I waded into this thick fan-boy laden forum to get educated and issue a warning.

I was hoping that there would be some discussion on the political, predictive programming elements and I wanted to understand what a literate fanboy schooled in "THE Graphic Novel" could add to my analysis. Wow. There is none.

Have ALL of you taken the blue pill? Question: if YOU were part of a clique that ran the world, and you wanted to keep the masses hypnotized, would you encode your semiotics and best symbology in crap literature and art where its purpose was easily divined, its symbology naked to all?

Or would you acquire the best, like Moore, and drape and disguise it in "dark layers of complex meanings, struggling with its core of humanness" etc. etc.? Is it possible for you to get so lost in the admittedly complex and awesome craft you lose sight of its bigger intent upon your psyche?

Second question: what is the over-arching political device, background commonality between V and Watchmen? What political device, unspeakable on CNN and Fox, hovers over the plot of both? False-flag terror. You think this isn't real? Because it is a comic book, right? And on real news, like you are served on CNN/Fox, nobody utters that word. But whatever news you watch, and whatever movie you watch, you can trace the editorial decision back up the corporate chain to one of five uber-media corporations that sit, god-like, in discernment of what you will be allowed to consume.

Did any tell the fanboys that Moore is a Mason? How quaint, you think.

What of Rorshack? When we deal with reality we keep an archetype we developed somewhere to deal with each classification. So when you are approached by someone bitter about what has happened to the world, someone who has no time for social graces because they want to stop the in-your-face bad things, child molesters, etc. . . . will you then, unconsciously reference Rorshack?

These are just a few of the relevant questions you could ask yourself regarding Watchmen. There are dozens more, all of them obvious. Sorry to buzz-kill your escapism. Really. All you need is Love.

Watchmen overall to me was confusing, chessy and misleading, one if you didn't read the novel(I did) you will be confused no doubt about it, in the fight scences it displayed more of a superhero feel to the fighting, you felt like this people were superheros when they were really just normal people like me, i've taken martial arts for 14 years and i know when you kick someone they don't fly 5 feet. The chessy love scences and music made me ready to shoot myself as i sat through a way to long movie.

Was expecting an entertaining movie with a "more complex than your average action flick" storyline. Unfortunately, the movie was boring, and it's not because I didn't "get it". The story isn't "deep". And for those that are sure this is some intellectual masterpiece...the King has no clothes.

"It was all dialogue and no real "heroing" at all. The only sane person was Rorschach; he saw the world as it was."

If that's what you think, than you don't get what Moore was trying to do. That you think the absolutely bat-shit crazy Rorschach was the only "sane" character in the book just drives your misinterpretation home. Ultimately, the character is doomed by the inflexability and limitations of his simplistic, reductionist worldview. It was one of the (intended) ironies of the story that the paranoid lunatic actually turns out to be right about the conspiracy. There is no "heroing" in Watchmen, because there are no heroes in Watchmen, only people. It's not an action story, because it was never intended to be.

Just finished reading the book. Thought it was lame and I won't be seeing the movie until it shows up on my local library's shelves. The characters were completely unrealistic, corny, and gave me no sense of connection. It was all dialogue and no real "heroing" at all. The only sane person was Rorschach; he saw the world as it was. Everyone else was walking around in a delusion. Pure crap.

Critics loved Brokeback Mountain. 'nuff said.

I adored the Smashing Pumkins trailer and have been looking forward to this movie for months based on that preview. The midnight showings have already sold out here, on a Thursday, so some people must be anticipating seeing this film. I can't wait.

Loved the book, not seeing the movie. Corny as it sounds, I have a very good idea of what I'd want a Watchmen movie to look like, and Snyder has not even scratched the bottom of that in any aspect.

Of course this movie will be a blockbuster. They spent $120 million making it pretty, and a shitload more advertising it to fanboys. You know, sort of like Star Wars: Episode 1. It'll make its money back, Hollywood will put off coming up with original ideas for another five years, and a century down the line, Watchmen will be known as that awesome graphic novel they tried to make a movie of once.

Whether or not the movies rocks or sucks, the graphic novel is amazing. I was a Watchmen virgin and my fiance actually introduced me to it (after I stared in awe at the trailer played before TDK and he squealed with glee). I recently read it and was floored. Never had I even read a graphic novel before, so that goes to show how much on an impression the movie's advertising has done. I have read many reviews - some positive, some not so - but despite all the words flying about, I know I am going to go and see it. I am intrigued enough to. And like someone else said way up there, this looks better than 90% of the crap that's out there now. Why not sink into a story and alternative universe and enjoy the action and thought provoking characters?

Watchmen remains to this day a landmark achievement for the superhero genre and it's the one graphic novel that comic fans show to their friends to prove that comics are just as great as any other storytelling medium, if not better (admitedly, there aren't many other superhero books that can match it either.) When I saw the first trailer (with the Smashing Pumpkins song) I was excited and emotionally enthralled by the scope of it all. Ever since more trailers have come out, the endless merchandising and Bob Dylan cover by MCR for the soundtrack (it was good, but overall pretty awkward)I've become uncomfortable with the entire idea of a movie because this is exactly what Alan Moore was concerned about when he chose to have no part in the production. I like Zack Snyder's imagery in 300, but I won't give the film any props for depth, which is exactly what is needed for Watchmen. I'll wait to judge until I see it...but wait they're releasing the uncut version later this year? Screw this, I'll stick to my graphic novel.

The watchmen graphic novel is masterpiece I have a feeling so will the movie

Peter Travers is usually my 'go to' critic when it comes to reviews and he didn't disappoint with this review. Still, I gotta question one thing...
"Moore, soured by the Hollywood mangling of From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta, has removed his good name from the credits."

Not too sure if this was Travers' opinion (that Hollywood mangled V For Vendetta) or Travers stating that Moore said Hollywood mangled the above mentioned films (or both), but Travers gave 'V For Vendetta' 3.5 stars.

Still everyone has the right to change their opinions.

Great review

for someone who almost nearly didn't like the movie you wrote a pretty looong review...

adam: nice one!

I was a watchmen virgin and the diversity and oddity of all of the characters drew me in to find out more about them and now I can't wait to see this, this weekend. I predict that the film will do just as good or better than 300

Shamrock-
Yeah.."Little Children" ( The movie I imagine you're refering to) was good, granted, but honestly, how many people even saw that film? May be a great actor.. But really, does the general public even know who the fuck he is?..Uh yeah...Thought so...

I'm a Watchmen virgin who's intrigued enough by the hype of the film to go read the novel first (which I haven't yet). Descriptions of Watchmen within the media as this complex, metaphorical, comic book dystopia that digs deeper into the heart of human nature really appeals to me. This is especially after the fact I've been turned onto graphic novels like the Killing Joke in the wake of really quality popcorn movies like the Dark Knight. I take it most junkies would agree that I should check out the book before the movie?

I've read the novel, and I was ecstatic when I first saw the trailer. I will admit that while I liked 300, it was a little shallow and had tons of senseless, meaningless violence. However, I think Snyder has enough respect for the source material to try and convey the themes and message from the novel onto the big screen, and at the same time bring a whole new audience to the Watchmen universe.

It probably won't be as good as the trailers make it look, but I think this will be an entertaining and thought-provoking trip to the movies.

Big fan, Travers

i think the trailer was absolutly spot on. it didn't try to fake what i could only envision at the time what the movie would be.

it made myself and several friends of mine go out and buy the graphic novel and read it up.

i can't wait for the movie to see how true the film keeps to the novel.

keep it up, travers

Looks like another lame video game. That director is corny, and I am sure it will be plastic compared to what is universally called a 'genius' book.

The trailers in the theaters grabbed my interest. I stumbled upon a hard cover edition of the graphic novel in a book store. I bought it. I read it. I am looking forward to the movie like a kid waiting for christmas morning.

Wow. Sounds like a Rolling Stone Editor alright. How exactly does one become a ranking official at this magazine? Do you have to have an intimate knowledge of Golf?
Anyhow, A lot of people are griping that a movie can't reasonably be made from the source material. Unfortunately, this is a pointless endeavor. The Graphic Novel will still exist for you to read if the movie falls on it's face. Characters will NOT disappear from the pages like in Marty McFly's photo in Back to the Future.
I'll go see the movie because 90% of the tripe out there is unwatchable, and I'm familiar with the material. If someone goes in uninitiated, that's their problem. If it gets people to go out and read a book instead of texting nonsense, then there's the real miracle.
Don't listen to the geeks. They lack objectivity due to hypocritical dogma. If the movie sucks, you should pan it. I've read your reviews, and you're usually pretty dead on. I will say that if you don't like the movie, it shouldn't sway you against reading the book. It's a masterwork, along with From Hell and V for Vendetta. As I said before, they stand alone, unhindered by both the dorks that unintentionally and hilariously turn it into a religion, or the people that want to slam it because they didn't get the film.

Really- Were these actors starring in anything other than "direct to dvd movies? If not, must be bit parts..

Jackie Earle Haley was nominated for an Academy Award last year.

Dusty, what part of spoil-free don't you understand? Just because we're not talking face to face, doesn't mean it's more acceptable to be a jerk.

It is reasonable to be concerned with trailers spoiling main plot points in movies. "The Sixth Sense" revealed the iconic "I see dead people" line in the trailer. That was a big spoiler in the movie. If I hadn't heard that line before watching the movie, there would be no way I could have figured out the big plot twist in the first 5 minutes of the movie. There are other examples as well.

I'm one of those people who watches the movie first then read the original source material later. It's because movies have to adapt conversations and inner-monolouges into something more visually interesting than just talking. I find I appreciate both of them better this way. Also, it a good way to gauge if I would be interested in reading the source material.

Never read a comic. Gotta say the trailer didn't really turn me on. Kinda cheesy lookin.

the two characters getting blowed up by the nuke isnt a spoiler(spoiler: dream )...you should probably read the book first or your gonna have a hard time understanding the story...as for me..HELLZ YES i will be there

I'm going to watch it this weekend. I've been intentionally waiting to see the movie first before reading the graphic novel. I'm doing that to be as spoil-free as possible. Which leads to me the main problem I've had with the latest trailers of "Watchmen". I think it might be giving away too much of the story. The biggest spoiler is showing 2 main characters getting killed by an nuclear explosion.

The main reason I'm going to see it is because of Zach Snyder. "Dawn Of The Dead" remake was good. At the end of the day, it was a zombie movie. There is only so much you can do with the original source material. However, with "300", Zach Snyder brought to life a vivid graphic novel about an historical event with great style and excitement. "300" is easily one of my favorite movies this decade. From the visual aspect of the movie, it looks like he is continuing what he has done with "300". Which is being faithful to the source material without looking cheesy.

lodger | March 4, 2009 2:11 PM

"One last thing-
Has anybody even heard of these actors? Not a good sign.."

Dear Lodger I have heard of all these actors and have seen movies with these actors in either starring or supporting roles. If you dont know who any of these actors are then get online and educate yourself.

I will see this movie, but I can't say the trailer was all that impressive. The characters did not seem very interesting, and the action seemed just ok. There are complicated themes in the book, so this is something that needs to be seen to know whether or not if it will be good. But, from what I've seen, not impressed yet. I don't have much respect for Snyder (300 and Dawn of the Dead were just ok, pretty but flat), so I expect a good looking film, but one that will ultimately fail to deliver the complicated themes and story to the big screen.

In terms of getting mainstream interested, I think they should pimp the fact that Time rated it one of top 100 novels of all time.

Most people will have the same reaction I had when I saw the first trailer: Huh? Who ARE these superheroes? Never heard of 'em.

So I did my research and found that the first run of the graphic novel's script used old Charlton characters, which I dearly loved.

So I next ran out and bought the hardcover version of the graphic novel.

Several hundred dollars' worth of memorabilia, action figures and other merchandise later, I am solidly a Watchman fanboy (or, at age 53, a fan-man).

I will be there on opening night with much anticipation, along with a custom-made Rorschach shirt, as I believe strongly that Snyder has crafted a trememdously faithful rendering of the comics. Sure, he had to cut a corner here and there, and compress and restructure a few things. I am equally confident the Blu-Ray superdeluxe director's cut due in the fall will restore some of those things. Not the most glaring and apparent climactic change, which I believe was the single weakest part of the graphic novel (no spoiler from me!). So if it is possible to improve or alter in order to maintain continuity and feel, I trust Snyder to have done this.

Well I am not a newbie to the WATCHMEN, but I do think this film can go 50/50. I do think it will have a BIG opening weekend because of its obscure marketing campaign. Though honestly I think the plot line will go over peoples head's and it will surely crash the next weekend. If it is any good it will become the BladeRunner of my generation! I dont think it will be as good as THE DARK KNIGHT because that film made super-hero movies realistic, THE WATCHMEN to me seems to be going the opposite route based on the previews alone, which is what made the THE WATCHMEN graphic novel so great to begin with. It brought super-heros in to the real life realm, to me the film is looking like it will achieve the opposite of what it is trying to capture! Who knows we will ask the most important question this friday "To go see THE WATHCMEN or not to go see THE WATHCMEN, that is the question." I will have to wait in till Peter Travers film review to decide!

Having read the book, i am trying to go into the movie with no expectations. The trailer does not leave one action sequence out. Not one. So that leaves me with no wonder about how they are going to be portayed in the movie. Personally, although i hope not, i believe it is going to be a flop.

If the movie is half as good as the source material, it will be an astounding film. The trailers look great. I'll be there opening night.

I loved the comic book. Read all the issues in the series when they came out in 86 or 87. It really changed the genre, and shifted the playing field when it came to comics. So I'm apprehensive. Here's some concerns-
1) I'm afraid they are just turning it into a typical "blockbuster" flick
2) The special effects-Cheesy. Dr. Manhattan looks like he was taken straight out of the comic and superimposed onto the film-badly....
3) Do we really need more "freeze frame action shots" like The Matrix? Which was stunning 10 years ago..Now it's tired..
4) I don't think it's gonna be dark enough. The Rorschach "first person" narrations sound cheeeeesy. Even if they were part of the original. Typical 30's "detective drama" overtone..Not original..
5). The music: sounds strikingly similar to vangelis' score for Blade Runner
6). I'm also afraid this will only appeal to the G4 crowd...
I hope I'm wrong. I really do. I guess we'll see. I will definitely be at the theater this weekend.

I hate to say the same thing over again, but I agree with those who liked the first trailer. Those since have been less interesting yet more informative which worries me. It's hard to tell if this will be Grindhouse or 300 as far as sales.

I'm always up for a nice 2 hr escape from reality. This looks like it will fit the bill. No I'm not a comic book fan.

The trailer featuring the Smashing Pumpkins song that played last summer was incredible. Possibly the best trailer I have ever seen. It definitely made me want to see the movie, and I have no idea what it's about.

it is gonna be the first blockbuster ... but i fear it is going to turn out like the last X-Men movie ... just plain average

My biggest gripe is how the posters say "from the visionary director of 300". I really dislike taglines like that, especially when I really don't feel it was earned. I know the director doesn't have a marquee name yet, so they have to associate this movie with something people will recognize, but I really don't think anything about "300" or "Dawn of the Dead" was very visionary. I thought 300 was a good film, but "Sin City" already tackled filming a graphic novel before that, and in a better way. Guillermo del Toro was referred to as visionary as well, while posters were up for Hellboy 2, and I felt that was a little arrogant as well, even though "Pan's Labrynth" is a great film to have to back up that claim. Why can't they just use the director's name? If they must make mention of their earlier films for people to gain interest, so be it...but let's leave the opinions to the movie goers, especially in films like this, where the average person who is excited about seeing it probably already know about directors and their past films and styles.

I'm a Watchman junkie and I am salivating at the thought of finally seeing my fav graphic novel brought to the big screen. That said, after seeing the trailer, I think the movie will do well but I don't think it will be on the same epic scale as Dark Knight. Watchman is the best graphic novel for a reason - it pushes the limits of the comic art form and takes them to whole new levels. The dialogue and visuals practically leap off the page. That is going to be hard to reproduce on screen. Snyder will probably do a good job but he wont be able to truly capture the imagery of the comic without it coming off as too "glossy" or "fake". Another problem will be the amount of material that won't make it into the film (the Black Freighter, etc..) The deleted background material is necessary to truly understand the story and characters and their motivations. But I will say that the actors appear to have done a damn good job of capturing the essences of the characters, particularly those of Rorshach and The Comedian. So all in all I think it will be a good movie and I look forward to seeing it.

the first trailer (with the pumpkins song) was quite good, but the whole watchmen thing (story + superheroes) is silly ... we had enough of superhero movies for a while

I have read the Watchmen Graphic novel and find it to be amazing. It is an original deconstruction and reimagining of the superhero genre. It poses the question "Who Watches The Watchmen?," which is an important question. What good do superheroes actually do? This question is ultimatly posed in the climax that will hopefully (as long as Snyder has been faithful to the comic)polarize the opinions of audiences. I am completley excited for this film. People that don't know whats behind it seem to be skeptical, which is to bad, because this will proabably be one of the coolest and slickest movies of the year, and one of the best comic book adaptions of all time. If you've read the Graphic novel the trailer is amazing by the way, I know that can alienate the majority of movie goers that have not read it, including your colleague.
By the way, Love your Reviews Mr. Travers, I was the only person among my friends that hated 'Transformers,' I am glad someone was not falling overthemselves for Micheal 'Tons of action and fake drama make a plot' Bay. Your reviews are usually what I gauge my movie going choices on, and I've never been dissapointed.

Peter, I somewhat agree with your colleague on the point about the trailer being a chaotic mess. I think the problem is that the majority of people (to whom the studios have to be advertising with a trailer), like myself, are not graphic novel readers. Throwing 5-6 crazy characters and storylines at us lay people in a 30 second or 1 minute trailer is alienating and overwhelming. To juxtapose, a movie trailer for, say, X-Men -- which I believe the average Joe had some interaction with before the movies came out -- can throw Wolverine and Storm and Professor X at us in the trailer in the same chaotic manner and it will feel a lot less discombobulating because we are familiar with those characters and the basic premise of the story (i.e. mutants shunned by society, yet protecting society). I think for Watchmen, they should have focused in on one character or story line (if there is a good one to focus in on) rather than give us a cornucopia of unfamiliar characters and plots. Without having any familiarity to the story or the characters, all I know of Watchmen is from the trailer. Let's hope there is more to it than meets the trailer-viewer's eye. I enjoyed both Sin City and 300 (the former much more than the latter, though), but I didn't pay to see either (I netflixed both), and I will probably do the same for this one. By the way: do you think the other two members of the blue man group are upset by not getting cast? :)

I have faith that it will be a worthy translation of the novel. Alan Moore, who is no friend to Hollywood and refuses to take credit in the film, said that the film's script is the closest anyone could've come to re-imagining "Watchmen." With that being said, there's no doubt in my mind that it will be the first solid blockbuster of 2009. Will it rise to the hype though? I'm hoping so. I've liked what I've seen so far. Though I'm skeptical with the casting of Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre (though gorgeous, c'mon, have you seen "The Heartbreak Kid?") and Mathew Goode as Ozymandias. Liked him in "The Lookout," but in "Watchmen" he's supposed to be the world's strongest man, and he kinda looks like a pussy. Other than that, it look solid, the effects look great, as long as they stay true to that storyline it will be decent.

Hey there!

When I first saw a (not that) Trailer of Watchmen several Months ago, I wanted to see this movie right away.
I think the Trailer's a total winner!

And in your categories I'm that virgin type.. thing... and have never read Comic-Books.

Best Regards