Warning
Do not see Watchmen.
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posted by Lincoln Davis at 1:23 AM
Sunday, March 08, 2009
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6 Comments:
Please, elaborate.
Watchmen was afflicted with what many contemporary dark comics tend to be: a desire to eradicate evil, but at the same time, a desire to luxuriate in it. Some of the characters go on about wanting to wipe away the filth from the streets, but the camera can't stop lingering on women with bare breasts, there are two sex scenes that border on the pornographic, and the anatomy of one male character (the blue guy) is in full view for much of the movie.
Second, Watchmen is one of those movies that thinks it's much more insightful than it is. Very pretentiously, very obviously, it purports to invoke big themes, but because the storytelling is so utterly unsophisticated, it can only invoke, and never develop, those themes. Is this a movie about the duality of human nature? Or is it about nuclear disarmament? Or simply anti-Republicanism? Or atheism? Or that the ends justify the means? We'll never know, because once called into play, each of these themes just sits there, as if the authors just want credit for being aware of the theme. Moreover, one cannot generally credit attempts in the graphic novel medium to deliver deep, philosophical messages, because the medium has no capacity for the subtlety necessary to willfully suspend one's disbelief.
Further, Watchmen had terrible structure. It was entirely episodic (owing to the source material) and bounced around tediously and confusingly between unconnected incidents. The movie gave several pieces of back story, but none of it was compelling enough that we actually cared about what happened to any of the characters.
Then there was the terrible dialogue. Same kind of thing that plagued the Star Wars movies - all kinds of facility with cool visuals, but no comprehension of what people are actually like.
Lastly, Watchmen suffered from Return-of-the-King-itis: it simply would not end, despite finale gesture after finale gesture. People in the theater actually got up and left because it kept going so long.
Just don't see it.
What's the label mean?
It was a typo.
I wont see it because that was a great commentary.
A harsh assessment.
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