I consider myself a reader: I am a professional writing major, I read poetry and song lyrics obsessively, and I find real beauty in the written word. That said, Watchmen is one of my favorite books ever. This lit nerd loves a comic book, I admit it. For this reason, Watchmen had to be my most anticipated film in a while.That being said, I hated the movie. I went to a midnight screening when it was released and was so pumped for it. The opening sequence was cinematographically amazing. It gives the heroes' background information in a timely quick manner to the tune of "The Times they are A-Changing." After that, it was all downhill.
Rorshach's character was one of only two characters in the film portrayed well. Jackie Earle Haley played the sociopath hero perfectly, thinly walking the line of love and hate. Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan was done to the best of his ability but poor direction and screenwriting killed it. Ozymandias' character and story was changed so much (especially in the ending) that it was ruined. Patrick Wilson hammed it up big time playing Nite Owl II and Malin Ackerman did her best Cameron Diaz clone job as Silk Spectre II.
Song choice in the film was awkward, misplaced, and didn't fit the feel and tone of the movie at all. During the most awkward, long, and worst sex scene I have ever seen on film, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" soundtracks it to strange effect. "99 Luftballons" and "The Sound Of Silence" awkwardly stand out to laughable effect that makes you wonder if this film was being taken seriously. The comic, one of the deepest things I've ever read, is dumbed down for "ooh" and "aah" visual moments and fight scenes that I see as purely masturbatory on Zack Snyder's end.
In my mind now, with all of that plus the ridiculous changes and plot holes that I won't mention so I don't spoil it for those who want to see it, Zack Snyder now sits in my mind in the same category as Bret Rattner and Michael Bay. Amateurs with $100 million plus budgets who really don't know what they're doing.
