courtesy of www.hollywood-elsewhere.com... which is not exactly the most incisive bastion of geek-related thought.
"I didn't hate Watchmen, but I didn't love it either," says a longtime HE reader who managed to snag a ticket to the London premiere, which ended a couple of hours ago.
"I'm not a cinema snob and can take a decent loud popcorn film in my stride as much as an animated Israeli documentary or the latest from Shane Meadows. I read one early Watchmen review (if you can call it that -- it was more of an ejaculation of words) that seemed to praise the movie purely on the basis that it existed, and that any fan of the comic books should be grateful that a movie of Watchmen simply exists.
"I don't think this is good enough, and is definitely not the right attitude to take. I think anyone who sees Watchmen, whether a fan previously or not, [can't help but] walk away disappointed that it didn't live up to its potential.
"What I want more than anything in my popcorn movies is a bit of consistency. I'm led to believe that the big blue Dr. Manhattan is the only truly superhero in the film, but in that case, why are all the other Watchmen able to leap like agile cats and fight with the power of ten men? I understand that this is an alternate universe where Ozymandias is the smartest person in the world, but just because he's pretty clever doesn't mean it makes sense when towards the end of the movie he comes accompanied by a new breed of big Antarctic cat with huge fucking ears.
"All I ask for is consistency in the world which we are seeing, and the movie will work. If this stuff is going to make sense, that's fine -- explain it. Tell me why he has a big cat, don't just throw it in there."
in lighter news, i pwned the oscar poll, but LQ was a worthy competition. sure, the awards are disgustingly actor-centric, but if you're watching the show that celebrated a beautiful mind, crash, chicago, etc... for a celebration of art rather than for the glitz and the glamour, you're watching the wrong show. also, the oscars were by default the best oscars in history because of WERNER EFFING HERZOG. the 6% boost in ratings was clearly a direct result of his presence.
and now, i must go watch the final futurama film on blu-ray. so long, suckers.
update:
aintitcool linked to some more official reviews, most of them largely positive, all of them from people familiar with the graphic novel. looks like fans that don't mind a little bit of flexibility or have reasonable expectations are enjoying it quite a bit. again, very curious what the non-fans will think.
3 comments:
i will use my first post to say i just got back from the Austin showing of Watchmen. i will reserve most of my comments. i was fortunate enough to take my friend who had never read the story. he said overall it was aight but didn't understand what the big deal was. at the risk of sounding fanboyish, they dropped the ball in a couple spots in a rush to squeeze story in. i didn't have problem with the ending at all. i will keep my trap shut for awhile now.
in the interest of balancing things out... devin over at chud.com posted a super hypocritical (the man most loathe to break an embargo essentially does just that) rave in advance of his rave.
though i must say i'm just about over and done with reviews of this puppy (certainly from those who are fans of the source material) - at least until i see it for meself. buuuuttt i'm a wee bit excited to see what ms. dargis or jonathan rosenbaum has to say on subject.
follow-up!
aintitcool linked to some more official reviews, most of them largely positive, all of them from people familiar with the graphic novel. looks like fans that don't mind a little bit of flexibility or have reasonable expectations are enjoying it quite a bit. again, very curious what the non-fans will think.
now the real question... do i have the courage to spend my day off playing dead space?
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