Can't believe this is the only thread for the film on TMDB! I came to discuss why the film is as polarizing as it is, because it's a true gem of cinema imho.
I think this is the most beautifully shot superhero film of all time. The cinematography's color grading is something that recent Marvel films (and DC) completely mess up. Marvel uses grays instead of blacks and DC just darkens the whole image to mask the questionable CGI, whilst in WM we get "true black" and it looks fantastic against the colorful suits, Dr. Manhattan etc.
They also use plenty of rain in Watchmen, which is a technique to craft a slightly greater cinematic image. You get streetlights reflecting off the ground and it helps create atmosphere (particularly in the funeral shots). Another thing they make great use of is the music in the film. Now I'll be honest, I'm one of those people that have started to hate hearing actual music for a soundtrack because it's lazy and nostalgically manipulative, so it's a tad hypocritical I know. Anyhow, it works so well within the film like in the credit sequence, or during the "Apocalypse Now" scene, which makes it easier for the audience to digest what's happening because we're familiar with it. I guess it makes the characters in that scene kind of delusional too, because they think it's a film playing in their heads and it's so loud it's drowning out the Hueys, screams and gunfire.
The imagery and themes in this film are probably why I cherish this movie so much: the fact that we are watching a parallel universe of what could of happened. Like JFK being shot by the Comedian or Nixon getting - not only a 2nd - but a 3rd term as president. It shows human nature in it's most primal form. Perhaps you have to be a bit cynical to enjoy WM, I wonder? Some of the things said in this film are actually pointing the finger to our reality and it'd be wrong to ignore that.
I heard someone say that the characters are all personified ideologies dialed to 11 and I think they're correct. Just look at Rorschach's principles compared to Nite Owl's. One of them is a 'psychopath' who's seen it all and the other is this optimist who still keeps faith for everyone.
At the end of the day, I think that WM is a fantastic (not perfect) film, which splits opinions because of it's statement about people being bad in general(?). So what does everybody else think about Watchmen? Why the hate?
Can't find a movie or TV show? Login to create it.
Want to rate or add this item to a list?
Not a member?
Reply by tmdb43737777
on August 8, 2017 at 8:00 AM
I like how Synder kept the movie close to the comic but I had a few problems with the transition: Turning the morally ambiguous characters who you don't really like into variations of the batman. Rorschach suffers the worst.
The ending being changed with Comedian being killed. He happened across the island that the squid was being developed on. It was weird, the story within a story being cut and lacking background information.
But I don't mind some changes in tone, story or dialogue for the most part. It seems to me he still respected the source material to a degree. Jackie Earle Haley did an amazing job and the character is ungoddly cool. Manhattan montage with Philip Glass music is amazing and quite beautiful. Ozymandias on the otherhand is just a douche with far less complexity than the comicbook.
Reply by Russ007
on August 8, 2017 at 1:13 PM
Maybe it helps that I haven't read the comic yet... but perhaps I'll check it out sometime if it's better than the film!
"Manhattan montage with Philip Glass music is amazing and quite beautiful."
I agree. The Manhattan montage, and likewise the opening one, are so well done.
Reply by tmdb13060682
on August 8, 2017 at 10:11 PM
This is in my top five all time.
Never understood why some didn't like it.
Reply by Jana
on August 9, 2017 at 3:37 PM
One of my favorite movies. I love the film noir feeling.
Reply by gilknut
on February 1, 2018 at 7:57 AM
A gem of a movie, IMO.
...And now, they're developing a TV-series for HBO. Which would excite me no end, if it wasn't for the fact that Snyder is out and Damon Lindelof, of all people, has been announced as the show runner. Since nearly everything he touches turns to shite as far as I'm concerned, the news was a bit like waking up and realizing it's Christmas Eve, then discovering your dog died.
Reply by Renovatio
on February 1, 2018 at 10:56 AM
One of the handful of comicbook movies that feel like a movie and not just some episode in a cartoon series... You have a climax, the movie means something, it's not just some chapter in a book...
Also, it looks interesting, deals with interesting real world themes and you get a sense it was made by a human being and not a committee...
Reply by Jedan Archer
on February 2, 2018 at 7:16 AM
One of the very few CBMs I generally appreciate as film, not just a lowbrow genre B-movie. Has a lot of valuable and creative themes running and a sound storyline.