Well, I’m sure you can guess what this is about. I’ll add my voice to the thousands already raised in conversation about your Watchmen adaptation. First things first, I’m a huge fan of the comics, and have been anticipating this for years. And I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. This was certainly a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel I love so much, and for that I thank you. Of course certain things had to be cut to bring this to cinemas – Tales of the Black Freighter being the one everyone has focused on. Personally I rather missed the subplot with Rorschach’s psychiatrist, but I can appreciate how this would have messed up the pacing of the film.
The faithfulness in the plot and dialogue was obvious, but what really impressed me were some of the visuals – shots in the film which directly parallel panels of the comic, and bring them impressively to life on the big screen. I’m sure having Dave Gibbons on board was a great help here. It evoked a rather eerie feeling: it has been a while since I last read the graphic novel and I hadn’t realised how many of those images and snippets of dialogue had lodged deep in my subconscious memory.
At the same time, though it’s not something I feel too able to comment on, my friends watching with me who were new to Watchmen seemed to pick up the plot and the characters well. Speaking of characters, I have to say that some of them are masterfully done. I’m thinking particularly of Rorschach and the Comedian, both of whom surprised me greatly. Even lesser characters such as Silk Spectre Sr. and the newspaper stand people (for the brief while they were in) put in great performances.
Unfortunately I need to mention the things I disliked too. First and most glaringly obvious to me is the music choice. “Hallelujah”? “99 Luftballoons”? Seriously? Yes, they’re great songs, but they just don’t fit with their scenes. This was hugely surprising, given the excellent music in the trailer. In fact, the scene with a giant Dr Manhattan striding through Vietnam disintegrating people was glimpsed in the trailer and was suitably awesome. But when the visual spectacle is drowned out by the horribly cliched “Ride of the Valkyries” in the film itself – it just becomes silly.
The other huge issue I had was with the portrayal of Veidt. In my view he ought to be a calculating, suave but egotistical businessman – undoubtedly deserving of his title of “Smartest Man in the World”. Instead he comes across as merely affected, with a bizarre obsession with Ancient Egypt. I don’t think it’s only down to the casting, though that was pretty disastrous, but also due to his lack of presence in the film’s universe. Being such a crucial character, it’s pretty devastating to the film.
In conclusion, I did enjoy the film very much and was certainly not too disappointed (even if the trailers had raised my anticipation to ridiculous levels). I look forward very much to the DVD release.