Tuesday
Feb172009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 11:50PM Writer Calls 'Watchmen' a "Staggering Failure"
Despite the hype, I'm still really looking forward to Watchmen. Part of that, I think, has to do with the fact that outside of Taken, I haven't really had a film on my radar in two months, having seen all the Oscar movies by the second week in December.
"(S)peaking as a huge admirer and devotee of the graphic novel, the film is a staggering failure. On the plus side, you've got a pretty literal adaptation of the source material. It is at times a meticulous and gorgeous recreation of Alan Moore's original work. Unfortunately it's an empty, inert, meandering and, yes, boring 2 hours and 45 minutes. "Oh, and it's horribly acted throughout. Truly. Malin Akerman (i.e., Silk Spectre II) confirms whatever fears you may have initially felt after The Heartbreak Kid and 27 Dresses. Carla Gugino (the other Silk Spectre) just looks silly. Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II) is his usual blah self. Only Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach and Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan register at all. "Watchmen is just not much of a movie. It has no narrative pull and no characters to invest in. It uses rotely shoehorned-in action scenes, and has a sheen that doesn't befit the dark material."He's sure to be attacked on a few fronts, not as harshly as Dark Knight critics were, though. But it's food for thought, I guess.
Reader Comments (8)
Well, the early reviews for Episode 1: The Phantom Menace were scathing as well, and we all know what a masterpiece that ended up being. I'm not worried one bit.
Posting from the sewers beneath the Kodak Theater this has been American Wilson
are you sure you got that quote from that article you linked? i went there and there was nothing like that there. if anything the writer was practically having a nerd-gasm over the movie. a little mixed up there or something, or did i miss the article that calls the film "a staggering failure"???
"For me, and I suspect many others, the movie won't provoke the feeling you get from seeing a great movie, (which Watchmen very well may be). For me, Watchmen isn't a movie at all. It's a surreal mind-trip the likes of which my 14-year-old self would never have believed. Now, the special thing that still feels like only I know about has been given to the whole world. I hope they like it."
That qoute totally contradicts what the other qoute says and couldn't find where that qoute you posted came from.
oops quote.... I am an idiot...
I only posted one of two links that made this story. My mistake. I should've proofed it more thoroughly. Selman wrote a positive review and it was contradicted by another journalist, whose full comments have now been linked. I did a lousy job getting this one straight; my apologies.
We still love you Colin.
I mean, Shit, I can't even get my HTML markups right, so what's a missed reference or two!
okay that makes sense thought I was getting senile there and couldn't read anymore lol.