The more I watch Watchmen, more it feels like a normal run-o-the-mill formula film! It might not be noticeable at first as the story whirs past you (confusing those who don't already know it) but for those who know the story and are a bit of movie buff, the pattern is obvious. I don't blame Zack Snyder though because it all worked pretty good in 300 and a sh-tload of other movies out there. But before I go further, let's look at the patterns that make it a formula film -
1) Sex sells - Yes sir, sex is a potent element in drawing customers and Watchmen had it in some generous amounts! Snyder must've assumed that it worked splendidly in 300 then why not Watchmen (more so when it's in the graphic novel itself). But what he missed is that 300 had some tiny tid bids of sexuality thrown in here and there. Meaning, it was just enough to stimulate the viewers and cut it short too soon to make them keep asking for more. This is kinda ironical in itself because I always thought that it was pretty smart on Snyder's part to keep it short (and abrupt) so as to not overwhelm the viewers. But in Watchmen there are atleast three extremely long scenes that start you off wanting more and end well past the two times you've looked at your watch atleast twice!
This becomes even more endearing when a normal movie goer can't see the relation between the sex and the main plot! The reason being, the successful movies where the basic theme is about people having sex (Basic Instincts for example) use it to further drive the plot. In other words, the viewer knows how Sharon Sone (as Catherine Tramell) seducing Michael Douglas (as Detective Nick) drives the plot forward. But in Watchmen it just comes as as interruption between the more interesting unveiling of Rorschach's past thus taking viewer's attention away reducing the already short span! More so, when the sex scene occurs right after some guy's head has been "hatcheted", it broders vaguely disgusting. The less I say, the better here.....
2) Gory Violence sells too - Yes it does and that is the reason horror and action-horror flicks exist! 300 had it in tons and Snyder must've felt that some extra doses of it in Watchmen would make it even more viewable than 300 was. But again, the problem is that,just like sex, when it comes to gore and violence, more is not better. If you add too much distracting sex then it becomes a soft porno (or hard if there is nothing else) and if you add too much gore and violence then it becomes a horror movie! And as much horror movies are in demand, the non-horror-movie viewer base is strictly exclusive to them. In other words, the horror movie fans might enjoy the gore in Watchmen, but the people who are not into seeing someone's arms getting chopped off will hate it enough to caution everyone else to stay away from that movie. But if that is so then how did 300 became such a success? Again, 300 was not so saturated as with violence and viewers expected it. But Watchmen caught people by surprise. These are the poeple who went to the Watchmen expecting it to be another X-men or Spiderman or Darknight and they just wouldn't expect to see what they did! Again, the horror genre fans must've been delighted by it but the others would be more then expected to run out of the theatre half way through.
3) Guy Richie's style storytelling techniques works - Not strictly Guy Richie's but anyone who has seen movies like "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels", "Snatch" and "Pulp Fiction" etc would instantly see the similarities in the overall storytelling in Watchmen. There are flashbacks to fill in past, many plot lines run parallelly, camera switches back and forth between short cuts of different scenes to show different things happening in parallel, certain frantic-ness that induces a sense of urgency in viewer's minds and different plot lines converge to a single conclusion towards the end. I'd say that there is a huge viewer base for movies emplying that type of storytelling techniques and even the Watchmen graphic novel uses the same technique to explain what is going on so Zack Snyder is spot on here.
But again we run into the problem of short attention span of the viewers. Most of the people I know, and the ones who didn't know the story beforehand, found it too confusing! Pretty much everyone waited for the plot to build and go in one single direction but it never did. At some point there was past, then it was present, then it was Rorschach then it was Mars then it was past then it was some out of place sex scene and finally it was i-don't-give-a-fu*k-anymore! Yeah, really, just sorting out what was past and what was present was like a chore for most people I talked to. Again, the storytelling technique is great but if you notice, the other movies (that liberally use them) manage to stay coherent and each of the subplots feel like fun and take the story forward. But in Watchmen, they managed to confused the viewer more than taking the story forward. Further, the rule of thumb, when showing multiple sub-plots parallelly, is to maintain the same timeline but Watchme unfortunately mixed past "flashbacks" with present "flashbacks" and after a point it was just some random "flashbacks" going on and on for 3 hours resulting in an unfathomable plot (oh so there was a plot - one reviewer commented!)
Part II - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part II
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
More about Dr. Manhattan -
To find about Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation, click - Osterman to Manhattan - Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation
To read some of Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes, click - Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes from Watchmen
To find some funny details about Dr. Manhattan's personal life, click - Dr. Manhattan's personal life and his girlfriend Silk Spectre
Monday, March 16, 2009
What Zack Snyder must've been thinking - II
The more I watch Watchmen, more it feels like a normal run-o-the-mill formula film! It might not be noticeable at first as the story whirs past you (confusing those who don't already know it) but for those who know the story and are a bit of movie buff, the pattern is obvious. I don't blame Zack Snyder though because it all worked pretty good in 300 and a sh-tload of other movies out there. But before I go further, let's look at the patterns that make it a formula film -
4) Make it vague and semi-coherent so they come again - Matrix and many other movies successfully used this technique and created the post-release-hype that is instrumental in making a blockbuster. People watched them, understood just enough to try to understand all of what the hell was going on, some talked on internet forums, some discussed by the water-cooloer, some wrote their own blogs explaining it to the world, some just got more of their friends to watch them....more people became curious and watched it only to start the cycle again and it went on and on to the delight of Wachowski brothers. A good inspiration for Snyder, specially for Watchmen that is supposed to be THE story the mother of all such vague plots that are supposed to result in the *epiphany* after you've understood it clearly (more reason to watch again). But unfortunately, there is only so far you can go with confusing pace, confusing dialogues, confusing flashbacks, confusing sub-plots, confusing villain, confusing hero(es), confusing beginning, confusing ending, confusing middle....whew!
For most people it was just too confusing. Other successful movies actually worked on two distinct levels - one, give the viewers a simple enough story and two, throw in bits and pieces that require some thinking. So one can enjoy Matrix without the "epiphany" part of it. In other words, a casual viewer can simply see that Andreson is the bad guy, Neo is the "One" and the story is about what Neo will do in the end. The hype exists in "how" Neo will win against such insurmountable odds (through Kungfu and telekinessis ofcourse). The "epiphany" exists in the alternate explanations and philosophical implications of this world and the movie satisfies both the viewers. Even a kid goes home awed by the Kungfu and with the resolve to come back again. But Watchmen fails the first viewer because there is no clear cut story, there is no hero, no villain and the guy who died seemed to be a criminal and better off dead in the first place (no sympathy). The second group of viewers looking for the "epiphany" are partly disappointed because the movie downplays the whole nuclear war and climax bits. Like I commented in my other article about things that made Watchmen movie suck when compared to Alan Moore's graphic novel, there is not enough sense urgency to actually make Ozymandias' actions justifiable. The climax should result in "Holy Sh-t, WOW" feeling or atleast keep the viewers on their toes expecting something, but as we saw, it turned out to be kind of bland really. And needless to say, there are not likely to be all that fan base debating "the ending" or the "the story" of Watchmen as they did for Matrix. Can't entirely blame Snyder for this but I guess adding the needed coherence and straightforward plot (on the surface atleast like Matrix had) would have made the first group of viewer coming back for more.
5) The viewers will love the big blue swinging Dong - Ok, that is wrong. The big swinging bright blue dong DOESN'T work. Not in any movie unless it's just some sort of superhero porn flick (Dr. Manhattan would have had a good alternate career there though). Now, I understand that the gradual de-clothing of Dr. Manhattan kinda shows his growing detachment with the world cultimanting in the final stage where its just he and his blue friend. But an average casual movie goer wouldn't appreciate it appearing on and on and again and again for no apparent reason. Just read any reviews and you will find them flooded with homosexual jokes related to the whole thing and the reasons why some people found it annoying enough to just walk out of the theatre. I knew the story and all but even I was wondering why do they have to show it like that. Why Mr. Snyder, why? I understand if Silk Spectre has to get naked or why the fight scenes have to be so gory but what purpose does the the big blue swinging thing serve for God's sake?
Part I - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
More about Dr. Manhattan -
To find about Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation, click - Osterman to Manhattan - Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation
To read some of Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes, click - Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes from Watchmen
To find some funny details about Dr. Manhattan's personal life, click - Dr. Manhattan's personal life and his girlfriend Silk Spectre
4) Make it vague and semi-coherent so they come again - Matrix and many other movies successfully used this technique and created the post-release-hype that is instrumental in making a blockbuster. People watched them, understood just enough to try to understand all of what the hell was going on, some talked on internet forums, some discussed by the water-cooloer, some wrote their own blogs explaining it to the world, some just got more of their friends to watch them....more people became curious and watched it only to start the cycle again and it went on and on to the delight of Wachowski brothers. A good inspiration for Snyder, specially for Watchmen that is supposed to be THE story the mother of all such vague plots that are supposed to result in the *epiphany* after you've understood it clearly (more reason to watch again). But unfortunately, there is only so far you can go with confusing pace, confusing dialogues, confusing flashbacks, confusing sub-plots, confusing villain, confusing hero(es), confusing beginning, confusing ending, confusing middle....whew!
For most people it was just too confusing. Other successful movies actually worked on two distinct levels - one, give the viewers a simple enough story and two, throw in bits and pieces that require some thinking. So one can enjoy Matrix without the "epiphany" part of it. In other words, a casual viewer can simply see that Andreson is the bad guy, Neo is the "One" and the story is about what Neo will do in the end. The hype exists in "how" Neo will win against such insurmountable odds (through Kungfu and telekinessis ofcourse). The "epiphany" exists in the alternate explanations and philosophical implications of this world and the movie satisfies both the viewers. Even a kid goes home awed by the Kungfu and with the resolve to come back again. But Watchmen fails the first viewer because there is no clear cut story, there is no hero, no villain and the guy who died seemed to be a criminal and better off dead in the first place (no sympathy). The second group of viewers looking for the "epiphany" are partly disappointed because the movie downplays the whole nuclear war and climax bits. Like I commented in my other article about things that made Watchmen movie suck when compared to Alan Moore's graphic novel, there is not enough sense urgency to actually make Ozymandias' actions justifiable. The climax should result in "Holy Sh-t, WOW" feeling or atleast keep the viewers on their toes expecting something, but as we saw, it turned out to be kind of bland really. And needless to say, there are not likely to be all that fan base debating "the ending" or the "the story" of Watchmen as they did for Matrix. Can't entirely blame Snyder for this but I guess adding the needed coherence and straightforward plot (on the surface atleast like Matrix had) would have made the first group of viewer coming back for more.
5) The viewers will love the big blue swinging Dong - Ok, that is wrong. The big swinging bright blue dong DOESN'T work. Not in any movie unless it's just some sort of superhero porn flick (Dr. Manhattan would have had a good alternate career there though). Now, I understand that the gradual de-clothing of Dr. Manhattan kinda shows his growing detachment with the world cultimanting in the final stage where its just he and his blue friend. But an average casual movie goer wouldn't appreciate it appearing on and on and again and again for no apparent reason. Just read any reviews and you will find them flooded with homosexual jokes related to the whole thing and the reasons why some people found it annoying enough to just walk out of the theatre. I knew the story and all but even I was wondering why do they have to show it like that. Why Mr. Snyder, why? I understand if Silk Spectre has to get naked or why the fight scenes have to be so gory but what purpose does the the big blue swinging thing serve for God's sake?
Part I - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
More about Dr. Manhattan -
To find about Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation, click - Osterman to Manhattan - Dr. Manhattan's funky transformation
To read some of Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes, click - Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes from Watchmen
To find some funny details about Dr. Manhattan's personal life, click - Dr. Manhattan's personal life and his girlfriend Silk Spectre
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Dr Manhattan's (funky) Transformation Watchmen
So when reading the book I was too engrossed in the overall story and didn't notice some really funky things that I did while watching the movie. It could be that movie was dragging at points and I already knew what was going on or it could be that some things are just plain ridiculous when we think of them in more realistic terms. Dr. Manhattan's transformation from Jonathan (Jon) Osterman to "Dr. Manhattan" (and some of his activities) is just one of those things -
1) Osterman decides to get totally ripped when "re-assembling" himself into Dr.
Manhattan -
So did you see how Jon Osterman looks both in the graphic novel and Watchmen movie? He's a thin, stoopy guy who possibly can't even spell gym and would explode at the mere sight of a dumbbell! The way he stumbles around shows that the first time he ran was when he got himself locked into that Intrinsic field chamber thingy.
But one day it all changes when he has the opportunity to "re-assemble" himself!! He figures that since he's gonna re-create himself atom by atom, it wouldn't hurt to add some extra muscle, take out fat and just get freakishly ripped!! And now look at him!! As Dr. Manhattan he looks like a freaking amateur weight bodybuilder on competition diet! Well we couldn't blame the good physicist for finally adding some free muscle could we!
2) Why the hell is Dr. Manhattan blue anyway and why the hell does he glow - Actually, I've wondered this one for quite a while. Why is he blue? He has complete control over all matter at subatomic levels so he could "color" himself to look just like he used to. You know, more like a human being
may be! But no, our good doc decides that blue is the new "rad" and goes all bright blue glowy.
The "glowy" part is even more important because there is no reason for him to glow! Glowing actually requires him to emit energy out of his body and therefore requires more energy to just maintain that body! Does he *need* to glow to survive? Does he just use his body for some extra lighting? Is it just that bright blue happens to be Dr. Osterman's favorite color? Was he planning to join the blue men group? My guess is that Dr. Osterman wanted to start a blue themed rock band as a kid but couldn't realize his dream even after going through all the trouble of re-assembling himself in glowy blue color because of that little responsibility called crime fighting! This also explains why he is so detached - the guy is simply depressed! Cruel world innit!
3) Why the hell is Dr. Manhattan naked all the time - This is also one of those things that I'd sympathize with him for not doing
considering the laundry, ironing, folding, dry-cleaning and stuff that I've to go through every few days. But still, he is Dr.-freaking-Manhattan, he can just create the clothes of his choice out of thin air! As Osterman he went through all the trouble of re-assembling each little part of his body and mind you, human body is quite intricate and I should remind you that *everything* works on the blue guy ;)!
So what is so difficult about just adding some clothes too? Mind you that it's not about his overall detachment from the material world and stuff either, because initially he did start out as a
fully clothed super hero and he does wear clothes on special occasions like that press conference. But almost all other times he is stark naked when he could simply synthasize a jeans and t-shirt as extension to his body and just keep them on all the time! No extra effort required and poor Rorschach spared of the unsightly glimpses of the big swinging bight blue dong. The only conclusion that I can draw is that Jon Osterman was totally into the whole nudist lifestyle all the time and he finally got the opportunity/excuse to live the way he always wanted to - the great bright blue hanging dong lifestyle right out of Osterman's teenage years! Hey if even Rorschach is ok with it, who would dare complain!
4) Why did Dr. Manhattan choose to go to Mars - Now, I get this that Dr. Manhattan wanted to get as far away from Earth as he could so as not to infect (after being accused of being carcinogenic) any other human being. But why Mars? Why not Moon or Venus or Jupiter or Saturn? Why teleport anywhere at all for that matter, why not just dismantle the body? He doesn't need the a human-like body to survive, he has just created himself that way because he used to look like that a long time ago. But I'm digressing, so why did he choose Mars? Anything special about Mars that is not true for our Moon or any of the other heavenly bodies out there? I guess only Alan Moore can answer this one.
5) Why did Dr. Manhattan create a freaking clock on Mars - I understand that Alan
Moore wanted to basically show the timelessness of Dr. Manhattan's thoughts and thats what that particular chapter is all about. But why get your character to create a freaking clock if you wanted to talk about time? This happens to be one of the things that never really made sense to me in terms of the story.
Dr. Manhattan going to Mars and creating a clock out of sand simply doesn't fit in anywhere. Was the clock simply some sort of a side-effect of his thoughts (yeah the guy sh-ts clocks when he thinks about time)? Is making gigantic clocks out of sand something people naturally tend to do when on Mars (and we don't know it because we haven't been there)? Was he trying to create a home or mansion or some sort?
6) So *everything* does work on the big guy - Again going back to the re-assembly phase and the big blue swinging dong part of the story, why does Dr. Manhattan need all those *ahem* body parts? Does he eat and drink and just needs a big blue dong for his body to function? I think not. Does he need it to, well, be with his girlfriends? It doesn't look that way because he obviously no longer enjoys having sex with them or else he wouldn't be doing his experiments while "pleasing" Laurie at the same time (hey no human being could!).
And this is beside the point that, since his transformation, Dr. Manhattan's member has somehow managed to lengthened to highly-paid-porn-star's variety proportions even in completely flaccid state! Ofcourse if that is something that he always had to start with then I've to say that he was really wasting his life with all the physics stuff when he could have made a fortune as Mr. Dong-Romeo in Las Vegas! But I've to say that while re-assembling himself he did manage to get everything right, just the way he always wanted as a prominent nuclear physicist!
More about Dr. Manhattan -
Zack Snyder's blunders in Watchmen - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
To read some of Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes, click - Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes from Watchmen
To find some funny details about Dr. Manhattan's personal life, click - Dr. Manhattan's personal life and his girlfriend Silk Spectre
To find about other Watchmen character's super powers and super craziness, click - Watchmen character's super powers and super craziness
1) Osterman decides to get totally ripped when "re-assembling" himself into Dr.
Manhattan -So did you see how Jon Osterman looks both in the graphic novel and Watchmen movie? He's a thin, stoopy guy who possibly can't even spell gym and would explode at the mere sight of a dumbbell! The way he stumbles around shows that the first time he ran was when he got himself locked into that Intrinsic field chamber thingy.
But one day it all changes when he has the opportunity to "re-assemble" himself!! He figures that since he's gonna re-create himself atom by atom, it wouldn't hurt to add some extra muscle, take out fat and just get freakishly ripped!! And now look at him!! As Dr. Manhattan he looks like a freaking amateur weight bodybuilder on competition diet! Well we couldn't blame the good physicist for finally adding some free muscle could we!2) Why the hell is Dr. Manhattan blue anyway and why the hell does he glow - Actually, I've wondered this one for quite a while. Why is he blue? He has complete control over all matter at subatomic levels so he could "color" himself to look just like he used to. You know, more like a human being
may be! But no, our good doc decides that blue is the new "rad" and goes all bright blue glowy.The "glowy" part is even more important because there is no reason for him to glow! Glowing actually requires him to emit energy out of his body and therefore requires more energy to just maintain that body! Does he *need* to glow to survive? Does he just use his body for some extra lighting? Is it just that bright blue happens to be Dr. Osterman's favorite color? Was he planning to join the blue men group? My guess is that Dr. Osterman wanted to start a blue themed rock band as a kid but couldn't realize his dream even after going through all the trouble of re-assembling himself in glowy blue color because of that little responsibility called crime fighting! This also explains why he is so detached - the guy is simply depressed! Cruel world innit!
3) Why the hell is Dr. Manhattan naked all the time - This is also one of those things that I'd sympathize with him for not doing
considering the laundry, ironing, folding, dry-cleaning and stuff that I've to go through every few days. But still, he is Dr.-freaking-Manhattan, he can just create the clothes of his choice out of thin air! As Osterman he went through all the trouble of re-assembling each little part of his body and mind you, human body is quite intricate and I should remind you that *everything* works on the blue guy ;)!So what is so difficult about just adding some clothes too? Mind you that it's not about his overall detachment from the material world and stuff either, because initially he did start out as a
fully clothed super hero and he does wear clothes on special occasions like that press conference. But almost all other times he is stark naked when he could simply synthasize a jeans and t-shirt as extension to his body and just keep them on all the time! No extra effort required and poor Rorschach spared of the unsightly glimpses of the big swinging bight blue dong. The only conclusion that I can draw is that Jon Osterman was totally into the whole nudist lifestyle all the time and he finally got the opportunity/excuse to live the way he always wanted to - the great bright blue hanging dong lifestyle right out of Osterman's teenage years! Hey if even Rorschach is ok with it, who would dare complain!4) Why did Dr. Manhattan choose to go to Mars - Now, I get this that Dr. Manhattan wanted to get as far away from Earth as he could so as not to infect (after being accused of being carcinogenic) any other human being. But why Mars? Why not Moon or Venus or Jupiter or Saturn? Why teleport anywhere at all for that matter, why not just dismantle the body? He doesn't need the a human-like body to survive, he has just created himself that way because he used to look like that a long time ago. But I'm digressing, so why did he choose Mars? Anything special about Mars that is not true for our Moon or any of the other heavenly bodies out there? I guess only Alan Moore can answer this one.
5) Why did Dr. Manhattan create a freaking clock on Mars - I understand that Alan
Moore wanted to basically show the timelessness of Dr. Manhattan's thoughts and thats what that particular chapter is all about. But why get your character to create a freaking clock if you wanted to talk about time? This happens to be one of the things that never really made sense to me in terms of the story.Dr. Manhattan going to Mars and creating a clock out of sand simply doesn't fit in anywhere. Was the clock simply some sort of a side-effect of his thoughts (yeah the guy sh-ts clocks when he thinks about time)? Is making gigantic clocks out of sand something people naturally tend to do when on Mars (and we don't know it because we haven't been there)? Was he trying to create a home or mansion or some sort?
6) So *everything* does work on the big guy - Again going back to the re-assembly phase and the big blue swinging dong part of the story, why does Dr. Manhattan need all those *ahem* body parts? Does he eat and drink and just needs a big blue dong for his body to function? I think not. Does he need it to, well, be with his girlfriends? It doesn't look that way because he obviously no longer enjoys having sex with them or else he wouldn't be doing his experiments while "pleasing" Laurie at the same time (hey no human being could!).
And this is beside the point that, since his transformation, Dr. Manhattan's member has somehow managed to lengthened to highly-paid-porn-star's variety proportions even in completely flaccid state! Ofcourse if that is something that he always had to start with then I've to say that he was really wasting his life with all the physics stuff when he could have made a fortune as Mr. Dong-Romeo in Las Vegas! But I've to say that while re-assembling himself he did manage to get everything right, just the way he always wanted as a prominent nuclear physicist!
More about Dr. Manhattan -
Zack Snyder's blunders in Watchmen - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
To read some of Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes, click - Dr. Manhattan's memorable quotes from Watchmen
To find some funny details about Dr. Manhattan's personal life, click - Dr. Manhattan's personal life and his girlfriend Silk Spectre
To find about other Watchmen character's super powers and super craziness, click - Watchmen character's super powers and super craziness
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Watchmen movie vs Watchmen Graphic novel - What I did not like in the movie
So I finally watched the movie on IMAX last night and I've to say that I've slightly mixed feelings about it. There were a few things that totally rocked and deserve a few more viewings but there were a few crucial plot elements that were intentionally/unintentionally left out or not portrayed the way actual story had. Below are a few of those things -
1) The portrayal of the possiblity of a nuclear holocaust was rather bland - Yes, somehow there was no sense of urgency or panic about the whole world war 3 and possible end of the world thing. I mean if the world is at the brink of a nuclear war that could end life, then we would expect a state of nationwide panic that goes beyond a little TV interview about rating the WWIII possiblity on a scale from zero to ten! This becomes more important because the whole premise of the movie is that the world is at the brink of extinction and Veidt did actually avoided war and saved humanity. Because why would Veidt go and kill millions if the war was not really imminent? That little detail makes it all pointless and in the movie, that state of panic somehow never sets in because it doesn't show the general public "worrying" about it. It looks as if everyone is cool and oblivious to the fact that the world might end any time. This makes those meetings of Nixon talking about nuclear fallout and going to Defcon3/2 etc look even ridiculous. In a real world scenario, especially after Dr. Manhattan has left, one would expect things like mass rioting, fall out shelter signs all over, people trying to fly out to Australia or whatever, humanitarian activists gathering up before White House, peace protests and what not. And then, Veidt would jump in and "save" the world! That way the movie would have been even more awesome and meaningful.
2) The newspaper vendor was missing - This actually follows from the above point because I think that newspaper vendor plays a crucial role in the book by showing the state of paranoia in general public. The guy is constantly raving about the impending war and where the world is going and how he can see whats going to happen and all that stuff. His character exists to show us how the more paranoid/sensitive American public is reacting to the possibility of nuclear war. He successfully helps visualize the the panic and makes Veidt's actions much more relevant.
3) Overlapping dialogues and scenes missing - Now this is something that makes the graphic novel special and almost a work of art and could've made the movie even more memorable! The graphic novel, chooses dialogues and the pictures very carefully so what is being shown is almost always complementary to what is being said. For example, the scene in which Dan is trying to have sex with Laurie but can't get it up, has TV running in the background in both Watchmen movie and book. But in the book, what is being said on the TV has a direct relevance on that sex scene. To quote one dialogue from the book - "Thank You, I hope you will forgive me while I warm up. I haven't done this in a while" - is said on the TV right when Dan and Laurie start getting "warmed up". It's like the TV broadcast is reflecting whats on Dan's mind. Such things are scattered all over the book and make it a very fun and enjoyable read while movie is sorely lacking them.
4) Dr. Manhattan's portrayal was rather weak - The movie seems to have a confused take on Dr. Manhattan. Sometimes, he is very human and other times he is comparing human life with rocks on Mars! The book is consistant and shows how a human with such meta-human capabilities will eventually allow himself to stray away from humanity and would want to break free of the "tangle of their (others) lives". The transformation of Dr. Manhattan's perspective is very gradual though as he obviously starts out as a human. But then somewhere along the line, things get blurry, human life starts looking more and more pointless and he comes more and more alien. The book shows the transformation beautifully by showing Dr. Manhattan's actions (like killing the criminals, not stopping Comedian from gunning down the asian girl etc) but more so by his thought process. The book shows us the world from Dr. Manhattan's point of view and we read his thoughts, we see him think and know what is happening in his mind. The movie doesn't really do that and Dr. Manhattan looks more like a mysterious character rather then someone we know and understand.
5) Dr. Manhattan's sense of time was not portrayed quite as well - This mainly relates to the chapter IV of the graphic novel, called Watchmaker. It's basically about Dr. Manhattan thinking about his past, present and future. Because of his unique view of time, he can view past, present and future simultaneously and therefore from the perspective of a normal human being, everything is present to him. In other worlds, he sees both past and future as "already happening" right at this moment. Now the Watchmaker chapter does it beautifully by showing us that he is sort of thinking about different events in his life as if they all happened at the same time! The movie shows us the flashbacks and helps us see who he was and how he became a meta human but it totally misses the point of doing it in such a way that we get to visualize his thought process to be able to see his unique sense of time. It doesn't have a huge relvance on the actual plot though but its just one of those things that make you say "wow" and add to the overall experience.
6) Rorschach's capture and release - This is a minor tidbid but the graphic novel portrays Rorschach as a real life macgyver! He can use the everyday household items to fight well trained tactical assualt SWAT teams! He is so far out of prison because he is way too smart and almost impossible to capture and the only reason they were able to get to him was that he sprained his ankle while jumping off the building! The movie on the other hand, for reasons I can't understand, takes that detail out and shows him simply getting over powered by the police. I think it was not fair to the character as Alan Moore must've wanted him portrayed.
7) Transformation of Dr. Malcolm Long was left out - I think it was a very important part of the story (in the graphic novel) that helps us see the world through Rorschach's eyes and shows that once you see the rotting world in its true form, then there is no turning back from it. Basically, all of us wilfully close our eyes from the reality that the world has gradually become and go on with our lives in a state of chronic intentional ignorance. But Rorschach doesn't. He doesn't blind himself to anything, he doesn't turn away, he doesn't ignore; rather, he fights back. Dr. Malcolm Long, on the other hand, just wants to become the celebrity psychiatrist by "treating" Rorschach and is hoping to discover some new "syndrome" to explain Rorschach's "condition". But as he tries to truly understand Rorschach's personality and motives, he himself gradually turns more and more into Rorschach. Having truly understood Rorschach's motivations, Dr. Malcolm Long can no longer turn away from the reality and goes through this transformation. This was entirely left out of the movie. It doesn't have a direct relevance on the main plot though and probably that is why but the main reason that it exists is to help us understand Rorschach more clearly and empathically.
8) Hollis Mason doesn't die in the movie - Although not too important to the main plot, this one did turn out to be a bit of a disappointment for me. The overall symbolism of Hollis Mason getting killed by his own action figure had an immense significance as it showed exactly how Alan Moore wanted to portray life in general. To me, that particular element of the story itself explains a huge part of the philosophy of Watchmen as a whole. Besides, it is so tragic that it adds to the emotional aspect of the story. A big part of Watchmen is this "What did we achieve?" question. Aside from Rorschach, Comedian and Veidt everyone else feels like a failure and ridiculous about being a superhero and Hollis Mason's murder conceretly depicts the inherent pointlessness of it all. Also, Dan's reaction further points out how even he (and anyone) can become a Rorschach or a Veidt because of such tragedies. But it's such a different tangent that it'd have taken the focus away from the movie, so must've been difficult to include. That said, I did miss it.
Zack Snyder's blunders in Watchmen - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
Read about funkiness involving Dr. Manhattan's transformation - Osterman's funky transformation into Dr. Manhattan
1) The portrayal of the possiblity of a nuclear holocaust was rather bland - Yes, somehow there was no sense of urgency or panic about the whole world war 3 and possible end of the world thing. I mean if the world is at the brink of a nuclear war that could end life, then we would expect a state of nationwide panic that goes beyond a little TV interview about rating the WWIII possiblity on a scale from zero to ten! This becomes more important because the whole premise of the movie is that the world is at the brink of extinction and Veidt did actually avoided war and saved humanity. Because why would Veidt go and kill millions if the war was not really imminent? That little detail makes it all pointless and in the movie, that state of panic somehow never sets in because it doesn't show the general public "worrying" about it. It looks as if everyone is cool and oblivious to the fact that the world might end any time. This makes those meetings of Nixon talking about nuclear fallout and going to Defcon3/2 etc look even ridiculous. In a real world scenario, especially after Dr. Manhattan has left, one would expect things like mass rioting, fall out shelter signs all over, people trying to fly out to Australia or whatever, humanitarian activists gathering up before White House, peace protests and what not. And then, Veidt would jump in and "save" the world! That way the movie would have been even more awesome and meaningful.
2) The newspaper vendor was missing - This actually follows from the above point because I think that newspaper vendor plays a crucial role in the book by showing the state of paranoia in general public. The guy is constantly raving about the impending war and where the world is going and how he can see whats going to happen and all that stuff. His character exists to show us how the more paranoid/sensitive American public is reacting to the possibility of nuclear war. He successfully helps visualize the the panic and makes Veidt's actions much more relevant.
3) Overlapping dialogues and scenes missing - Now this is something that makes the graphic novel special and almost a work of art and could've made the movie even more memorable! The graphic novel, chooses dialogues and the pictures very carefully so what is being shown is almost always complementary to what is being said. For example, the scene in which Dan is trying to have sex with Laurie but can't get it up, has TV running in the background in both Watchmen movie and book. But in the book, what is being said on the TV has a direct relevance on that sex scene. To quote one dialogue from the book - "Thank You, I hope you will forgive me while I warm up. I haven't done this in a while" - is said on the TV right when Dan and Laurie start getting "warmed up". It's like the TV broadcast is reflecting whats on Dan's mind. Such things are scattered all over the book and make it a very fun and enjoyable read while movie is sorely lacking them.
4) Dr. Manhattan's portrayal was rather weak - The movie seems to have a confused take on Dr. Manhattan. Sometimes, he is very human and other times he is comparing human life with rocks on Mars! The book is consistant and shows how a human with such meta-human capabilities will eventually allow himself to stray away from humanity and would want to break free of the "tangle of their (others) lives". The transformation of Dr. Manhattan's perspective is very gradual though as he obviously starts out as a human. But then somewhere along the line, things get blurry, human life starts looking more and more pointless and he comes more and more alien. The book shows the transformation beautifully by showing Dr. Manhattan's actions (like killing the criminals, not stopping Comedian from gunning down the asian girl etc) but more so by his thought process. The book shows us the world from Dr. Manhattan's point of view and we read his thoughts, we see him think and know what is happening in his mind. The movie doesn't really do that and Dr. Manhattan looks more like a mysterious character rather then someone we know and understand.
5) Dr. Manhattan's sense of time was not portrayed quite as well - This mainly relates to the chapter IV of the graphic novel, called Watchmaker. It's basically about Dr. Manhattan thinking about his past, present and future. Because of his unique view of time, he can view past, present and future simultaneously and therefore from the perspective of a normal human being, everything is present to him. In other worlds, he sees both past and future as "already happening" right at this moment. Now the Watchmaker chapter does it beautifully by showing us that he is sort of thinking about different events in his life as if they all happened at the same time! The movie shows us the flashbacks and helps us see who he was and how he became a meta human but it totally misses the point of doing it in such a way that we get to visualize his thought process to be able to see his unique sense of time. It doesn't have a huge relvance on the actual plot though but its just one of those things that make you say "wow" and add to the overall experience.
6) Rorschach's capture and release - This is a minor tidbid but the graphic novel portrays Rorschach as a real life macgyver! He can use the everyday household items to fight well trained tactical assualt SWAT teams! He is so far out of prison because he is way too smart and almost impossible to capture and the only reason they were able to get to him was that he sprained his ankle while jumping off the building! The movie on the other hand, for reasons I can't understand, takes that detail out and shows him simply getting over powered by the police. I think it was not fair to the character as Alan Moore must've wanted him portrayed.
7) Transformation of Dr. Malcolm Long was left out - I think it was a very important part of the story (in the graphic novel) that helps us see the world through Rorschach's eyes and shows that once you see the rotting world in its true form, then there is no turning back from it. Basically, all of us wilfully close our eyes from the reality that the world has gradually become and go on with our lives in a state of chronic intentional ignorance. But Rorschach doesn't. He doesn't blind himself to anything, he doesn't turn away, he doesn't ignore; rather, he fights back. Dr. Malcolm Long, on the other hand, just wants to become the celebrity psychiatrist by "treating" Rorschach and is hoping to discover some new "syndrome" to explain Rorschach's "condition". But as he tries to truly understand Rorschach's personality and motives, he himself gradually turns more and more into Rorschach. Having truly understood Rorschach's motivations, Dr. Malcolm Long can no longer turn away from the reality and goes through this transformation. This was entirely left out of the movie. It doesn't have a direct relevance on the main plot though and probably that is why but the main reason that it exists is to help us understand Rorschach more clearly and empathically.
8) Hollis Mason doesn't die in the movie - Although not too important to the main plot, this one did turn out to be a bit of a disappointment for me. The overall symbolism of Hollis Mason getting killed by his own action figure had an immense significance as it showed exactly how Alan Moore wanted to portray life in general. To me, that particular element of the story itself explains a huge part of the philosophy of Watchmen as a whole. Besides, it is so tragic that it adds to the emotional aspect of the story. A big part of Watchmen is this "What did we achieve?" question. Aside from Rorschach, Comedian and Veidt everyone else feels like a failure and ridiculous about being a superhero and Hollis Mason's murder conceretly depicts the inherent pointlessness of it all. Also, Dan's reaction further points out how even he (and anyone) can become a Rorschach or a Veidt because of such tragedies. But it's such a different tangent that it'd have taken the focus away from the movie, so must've been difficult to include. That said, I did miss it.
Zack Snyder's blunders in Watchmen - What Zack Snyder must've been thinking Part I
What Watchmen movie was missing - What Watchmn Graphic novel had but movie didn't
Read about funkiness involving Dr. Manhattan's transformation - Osterman's funky transformation into Dr. Manhattan
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