John’s Movie Musings

Sometimes there are events that cause geeks around the planet to sit up (well, not slouch as much) and take notice.  Think about the last time you encroached a prairie dog town.  It’s like that, only on Twitter.

The most recent of these events is Watchmen.  Now I only got introduced to the story a few months ago, so I am not the guy to give you all the gory details of why a movie of the “unfilmable” comic is important.  If you just twitched when I called it a comic and not a graphic novel, perhaps you could shed some light on its significance in the comments.

That said, I do recognize why people hold this com- graphic novel in such high regard.  Rarely do we get a superhero story with such flawed heroes.  I know we get flawed Heroes every Monday night, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  Watchmen deals with themes that wouldn’t even exist in the nightmares of other superhero stories.  It’s dark, gritty, and graphic.  And for those not living in paradise, exactly how most would describe our world.  That’s part of why Watchmen is so special.  The story causes you to think not just about good and evil, but ends and means.

This is Zack Snyder’s first movie since 300.  If you saw that (and you should), you’ve got a pretty good idea of his style.  He’s sort of developing a fixation for ripped men, but overall, I like how he frames his scenes and plays with timing.  I just pray he never makes a Smurfs movie.

If you’re on the fence with this, you’re not going to come away thinking this is the greatest movie of all time.  But give it a rental if you tend to avoid things like reading.

Grade: A