Thirith on 17/3/2009 at 12:28
@Scots:
Quote:
- Each of the backstories were nailed very well.
I'd agree with you on most of them, but Laurie's? I thought that one they fucked up completely. Taking one of the book's most majestic, intricately structured chapters and turning it into one cheesy flashback? I never cared much about Laurie in the book but that chapter, where we piece together what happened as if it was a puzzle, got to me. In the film it was a wasted opportunity, as far as I'm concerned.
Scots Taffer on 17/3/2009 at 12:34
I must admit I have no recollection of Laurie's chapter from the novel. I've only read it for the first time in the past year though, I will review it again soon. But Silk Spectre's II character was basically a sex doll for the purposes of the movie.
Morte on 17/3/2009 at 14:37
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I'd read a few reviews that really slammed it with stretching out interminably and I have to say that I totally disagree, the pacing was perfect until the end which - if anything - was too abrupt to actually have an impact on the audience. I found myself glancing at my watch twice (during fight scenes), consciously, and noting with surprise an hour had passed each time I looked.
That's not a third act problem though, it's a problem with the first two. They spend so much screen time on character exposition and flashbacks that they don't manage to build towards anything. The individual sequences clip along decently, but it never adds up to much in terms of setting up a problem that needs resolving.
Although Snyder also fails to drive home the horror of
Veidt's actions, which is a problem. We don't really have a stake in anyone that dies, and the destruction is so antiseptic, especially compared with the preceding bonecrunching violence. It's about as affecting as Independence Day, possibly less. In comparison, the comic had rivers of blood and corpses of people we'd gotten to know strewn over splash page after splash page, which was a real punch in the gut.BEAR on 17/3/2009 at 15:30
Yeah, that was a very heavy moment in the book. I can kind of superimpose the emotions from the book over the movie sometimes and fill in the gaps, I guess its probably not the same for people who've not read it.
Macha on 17/3/2009 at 17:57
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
But Silk Spectre's II character was basically a sex doll for the purposes of the movie.
An effective sex doll though, I CAN'T GET HER OUT OF MY MIND!!
Thirith on 17/3/2009 at 20:09
Quote Posted by BEAR
Yeah, that was a very heavy moment in the book. I can kind of superimpose the emotions from the book over the movie sometimes and fill in the gaps, I guess its probably not the same for people who've not read it.
That also happened with me. I found the NY catastrophe surprisingly affecting, and the only explanation I have is that I filled in the gaps with what I'd read (and felt) in the book.
Scots Taffer on 18/3/2009 at 00:24
Quote Posted by Morte
That's not a third act problem though, it's a problem with the first two. They spend so much screen time on character exposition and flashbacks that they don't manage to build towards anything. The individual sequences clip along decently, but it never adds up to much in terms of setting up a problem that needs resolving.
Again, I said if anything the pacing and abruptness of the third act is the problem in and of itself, it's 2 and half hours building towards a 10 minute denouement that's simply too abrupt to convey:
a) the scale of the atrocity (really, after all the gore and bloody explosions til this point we don't even see anything to the millions killed around the globe except one blast radius shot and a bunch of shocked faces)
b) that Ozy's plan isn't entirely self-serving, because he comes off during the entire movie as the rich evil scheming villain
c) how he got everything in place, his position as a background figure in the comics served well - not just to illustrate that he was a man of ideals, but also that he understood people while being ostracised to a certain extent
d) the impact upon the watchmen of the actual disaster and their inability to stop it, it's relegated to a couple of shocked shouts and a sort of shrug of the shoulders in agreement before ON WITH THE GORE AGAIN (not to mention the ten minutes of useless punching and throwing people around)
And I entirely disagree that their character exposition doesn't build towards anything, the character exposition sets the stage for a simple act that gathers steam towards the inexorable conclusion. Unfortunately, that head of steam is only really gathering to a delicate pressure point when it disappears in a puff of directorial fumbling.
The fumble? Exactly what you lay out below.
Quote Posted by Morte
Although Snyder also fails to drive home the horror of
Veidt's actions, which is a problem. We don't really have a stake in anyone that dies, and the destruction is so antiseptic, especially compared with the preceding bonecrunching violence. It's about as affecting as Independence Day, possibly less. In comparison, the comic had rivers of blood and corpses of people we'd gotten to know strewn over splash page after splash page, which was a real punch in the gut.I totally agree. This was sorely missing and adds to the listlessness of the ending.
Also, on an unrelated note, regarding the extended cut I've read that apparently they're reintroducing a bunch of "Minutemen" material chronicling the old days. Forgive me if I'm wrong to comic-fans by thinking that is totally unnecessary and at odds with what the movie is trying to achieve, that's going down the slavish adaptation route as opposed to really fleshing out the here and now with the characters that we've learned about. What would be better is the proper fleshing out of SSII and Adrian/Ozy within the context of the movie and perhaps just more on the devastation and aftermath of their actions without the abruptness.
I have no problem with the Black Freighter making it in the final cut though and it might even make Ozy's plight and decision a little bit weightier.
N'Al on 18/3/2009 at 10:03
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I have no problem with the Black Freighter making it in the final cut though and it might even make Ozy's plight and decision a little bit weightier.
I was under the impression the Black Freighter material would be on the DVD as a seperate segment, not as part of the Director's Cut of the main movie?
Scots Taffer on 18/3/2009 at 11:35
I believed there would be an ultimate version featuring it in the movie... could be wrong.
N'Al on 18/3/2009 at 11:37
Eh, well, I guess we'll see once the DVD's out.
