| I WATCHED THE GODDAMN WATCHMEN |
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| Mar. 9th, 2009 | 07:55 pm | ||||
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So, okay. I'm a massive Watchmen fan and I'm massively emotionally involved with the graphic novel characters anyway, so it's fair to say I'm not going to be entirely - eheh - fair here. This is not an impartial film review. This is a fan's review. Bear in mind also that I like almost every film until about three weeks after I've seen it, when I've read other people's reviews and realised the flaws I didn't notice the first time. I don't know if that'll happen this time - it doesn't always - but you never know. From the tone of that last paragraph you can tell this is going to be a pretty positive review. And it is; I loved this film. I totally, unabashedly loved it. Do I think it's as good as the graphic novel? No. But that's not a condemnation of the film; I don't think any Watchmen film could be as good as the graphic novel for the simple reason that it was written as a graphic novel, centred around the graphic novel as a medium, and was never intended by its creators to be a film. I say creators, because whatever Alan Moore's views on the film he's still the creator of Watchmen itself, and he deserves the credit. I don't like seeing "based on the graphic novel by Dave Gibbons", because he didn't write it. And it's the writing that drew me - and most fans, I think - to Watchmen. Don't get me wrong, the art is excellent, but the writing is...sublime, frankly. I've never read anything quite like it, even amongst Moore's other work. So, whilst I appreciate his reasons for wanting his name taken off the film - disagree with them as I might - I still don't like seeing him not get his due when it comes to the graphic novel. Anyway. The opening montage, I loved. Actually, I thought it was one of the highlights of the whole film, even if it was perhaps a little long. The use of Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" really made it for me. It's such a melancholy song, and it established the whole tone of the film in one stroke - times have changed, and the heroes must change with them. What makes it worse for them is that, perhaps, some of them - maybe all of them - can't. The moment of Silhouette with the nurse, recreating that iconic photograph (which in the days since I saw the film I have found out none of my friends know about, which is worrying...) made me very happy, though I wish we'd seen more of Silhouette in the film. Not that we see much of her in the comic, of course - and this leads to my first complaint, though it's not so much a complaint as a lamentation. Of course no film could contain everything from the novel, because that would make it about five hours long. But...I'd have liked to have more of the Minutemen, you know? There was no Captain Metropolis, and no Hooded Justice except for the Comedian/Silk Spectre I rape scene (more on that later.) So their relationship is consigned to the cutting room floor. Similarly, there were no news-stand scenes, which...yes, I do think that took something away from the film. The purpose of the news-stand scenes is essentially to get a civilian's-eye view of what's going on - the civilians who have no idea about the mask-killing conspiracy, don't know who the Crimebusters really are - these things that, for the reader, are essential to the plot - but do know that they're living under a constant fear of nuclear war. Without that, I think it becomes too much a superhero movie, and not enough a movie about the human condition, which I feel was a major part of the graphic novel. That said, I realise I've made that sound like it's a deal-breaker. It's not. It's not even close - it didn't impact my enjoyment of the film until about a day later, when I suddenly went "Hey, wait a minute?" That happens quite a lot, to be fair. The 24 hours after seeing the film, I wasn't quite capable of coherent, let alone critical thought. So. Individual characters. Rorschach, first. I was...stunned. I cannot imagine anyone playing that part as well, as perfectly, as close to how I'd imagine it as Jackie Earle Haley. I cannot in any way criticise or make snide remarks about his performance because it was, frankly, beautiful. His expressions as Kovaks, and his voice - oh, his voice - as Rorschach more or less made the film for me. Thanks to him, I cried - honest tears - during Rorschach's death scene. His facial expressions were a joy to behold. I salute him. Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II was, in three words, an absolute sweetheart. I have an overwhelming urge - as my Failbook status will testify - to hug him. He was just glorious. His awkwardness, his hesitant little throat-clearings, his whole body language was incredibly nerdy and unfailingly adorable. And yet he was believably pissed off at the end - when he's beating on Ozymandias because of Rorschach's aforementioned heartbreaking death scene, and (even) more on that later - I could practically feel the rage coming off him. My favourite moment - at the beginning of the Awkward Sex Scene, when Silk Spectre II kisses him, and he says "Oh," and then "Oh!" when she straddles him. That little understated moment made me grin in a stupid, stupid way. Malin Åkerman as Silk Spectre II. Interesting. I never really liked Silk Spectre II in the comic - she's too passive, too happy to be juggled between the men in her life, and altogether too damn whiny. Maybe that's just my own internalised misogyny, I dunno. But, in the film...I found myself liking her. I really felt the whole plot point of her realising she can't live without the costume, though she's been trying to escape it for eight years - and most of her life - was very well written and played. I'm not entirely sold on Åkerman as an actor - I think she's got some maturing left to do - but I actually though that that lack of maturity made her perhaps more suitable for the role. Silk Spectre II (and I've not yet typed that without having to go back and fix it) is not a mature woman - she's certainly not her mother. She's not really emotionally matured past the "dress up and hit things" stage, though that's not her fault - it's the responsibility of her upbringing. Overall, then a good performance, and a good casting choice, too. Matthew Goode as Ozymandias. I know there was a lot of tension in the fandom after his announcement, most of which seems to be centred around his lack of chin. Well. Um. Okay, I'm not arguing with that - he's not got comic!Ozymandias's impressive jawline - but I'm not sure that's too great a hindrance to his acting. The other major fandom ripple has been on the subject of his accent. I'm a little torn on that; I like the idea of that duality, the idea that his All-American-Superhero persona is just for the cameras, but I wonder if I might have found it confusing had I not known about it beforehand. Perhaps that's just me, I don't know. I thought the softness of his delivery - that hidden menace, that low tone that never rises to anger in the way that Rorschach's false emotionlessness does - was very well-performed indeed. He's extremely intimidating when he wants to be - when he's threatening those businessmen with financial ruin, for one thing. However...ah, yes, next criticism. One of the great strengths of the original comic is that Ozymandias is not a "supervillain." Neither is he a "superhero". He's on a different moral level than everyone else but it's left entirely up to you to decide whether that level is above or below your own. He's very ambiguous - he honestly does want to do good by the world but on the other hand he killed millions of people. The film doesn't flesh out his character enough, I feel. He's too much villain making excuses for himself, and I'm not really happy with that. Hmm. Billy Crudup's Dr Manhattan was impressive. Big, blue, ah...very uncensored...and a bitch of a part to play. I think he did rather well - I can only imagine how hard it must be to get into the headspace of a being who perceives time alinearly, can dissolve matter into its respective molecules, and is, well, big, blue, and naked. His delivery, soft though it was, was very enjoyable - he had that sense of detachment but also of puzzled sadness, as if he wants - really, truly wants - to understand humans - especially Silk Spectre II, of course - but can't quite manage it. The slight twist of his eyebrows, the slant of his mouth - the little features really did pull it off for me. His voice is...lilting, and musical in a way, but also quite tragic and, yes, detached. I'd always imagined Dr Manhattan with a lower voice, but Crudup's voice, after a few minutes, felt...right. Apparently someone on LJ has posted a great essay detailing why he should in fact have been circumcised, by the way, but I have no opinion either way - well, I'm not exactly an expert on penii, am I? - and I've not got the link handy, so never mind. Haha. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comedian was...a bastard. Sly, ironic, a would-be rapist and keen mass-murderer. And yet...and yet, you sort of like him because in a way he's that weird but cool uncle you've got, who comes round every other Christmas or so and makes your parents kind of uncomfortable and then slips you a tenner on his way out the door. He's...yes, avuncular, but an avuncular asshole, and perhaps that's the great masterwork of his character - you know what he does is monstrous, that he killed Kennedy and countless Vietnamese people, and gods only know who else, and yet something in his manner draws you to him. That half-smile, the cigar, perhaps, or the rasping laugh...it's endearing in a way that makes you worry about your own morals and character judgement. Whilst the basis for that is, of course, in the character, Morgan really made him come alive in a way that impressed me - I liked him much more in the film than in the comic, when I more or less come out of it thinking "Gods, what an asshole, though he has got style." Well done, Mr Morgan. I always preferred Silk Spectre I to her daughter. She's got more character, more depth, and altogether more style and less slightly-irritating angst. Carla Gugino, therefore, made me very happy; her crowning moment, I think, is her famous speech on age - "I'm sixty-five years old. Every day, the future gets a little bit darker, but the past - even the grimy bits - just keeps on getting brighter..." She's old, and bitter, and dying slowly, but she's still got her dignity and her mind, and it made for excellent watching. The only problem is, well, the age thing. Gugino is, I believe thirty-seven, whereas Silk Spectre I is sixty-seven during the time of the film. The prosthetics are excellent, but the voice is still that of a young woman. No matter - with a little suspension of disbelief, she pulled off the role with grace and poise, for which I envy and admire her. Oh, on the age thing - the Comedian, during the Minutemen scenes, does not look nineteen. But there's really nothing that can be done, this side of alchemy, to make a forty-two-year-old man look nineteen. I suppose it's one problem with screen-adapting Watchmen - it covers such a wide range of time, nearly fifty years over the lives of two of the main characters. That makes a very difficult job for the prosthetics people. On that note, I would like to express how impressed I was at the SFX. Dr Manhattan looked...stunning. The electricity rippling under his skin, the glow, the growing/shrinking/floating - they were all wonderfully executed, and - best of all - he integrated very well with the other characters. His Mars...creation was also quite stunning, in its scale and detail both. Bubastis looked lovely, though Hollywood has yet to perfect the art of animal CG. I'd want to stroke her, if I didn't think she'd bit a hand off. I need those. Right, specific scenes now. The rape scene, because I want to get it out of the way. It was...excellent. And by that I mean it was horrifying, deeply uncomfortable to watch, and very upsetting - as it should be. It's not a good, or happy moment, and it's a very difficult one to act or write without it being just horrendously inappropriate. But, credit where it's due, they managed it damn well. It's not eroticized, it's not "she wants it really" - it's violent and brutal and horrible. Thank the gods. Let's see...Rorschach's death. Ohhh. I cried. I actually, honestly cried a bit. That scene was beautifully shot, beautifully written, and beautifully acted. There's been a lot of debate about the effect Nite Owl II being there makes - and it's a significant one. For me, it was very touching - the millions of deaths have hurt him, very much, but seeing Rorschach killed like that...snaps him, throws him into a rage we've never seen before. Ozymandias's reaction was interesting - the way he doesn't fight back, doesn't snap Nite Owl II's neck - and he could, we all know it - but takes it, as...his punishment, I suppose. That goes some way to making up for the lack of character development Ozymandias gets in the rest of the film, though it's not a complete remedy. I'm not sure what I think of the change, to be honest. On one level, it's very poignant to have Nite Owl II, the closest thing Rorschach ever had to a friend, witness his death, and for it to have such a profound effect on him - it's a sign that he does care for Rorschach's wellbeing, that he's not just humouring him or scared of him. On the other hand, it was equally poignant that Rorschach, in the comic, dies as he has lived - alone, unloved, unmourned, leaving nothing but a stain that will be washed away soon enough. I'll not pick a favourite yet, I think. The Awkward Handshake! I loved it. I think it could have gone on for longer, to be fair, but it was so adorable. You really did want to shout "HUG, YOU IDIOTS" - both of them being Macho Men and Not Showing Their Emotions, when you can tell that after eight years they really just want a bit of contact - at least, Nite Owl II does. Gods only know what Rorschach wants. Best not to fathom. Ah, another changed scene; the child-murderer. Now, I liked this. I liked the way we got some emotion from Rorschach - who, remember, at that point was still just about Kovaks, before he lost his mind completely. The breathing behind the mask, the way he kept swinging the meat cleaver...it was good to know that Rorschach could feel, before he went completely mad. I liked that - though that's not to say that I didn't like the slow and painful death the murderer experienced in the comic. I'm running out of things to say, so a few minor points. The Boys folder on Ozymandias's computer made me laugh and also quite happy in a weird way (Hey, validation of my personal theories, shut up.) I loved the way he and his PA were colour-coordinated. The sets were beautiful, especially Karnak. I wish they'd included the Owlscooters, but I'm glad they kept the Snow Owl suit. It'll be interesting to see what difference the extended DVD version makes, when it comes out. Until then, I shall remain largely silent on the Watchmen front, I think, unless there's a major fandom wank or I write/icon/fanmix something (I totally want to do an Ozymandias fanmix, and I've got one song lined up already...) A final note: I would like Rorschach's final journal entry as my epitaph, when I eventually croak. "For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived life, free from compromise...and step into the shadow now without complaint." |
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