5 things to prepare before your screening of THE WATCHMEN

The watchmen is a story that revolves around the superhero stereotype, and breaks it. So don’t expect either man in robots or angry green men.

Generations of superheroes
Like in Marvel or DC’s main universe of heroes, you have a roster of superhero groups like the Avengers or the Justice League. And sometimes, the group is disbanded or members come and go. Similarly in Watchmen, you will get to see the predecessors, the minutemen. and you can see the interaction and the role that they play in making the watchmen. Like for example, the original silk spectre made her daughter become silk spectre II. And the original nite owl was an inspiration for a younger guy with more money to become nite owl II. Having said that, I just about covered the first confusing part to the mainstream audience whom would say things like: Man Bat, Bat Man, same same la!


Split up in parts
In comic narration, flashbacks are an essential part in character development. And with Einstein discovering that time is relative, the movie really jumbles up time sequence. And as I discovered with haters, this was a strong part which led to them being confused. The movie goes back and forth to the past and present (actually its past as the movie is in an alternate reality set in 1980s) and it doesn’t make things any better when you have a nude blue guy being able to keep seeing into the future and past at the same time. So just bear this in mind before catching the film.


Its not an action film
Its not a typical BAM! WHAM! comic book movie. Its not directed by Michael Bay for gawdsakes. its stands outside the superhero world in other to comment about it. And it talks a lot about the society and how America would be like with the inclusion of costumed heroes and later on, superheroes. There’s a little bit of political setting with the government being edgy with the doomsday clock.


Its set in 1980s
So expect big hairdos and pants pulled up to the waistline to be cool! The flashback sequence will take you to the 70s and 60s. So expect to see alotta of familiar faces from pop culture! The director gives us lots of treats in the form of look-alikes.


Its superheroes with no powers
This was what kinda pissed me off the first time I read the novel. And I guess it might piss you off too. Rorschach is as cool as anything with his ever-changing blob mask. However, he didn’t shoot laser beams outta his eyes or anything. Everyone was batman. Everyone had a cool arsenal and a gimmick. But this set a realism tone that was irritating at times but yet, was set to make a point. When finally, you get a blue guy that could do shiet that was god-like. You immediately fear and respect him and don’t take those superpowers for granted. And thus, brought the age of the superhero.


and if you didnt already know, theres 12 webisode, 1 for each of the 12 months leading up to the release of the movie. and they can be found on this UK site, WATCHMEN MOVIE .
the webpisodes tells u 12 different production aspects such as, rorschach's masks, etc.
this just helps u to appreciate the movie more without spoiling it.

go to menu, video, and scroll to find webpisodes. TADA!

and of cos, go ahead and pick up a copy of the book to help complete you watchmen experience. nice nice, must try twice!

-on another note, i m gonna catch it again. stewpeed grand cathay showing dragonball evolution only! BAH! hope they lose money!

movie review: watching the watchmen

i have hoped to start this blog of sorts sometime in the not so distant future, however, viewing the awesome spectacle known as Watchmen, i simply could not resist myself from spewing my comments all over the internet. 

first off, i shall blabber off about the movie: it was dialogue reliant, not to say that other films chit chat isnt important, the details was in the words, and if you didnt strain to really hear the words or have an arse sitting next to you, asking you if rorschach's superpower was to change his face, you would be lost at times. so just do wad i did and wave a pointed finger in the buggers face and lean forward to show that though you're being a dick for doing so, he's a bigger dick for talking in the cinema. 

speaking of dicks, this may be a spoiler of sorts. but if u actually bump into my site, you're prolly googling watchmen so u are expected to have already seen the movie. anyhu, Dr Manhattan was like super nudist. and the cropping of the film's camera made sure we were fully aware of his personal preference. and i was really expecting to see some Ts popping, especially with Akerman's big top reveal in the "heartbreak kid". but i was really disappointed when a mere silhouette was provided to satisfy the raging hormones of the average fanboy. 

circled for emphasis

seeing as to how you can get more reliable movie opinions from sites such as rottentomatoes, or bla, i m just gonna rant on my movie experience for now. first of all, this is to me, the biggest movie of the year! i get erections watching the trailers before other movies. sure i've seen it countless times online, but having it enlarge in full HD glory where the range of your eyes simply could not shut out the visuals unless u turned ur head away, the sheer awesomeness of it gave me goose-bumps and sometimes my pants got a little wet (prolly cos the coke's sweat dripped.. but thats nt important).  

entering the cinema,  just got blown away by amazing trailers of Transformer2, Terminator4, StarTrek! sure, i've seen em online. but just seeing them with friends is a different matter altogether! and commercials weren't shying away too. there was like a good 20 mins of random shit tossed together, long enough for me to drink half of my drink, realised its a three hour show, get off to take a piss, realize i was looking good in the mirror and skip down to my seat to where my fag friend was covering his eyes since the thai trailer, "coming soon" was on. then the movie starts.

the shit starts with an incredible opening sequence retelling the tales of the minutemen, a superhero group, similar to the Avengers or JLA, who was a generation before the watchmen. then it drives straight to the intense scene of the comedian getting murdered (there, that scene where the window shatters cos some guy got thrown out lo). and everything else being just sheer awesomeness that will leave you wanting for the movie never to end!

and now the shitty part! i was in one cinema with another of my friend in the other cinema, cos he bought his ticket late, bla bla bla.. well, my cinema wasn't full, which ticked me off to a certain extent. (dark knight was full of cheena poks entering the cinema confusing themselves and enduring the three hours so they can tell their other cheena friends that they saw the dark knight and its damn good le! solid!) but it was still bearable. but my friend over at the other cinema had to endure SEVERAL people leaving their seats at the scene where Dr Manhatten leaves Earth. WHATHEFLUB?! where the f did they get the balls to leave the cinema? maybe their ah lian gfs finally realized that mr da long's long(dragon) wasn't the biggest thing they could get after comparing to Dr M. and mr da long just have to remind missy ah lian that it was too bad for them in the nearest toilet! BAH! how can this even happen? was it that bad to endure? how bout trying ghosts rapping in hokkien? perhaps they could relate more to that.

it was very even more disheartening to see that for today's lifestyle section in the straits times had bad reviews for the watchmen. wanna know the even better part. it was feature on the front page of that section. i dont have a copy with me but i glance through it and it was saying that it wasnt being true to telling the message that the original graphic novel had. and how the original shaped superheroes and yadayadayada! and wanna know the better part? Outta 5, 2 FUCKING STARS! if the number 2 could be caps, it would be! on a newspaper that singaporeans take seriously, you give a shitty 2 star rating on the anticipated film of like forever for comic geeks. whatheflubbbbbbberrriouciouslllyyy??!?! 

i quote filmschoolrejects.com when i say that it will be the greatest vision of the watchmen ever made for screen. all this hype about how the watchmen can never be made into a movie and it has all been flushed away thanks to mr snyder. and i understand he emitted several things and added several things to make the entire movie experience an enjoyable one. there are alot of things that needed to stay true to the book and i fully appreciated that mr snyder let them be and i never felt shortchanged after the credits rolled. (except for the jailbreak scence, which was my fav in the book. i felt it should have been much more darker and more gore-y) 

on a side note, Rorschach had hair! like in the book! cos i never saw jackie earle haley with any real (by real, i mean long enough to consider it hair) hair. so tada, big pleasant surprise for me. 

jackie earle haley as Walter Kovacs

here he is, with my enhanced photoshopping skills, showing u how a sample of him with hair

on another side note, zack snyder really love his details, and google the eastereggs for the watchmen film, theres plenty that will make you look out for. examples include, James Jean Art! and when Ozy files are open, they reveal a folder entitled "boys". 

HAH! -raises eyebrows repeatedly and suggestively-

also, My Chem Romance plays their cover of "desolation row" at the end credits. check out their music video if you will. 

to wrap things up, 

i give the film an

please note, that this is totally my opinion as a comic book fan who enjoyed the original literature a shy 4 years ago after getting pissed that all the batman books were done reading in the library and that yellow book is taunting me with that eerie smile. i definitely look forward seeing the film again and hopefully, it will be in my fav cinema, the grand cathay! yup, thats the one where the curtains part!