A brief movie review and a meme

[batyatoon]

Saw Watchmen.

What I thought:

The new ending doesn't work for me. Not because they got rid of the giant alien squid, but because of what they chose to replace it with. The alien squid was a necessary part of the world-peace plot because it was alien.
And Dr Manhattan is an American creation. If he were responsible for that kind of destruction all over the world, the world would be uniting against America.
Between that and the fact that all we saw on Veidt's panopticon was Nixon's speech, and almost nothing about the world rallying against this mutual threat ... and the fact that we were denied Veidt's joyous tear-streaked moment of "I DID IT!" ... I couldn't buy this version of the ending.

Given that, it is astonishing how much that didn't ruin the movie for me. I loved the rest of it; I loved the casting (except Veidt, who should have been at least ten years older), and I loved the visuals (except a few points where the gore was too much even for me and I had to hide my face), and oh god did I love the music. The music. From "The Times They Are A-Changin'" through "All Along the Watchtower" and everything in between, including "The Sound of Silence" and "99 Luftballons" and "Hallelujah" and the barely-heard instrumental from "Everybody Wants To Rule The World". And the score. Oh yes.

I'm looking forward to the hour of stuff that gets put back in on the DVD, too.

Also! A meme, ganked from in_the_blue:

1. Go to http://www.googlism.com/
2. Type your first name into the search box.
3. Post your five favorite results.

My five several favorite results (I couldn't keep it down to five! Sorry):

1. batya is more challenging since you will pass through deep portions of the river wherein your skills in swimming will be challenged
I. What?

2.batya is able to get close to the dogs and eventually capture them with humane dog traps donated by chai
... Okay then! (I assume that's "chai" as in the Hebrew word for life, not as in spiced tea.)

3. batya is a huge flat metal container about one meter in diameter and about 6 inches in height
*just. cracking. up.*

4. batya is big enough to say that her favorite part of the farm is the animals
Awwwwwwwwww.

5. batya is nothing to trifle with
It's the truth.

6. batya is meeeeeeean
... nonsense. >.>

7. batya is the author of a filk called “imperial lie"
OH HEY THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY ABOUT ME

8. batya is perturbed by pinky's behavior
Occasionally.

And finally:
9. batya is knocked unconscious by a falling chunk of concrete
*_*


Try it out yourself! It's fun!

Comments

[quean-of-swords.livejournal.com]

I missed the alien squid. A lot.

But the music annoyed me. Not their choices, because they were kind of awesome, and they were period, but Jesus, the person who mixed the sound should have been shot. And I really wish there had been a better version of "Hallelujah" in 1985. Leonard Cohen. Sigh.

I know there wasn't time, but I missed the whole Hollis thing. And I completely agree: it needed "I DID IT!"

[happyfunpaul.livejournal.com]

Agree on the ending and Ozymandias, disagree on the music (man do I seem to be alone there, but I'm sticking to my guns). My full review here (http://happyfunpaul.livejournal.com/204839.html).

[batyatoon]

I get your objection to the music, I guess, but it worked for me.

(Using my actual LJ account this time and not an RP account. *sheepish*)

[closer2myself.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved the opening sequence, I might have paid my admission fee just for that. 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' at that particular moment also cracked me up.

At first I was very 'ehh' about Ozy, but as the actor worked the rule I got to like him better. I was amused at how he had an American accent in public and a German accent in private.

[vivien]

Having no preconception of Veidt, I thought he was the most interesting of all of them. Gee, Viv likes the brilliant "villain" best. Quelle surprise.

[batyatoon]

But the whole thing about Veidt is that he shouldn't come off as a villain. Even when his plot's revealed. He thinks he's the hero. And the audience should be left in some doubt as to whether he's wrong.

[vivien]

Oh, no, I got that, totally. Which is why villain was in quotation marks. :)

[batyatoon]

Part of what disappointed me about his performance, though, was that in that scene I felt like I was watching a villain. A noble-minded one, sure, but ... not a hero. And part of that is because -- do you mind hearing how that scene was handled in the graphic novel?

[vivien]

You can refer me to the page it's on! I have the graphic novel now, to eagerly consume.

[batyatoon]

Pages 18 and 19 of the final issue.

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

I am amused that my first two Googlism results are

Sarah is here
Sarah is evil

I am also evidently good for soup and autographed and up for bids on EBay.

[batyatoon]

Good for soup! :D

[jezrana.livejournal.com]

I liked the new ending when I saw the movie, because I didn't think the squid plot would work. The "but Jon is American" objection didn't even occur to me until someone else pointed it out, and now that it has, I see the problem but I'm not sure what a better alternative would have been. (But then, I have what may be an Unpopular Opinion in that the squid has always been one of my least favorite parts of Watchmen, so a vague sense of dissatisfaction with the end is nothing new for me.)

[batyatoon]

If you didn't think the original plot would work -- well, what aspect of it do you think was the flaw?