Watchmen wasn't about big blue radioactive dong.
Almost every single conversation I've had about this movie has centered around the glowing nether regions of one Dr. Manhattan.
Now did Zack Snyder HAVE to show the irradiated Jon Osterman's cash and prizes to the extent he did? Not really.
But the whole reasoning behind it was lost on a majority of people I feel. Throughout the storyline it's shown that Dr. Manhattan is losing his humanity. As the years go by he cares less and less for the day to day affairs of what we consider life.
Why would a being beyond human morals and understanding care about what was hanging below his belt?
All the humanity had been drained from his being. Manhattan was so far gone nothing mattered to him, so I'm sure throwing on a pair of pants in the morning was the least of his worries.
But moving on, I found Watchmen to be a fantastic film. While not sticking straight to the original story, it was indeed true tonally and managed to dwell within the moral grey area needed to convey the story properly.
Every member of the cast did a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life.
Patrick Wilson created an incredibley likeable and more importantly, a relatable Nite Owl. As Watchmen's most (arguably) human character, Nite Owl serves as the voice of reason and our entry point into the world of Watchmen, and as such Wilson did a fantastic job.
Jakie Earle Haley played Rorshach just as psychotic and lost in himself as portrayed in the comic. Haley brought a depth to the character that couldn't be beat, and ultimately delivered some of the most powerdul acting in the entire picture.
Jefferey Dean Morgan's Comedian was stradled the line between hero and unlikeable bastard quite well, and as the centerpoint for the entire picture, he carried the role quite well.
Matthew Goode was really standout as Ozymandias, a character who never clicked with me in the book, but on the screen really worked well. Veidt was played so well, you knew what he was doing was wrong but you just couldn't help but agree with him. Again, Goode dwelled right where he needed to in that grey area.
Malin Akerman's Slik Spectre was just kind of there. While I'm afraid that Ackerman delivered the weakest preformance in the cast, after further review of the original series I couldn't help but notice that throughout the entire thing Silk Spectre is just kind of there on her own, and the only thing she really does is act as a tether from the original Sally Jupiter to the story. So I guess in that case, Ackerman played the part fantasticly.
Billy Crudup however was phenominal. Playing disinterested might seem easy, but to sound so distant as Dr. Manhattan, I cant imagine the chops necessary to pull it off.
On the whole I found Watchmen to be spectacular.
Dare I say, I think it was far better than The Dark Knight.
But I'm afraid the almost 2 hour running time, R rating and all the talk of glowing man bits may have scared away potential viewers. Which is a shame, because just as Watchmen the comic served as a deconstruction of the books of the 80's, so does the film of todays genre work.
It's sad to see such a great film suffer over a 60% drop off in revenue from the first week to the second. And then a further 60% drop from the second to the third. And I know box office numbers mean nothing in the times of dvd and direct tv, but its still sad that more people havent experienced the awesomeness.
But luckily those that have can hold a discussion about the morality plays of Adrian Veidt, and I guess at the very least the hypnotic swaying of Dr. Manhattan's "project"
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