Inevitably Everybody Will Watch The Watchmen

Rating: 4/10 (6 March 2009)

Unfortunately I have to argue that it doesn't deserve all the attention. Now I LOVE the Watchmen comic book. It is a piece of literature that should be treasured like most classics.
Honestly, going into it I thought this movie would result in one of two ends. Train Wreck or Eternal Glory. The Outcome. This movie is a train whose journey to eternal glory was cut short due to a lack of key locomotive parts. But not a wreck.
Seeing the story play out on screen was exciting and frustrating. Witnessing all the missing elements of the book was too much distraction, keeping me away from feeling fulfilled. Others in my group, new to the story, felt it was confusing. Not having enough emphasis on transitions between past and present. Though it does have some stunning visuals, and wild (although unnecessarily brutal) action that OD'ed on slo-mo. Personally, this movie seems like an audience pleaser. Like they took the most stirring, emotional comic book tale and numbed it down enough to give people something to clap at. This is evident when (readers of the book will notice) the stories biggest events unfold with little emotional response. Like they were glossed over. Or witnessed from the window of a passing train.
Shame. Could have been Great.
2 Things HAVE to be said. The make-up and music are the WORST in cinematic history! The music is just inappropriate and awkward for the moments they are attached to. Surgically removing your connection to the film every time a tune strikes up. But the make-up. My God the awful make-up. So many people giggled at the ridiculous faces of Richard Nixon and the elder Silk Spectre. Almost as many as those giggling at Dr. Manhattan's glowing blue... well you'll see. Everybody will see it no matter what the movie deserves. You can't fight the inevitable hype. Right now People are too excited, and they WANT this movie to be good so much they won't invest any stock in the bad reviews. Otherwise we wouldn't ever have to suffer through a Transformers 2.
I once thought Alan Moore was crazy for not wanting anyone to interpret his work into movie form. I saw From Hell, thought nothing of it. Saw the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and thought, "Yea, they should leave his stuff alone." Then V for Vendetta and I switched sides, "Maybe it can be done." Now with Watchmen, just respect the mans wishes and don't mess up his stuff. Its too intricate, and too precise for it to be diluted with someone else's interpretation.