am both excited and unsure whether it could be done successfully.

Two and a half weeks ago, I finally saw //Watchmen//, in a very crowded theater for a ten o'clock showing. It started with a beautiful sequence of the Comedian's death, though in chronological order, set to //"//Unforgettable", and was among one of the slickest opening scenes I've seen. The brutality is almost poetic in it's presentation, and that goes for the rest of the movie as well, with the music being both a compliment and contrast throughout. Then the opening credits roll, and they too, are some of the finest in terms of telling the backstory, with "The Times They are a Changing" setting the mood perfectly. And then it gets boring for the average viewer, with scenes of Dan, Laurie, and some naked blue dude. The Rorschach scenes are great, unless he overdoes the voice-over, which can get distracting. We are also introduced to Veidt, whose performance is impeded by his switching between three different accents (American, German, and British), and only having roughly 65% of the presence he needed. Then it's time for the arguably better parts of the movie, the back stories. Manhattan's in particular was fascinating, and Rorscach's was disturbing. The jail scenes also stand out, though not so much when Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are there, some truly gruesome scenes, some rivaling Saw.
 * ---spoiler alert-- ****

The story kind of just hits you in the face at the end, with nothing seeming to lead towards anywhere. It's not a total mess, in fact it's almost too simple (but not really simplified from the book). The non-reader probably won't be confused about what happened, but more so as to the anti-climatic nature of the story. I wasn't disappointed with the film, in fact I was impressed with both the visuals and the fact that they actually made the movie so close to the book (Not really because that's necessarily a good thing, but for the achievement itself.)

After seeing the movie (And getting back close to one in the morning), I rapidly flipped through the book and compared comic to film. It was ridiculous how close they stuck to the panels. I then proceeded to reread it, finding it to be structured where I used to think it to be random, making it a much smoother and easier experience than the first time.

I think everyone should see this movie just to see it, but I don't think many will really like it (I don't think "getting it" is the problem here). **** *  **   ** * **** * **** * ** ** * 4/5 **