Spoilers.







I was expecting a lot more. Never read the comic book and went to see what all the hubbub was about. Loved Rorshach. Prison scene was great. Beyond that it pretty much bored me. The smartest guy in the world and that's the best plan he can come up with? How much screen time was devoted to Dr. Manhattan's blue weiner? Why the hell did they make him a CGI character? All he did was stand around and think deeply. I may read the GN just to see why everyone is so much in love with it.

The smartest guy in the world and that's the best plan he can come up with?

He's shown to be a very shrewd thinker in the comic, and his grand plan is a bit more complicated in the comic, but also note that it was his over-enthusiastic PR guys who created the tagline 'The Smartest Man In The World.' He's apparently never claimed any such thing.

I may read the GN just to see why everyone is so much in love with it.

No. You're not allowed.

I saw the Watchemn this weekend, decided to go to the early matinee show on Saturday rather than contend with the Friday night or Thursday night opening crowds. I've read the comics, and the graphic novel repackaging a few times - I like the movie better.

Make-up and some acting aside, I had a much better feel for what the Comedian and Ozymandias were all about in this film than I did from the comic. I was somewhat distracted by the resemblence between Patrick Wilson and Keith Gordon, which had me thinking that at any moment Archie was going to go on a jealous rampage and try to off the Silk Spectre II or some such.

What a terrific and faithful adaptation of the book! If you haven't read the GN, I'd go into the movie thinking of it as a Mystery and NOT a SuperHero movie. I agree that it really brought out more details and motivations about the characters. I want to see it again just for Rorschach.

I want to see it again just for Rorschach.

Rorschach, as played by Jackie Earle Haley, is one of the highpoints of the movie.

It's interesting - Moore based Rorschach on two Steve Ditko characters** - The Question and Mr. A - both of which (especially Mr. A) are informed by Ditko's Objectivist beliefs, primarily from the writings of Ayn Rand, with a little David Berkowitz rhetoric thrown in. (Moore, although an admirer of Ditko's work, does not share Ditko's beliefs.) Rand's books are enjoying quite a renaissance lately - the "stimulus" bill has provoked a lot of interest in "Atlas Shrugged", which is flying off the shelves at Amazon. I wonder if the fascination with Rorschach's absolutist worldview is of a piece with that?

**As a lot of you already know, the Watchmen were based on the old line of Charlton Comics superheroes that were purchased by DC after Charlton went defunct. Moore and Gibbons originally planned to use them, then decided to use them as models for the Watchmen (so DC could incorporate and contine to use the Charlton characters in their existing continuity) - so we have The Question/Rorschach, Captain Atom/Dr. Manhattan, Nightshade/Silk Spectre, Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt/Ozymandias, Blue Beetle 1 & 2 / Nite Owl 1 & 2, and The Peacemaker/The Comedian. (Where was Judomaster? If you look closely, you can see a sign for a business called "Judomaster Martial Arts School" in the movie...)

Anyway, the reason I bring this up: check out this great website, which reproduces comics from the 70s for original stories of the Charlton characters:

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspo...-atom.html

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspo...-blue.html

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspo...stion.html

(Click on the pages on the website to bring them up full-size. I spent a couple of hours going through past posts on this blog.)

Ditko's Blue Beetle stories were amazing. I couldn't believe I'd found an objectivist costumed hero (he had no superpowers) on the newsstand. They, plus all the Question stories, are collected here: http://www.amazon.com/Action-Heroes-Arch...4HT1Q8VG9K

I saw the movie. I had not read the comic, but have since ordered it and will make a comparison between the two. On the whole I gave the movie a B- because it did not live up to the prerelease hype, for me. Some comments with possible spoilers:
[spoiler]Rorschach was a highlight, and the backstory on him was great with a prostitute mother and a very bad childhood, plus the murdered little girl driving him over the edge. He still maintained a hold on sanity, barely. Truly a tragic character. I liked Dr. Manhattan, his character was exactly what I would expect for an almost god-like persona. Ozymandias' grand scheme was really well thought out in the end, it was a probable solution to the end he wanted to achieve- peace. Plus you have to give him credit for even thinking of the NEED to make Manhattan again feel compassion for people, and connect with the human race again, otherwise any plan that involved him was doomed to failure.[/spoiler]

I'm a big fan of the graphic novel and I loved the movie. Thaught it was very well done and thought the opening credits had to be some of the best in any movie before. My only hang up's were minor(one being dumb but it just bothered me) is that they called thereselves the watchmen. It wasn't a big deal but it just bothered me. Also I went with some friends who had never read the book and didn't know anything about it and I asked them about the unveiling of who Rorschach was and how they felt and none of them really noticed he was the guy holding the sign throughout the comic and movie. I just felt they didnt make this as big as a reveal as it felt it was in the book at the time.

Those are my only two hang ups I thought the ending was a lot better as it gave them a constant threat that they knew and always had to worry about and just thought it made a lot more sence.

I'm a big fan of the graphic novel and I loved the movie. Thaught it was very well done and thought the opening credits had to be some of the best in any movie before. My only hang up's were minor(one being dumb but it just bothered me) is that they called thereselves the watchmen. It wasn't a big deal but it just bothered me. Also I went with some friends who had never read the book and didn't know anything about it and I asked them about the unveiling of who Rorschach was and how they felt and none of them really noticed he was the guy holding the sign throughout the comic and movie. I just felt they didnt make this as big as a reveal as it felt it was in the book at the time.

Those are my only two hang ups I thought the ending was a lot better as it gave them a constant threat that they knew and always had to worry about and just thought it made a lot more sence.

Did you know that the guy playing Rorschach was the pitcher from The Bad News Bears?

Ditko's Blue Beetle stories were amazing. I couldn't believe I'd found an objectivist costumed hero (he had no superpowers) on the newsstand. They, plus all the Question stories, are collected here: http://www.amazon.com/Action-Heroes-Arch...4HT1Q8VG9K

The Question was either Objectivist or Zen depending on which version (read: author) was being read.

Loved The Question (and his imitator - Rorschach).