"Who Watches the Watchmen?"

PotionsMaster@evpl — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:36:00 GMT

I did. Last night, actually. I'm usually all over graphic-novels-turned-movies because I like to see how the film industry interprets the books and how accurate the sets are. On this one, I was going to wait to see the movie until I had read the novel, but at the urging of a Watchmen-loving friend, I was lured to the grandeur that the film claimed to give it and saw the celluloid version first. "The movie will be more interesting to you if you don't know what's happening," he said, "The movie is the book practically frame for frame."

The opening was well done to hook a person in; it's not every day that you see someone get hurled through a window off a tall building. After that big of a bang to start off with, I thought that's what the rest of the movie was going to be like, but it then did flashbacks to explain the Watchmen's origins. While interesting, it started to drag out a bit as it set up the rest of the doomsday plot. It is set in an alternative universe where Nixon has been elected for 5 consecutive terms (scary thought all on its own without the 'end of the world' threat), America has won the Vietnam War, and Cold War is very much about to become a reality. After the Masked Vigilante golden era, people dressing up and fighting crime are banned and outlawed. That provides some problems for the Watchmen.

The fight scenes, on the other hand, were everything you'd expect from Zack Snyder; especially after 300. Those are what made it worth sitting through the history lesson in the beginning. I didn't quite understand where the super strength of the Watchmen came from, with the exception of Dr. Manhattan. They seemed to be like Batman on superhero juice, every day Joes with an unusual amount of power packed into their punch.

All in all, I liked the movie. The fight scenes were glorious, but I wouldn't spend money to see it on IMAX; you'll get the same effect on any size screen. I'm glad I saw it before reading the book, though I hear tell that a giant squid is missing from the movie. It gave me more of a reason to sit through the 163 minute long film. My friend was right on that point. However, my friend had also told me, "You'll never guess who the bad guy is." As soon as I saw the costumes, I had to shake my head and smile. I don't know as much about comics as some people, but I do know one truth.

Bad guys almost always wear purple.

"Iron Man"

MediaPhile@evpl — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Loved it!

My son had told me that this was the superhero action movie of the year -- NOT The Dark Knight -- and now I know what he means. The good guys weren't perfect, the bad guys weren't Satan personified, and the plot unpredictable and halfway intelligent.

Robert Downey Jr obviously had a lot of fun with his double role as wealthy industrialist Tony Stark and Iron Man. Jeff Bridges equally seemed to relish playing jovial but obviously sleazy businessman/villain Obadiah Stane. And Gwenyth Paltrow, as Stark's ever patient and hardworking secretary Pepper Potts, had just the right amount of chemistry with her boss.

Kudos to comic writer-editor Stan Lee! And to Marvel Studios, who reacquired the rights in 2006 after the film had been "in development" since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema. This was Marvel's first self-financed film, and the $574,049,094 worldwide box office gross shows that they made a wise move.

I just wish I had seen Iron Man on the big screen! DVDs like this just make we want to run out to buy a wide screen High Def TV. Iron Man was the first in a trilogy, with Iron Man 2 due out in April 2010. I hope it defies the usual downward trend for sequels and lives up to the standards of the first film.

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"Who Watches the Watchmen?"

"Iron Man"