WATCHMEN Movie Discussion (SPOILERS allowed)!

[Scar]

Hadn't noticed anyone posted this yet, so here is a link to 5 new clips.

More clips.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/article2246642.ece

https://www.totalfilm.com/news/world-exclusive-watchmen-clip

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[Ra88]

....WTF is up with Veidt's accent?

EDIT: And I found these two semi-reviews. Preeeeetty conflicting.

Some dude from TIME magazine says:Monday, February 16, 2009 at 5:12 pm
My Own Private Watchmen
Posted by Matt Selman

"There is a press blackout on reviewing the Watchmen movie until March 6. However, I've seen the movie, and I'm not press. Don't worry, I'm not going to write a review of Watchmen. What I am going to write about is the emotional experience of seeing a piece of literature with which I have an intense personal connection LITERALLY COME TO LIFE. It's a serious freak-out.

I'm not alone in having bonded with the Watchmen comic book back when it was first published. But in 1986, I sure felt like I was. Barely anyone in my high school even knew who Wolverine was, let alone Rorschach. Gradually, however, the awareness of the Watchmen graphic novel has spread from a small group of comic book readers to become a major cultural touchstone for an entire generation. It's the common ground uniting almost everyone in my creative community. And now it EXISTS.

I'm not allowed to talk details, but let's just say it is astounding how much of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel is in this movie. (Really, the absence of Alan Moore's name on this is like Stan Lee's being missing from Spider-Man, because 95 percent of the words and ideas in this movie are all Moore.) Has there ever been a movie adaptation of a comic book (or book book) this close to its source material? Probably the two Frank Miller movies, Sin City and 300. But, while awesome, Frank Miller's comics didn't solve my Rubik's Cube of a 1980s teenage heart every single time I re-read them the way Moore's and Gibbons' did.

Sitting in that screening room and watching the visual world of the Watchmen movie unfold was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had. Not film experiences. Just EXPERIENCES. I don't think I realized how close I was to the original book until I saw such a loving, detail-rich, almost obsessive recreation of that universe. It had my heart pounding and head swimming. I barely slept that night. Someone took the most special personal thing of my adolescence and put it on a movie screen. That doesn't happen every day.

What will people who've never read Watchmen even think of this film? What will it be like for them to sit through these crazy, violent, colorful three hours and not recognize almost every line – almost every image? Will they be utterly baffled, bored, or totally love it? Is Watchmen even a good or bad movie? I have no idea. I stand powerless before the Gods I once worshiped in my attic bedroom, now moving and talking and fighting and loving on a giant screen. And I find myself unable to judge them.

For me, and I suspect many others, the movie won't provoke the feeling you get from seeing a great movie, (which Watchmen very well may be). For me, Watchmen isn't a movie at all. It's a surreal mind-trip the likes of which my 14-year-old self would never have believed. Now, the special thing that still feels like only I know about has been given to the whole world. I hope they like it."

https://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009/02/16/my-own-private-watchmen/

The dude(Jeffrey Wells) from Hollywood Elsewhere says his trusted journalist friend said this:"I've seen Watchmen," he began. "And speaking as a huge admirer and devotee of the graphic novel, the film is a staggering failure. On the plus side, you've got a pretty literal adaptation of the source material. It is at times a meticulous and gorgeous recreation of Alan Moore's original work. Unfortunately it's an empty, inert, meandering and, yes, boring 2 hours and 45 minutes.

"Oh, and it's horribly acted throughout. Truly. Malin Akerman (i.e., Silk Spectre II) confirms whatever fears you may have initially felt after The Heartbreak Kid and 27 Dresses. Carla Gugino (the other Silk Spectre) just looks silly. Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II) is his usual blah self. Only Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach and Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan register at all.

"Sadly even the presumed up-and-comer Matthew Goode plays Ozymandias, the world's smartest man, as an arch and slightly bored Bond villain. I had high hopes after being wowed by him in The Lookout, but he's bungled this great opportunity. (It's clear in retrospect the part should have gone to a real star. Say what you will but Tom Cruise would have been perfect.)

"I say all of the above as a person who was very much into the 20 minutes they screened for all of us months ago. Sorry to confirm our worst fears but those scenes in fact remain the best and among the few that work on any level."

"Watchmen is just not much of a movie. It has no narrative pull and no characters to invest in. It uses rotely shoehorned-in action scenes, and has a sheen that doesn't befit the dark material.

"So much for the visionary vistas of Zack Snyder. Oh, what Paul Greengrass could have done!

"And to reduce it all to dollars and sense, I'll be shocked if this one plays to a wide audience after an admittedly huge weekend. Watchmen fans are in for a rude awakening."



https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/02/staggering_fail.php

 

[IrishJedi]

Both of those "reviews" are ridiculous. They don't really say anything and could have just as easily been written weeks ago (before anyone even saw the film). Those who I know for a fact have now seen it would have much more to say about it. The L.A. screening was just last night. There is one day, and several more this week and next.

And Veidt's accent changes in the film for a reason. His accent as Ozy is a put-on, it's supposed to be fake/forced. When he reveals his plan at the end he uses his true accent (plain ole American).

 

[Ra88]

Ah, thanks for the clarification!

Just a few more weeks...

 

[scubasteve]

And Veidt's accent changes in the film for a reason. His accent as Ozy is a put-on, it's supposed to be fake/forced. When he reveals his plan at the end he uses his true accent (plain ole American).

That's interesting!

You know too much, Irish. You must be destroyed.

 

[The Mike]

And Veidt's accent changes in the film for a reason. His accent as Ozy is a put-on, it's supposed to be fake/forced. When he reveals his plan at the end he uses his true accent (plain ole American).

That's funny because things sound more important and educated to me in a British accent. So that'd play perfectly.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

I relayed the message to my wife who replied that you sir are cool as well.

Thanks!


Man, my excitement for this film is getting hard to contain.

 

[Entropy]

Those reviews are terrible.

For me, Watchmen isn't a movie at all. It's a surreal mind-trip the likes of which my 14-year-old self would never have believed.

ugh...

And Tom Cruise would be "perfect" as Ozy?

 

[Scar]

Both of those "reviews" are ridiculous. They don't really say anything and could have just as easily been written weeks ago (before anyone even saw the film). Those who I know for a fact have now seen it would have much more to say about it. The L.A. screening was just last night. There is one day, and several more this week and next.

And Veidt's accent changes in the film for a reason. His accent as Ozy is a put-on, it's supposed to be fake/forced. When he reveals his plan at the end he uses his true accent (plain ole American).

Wow. That info about Veidt's accent is fascinating. I like that a great deal and it sounds extremely promising as a film translation and interpretation of the events. Very compelling and I like that take.

And I found these two semi-reviews. Preeeeetty conflicting.

Pretty conflicting doesn't begin to describe them. I agree with IJ, that they are completely devoid of substance and could very well just be individuals who saw previews and then decided to write their thoughts down forecasting what the final product would be like.

I have to say, though that the Time review is written much better and more fluidly. That second review is just vitriol aimed at denigrating the film. People said the SAME exact things about 300, which upon release became a hit with the public and enjoyed cult classic status. I'm confident Watchmen will evoke the same response. People can caterwaul all they want about the raping of their dreams, but I remain highly suspect that ANYONE could pull off a more faithful interpretation of the GN, based just on what I have already seen.

 

[Scar]

And Tom Cruise would be "perfect" as Ozy?

Well now the surprise is ruined; might as well have out with it. Tom Cruise replaces Matthew Goode in the final film as Ozy. The bullet catch scene is actually in the midst of him break dancing with Bubastis and Cuba Gooding Jr. (who, contrary to popular belief, is still living). There. Now I guess we can all skip the theaters and wait for the DVD and BR releases.

 

[IrishJedi]

Wanna see (hear) what I mean about Ozymandias?

Go to the new character Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Watchmen-Ozymandias/112126495397

Scroll down to the dialogue clips in "Music Player" and listen to "So began my path..."

Now, try and tell me that's not perfect.

 

[CelticPredator]

Who the hell is Dori Thompson????

Cuz thats the page I get too..

 

[IrishJedi]

Those reviews are terrible.

For me, Watchmen isn't a movie at all. It's a surreal mind-trip the likes of which my 14-year-old self would never have believed.

ugh...

And Tom Cruise would be "perfect" as Ozy?

Even worse was the same tool's "Oh, what Paul Greengrass could have done."

Yeah, how awesome it would have been to see a "WATCHMEN" movie that would've been a lot less like the book (Hayter's original draft SUCKED and that was what Greengrass was gonna film), not about superheroes, but about the war on terror and set in the modern day with lots of 9/11 references! Oh, joy! That would have been super awesome special!

 

[IrishJedi]

Who the hell is Dori Thompson????

Cuz thats the page I get too..

LOL. Weird.

Let's try this again then...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Watchmen-Ozymandias/112126495397

 

[CelticPredator]

It seems you've got it mixed.....he only talks in his american voice when he's in public...and that odd one when he's with people. It says so in the film compainion.

 

[IrishJedi]

It seems you've got it mixed.....he only talks in his american voice when he's in public...and that odd one when he's with people. It says so in the film compainion.

I may have been misinformed, but I was told it was the other-way-around. And that sound clip is definitely from the Karnak sequence, not in public (unless they're using that speech in a completely different scene in the movie). Hurm...

Whatever the case, he uses two distinct accents in the film for his own contrived purposes.

 

[Scar]

I may have been misinformed, but I was told it was the other-way-around. And that sound clip is definitely from the Karnak sequence, not in public (unless they're using that speech in a completely different scene in the movie). Hurm...

Whatever the case, he uses two distinct accents in the film for his own contrived purposes.

One is definitely an elaborate fabrication, and the clip from Karkak certainly does make it seem like the accent is the fake. At any rate, it'll be interesting to see which is real.

 

[CelticPredator]

Another TV spot I did....pretty proud of this one.

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[darthviper107]

It's funny how in that negative review he says he loves the graphic novel and that the movie is a very literal adaptation of it yet it sucks?

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

I think Watchmen certainly has the potential to be either the greatest comic book movie of all time (beating out TDK and even STM), or one of the biggest dissapointments (Spider Man 3, Batman Forver etc.) There is just so much going for it, that even the most literal adaptation of the book could miss it's mark as a film, if the tone, length and pacing is off. You could possibly get a really faithful adaptation that looks good, but is still a poor movie, or a fantastic stand-alone movie that still takes a lot of liberties.

Hopefully Snyder's film is the best of both, but I still wish to see it with an open mind.