Los Havros

I am.  Well, I was.. I mean I have… in the cinema.  Erm, uhm, you know?  Actually, let’s start this again shall we?

The first draft of this review turned out to be a complete disaster.  I had initially wanted to ‘describe and rate the total experience I had: the place, the cinema, and the film.‘  What actually happened was I ended up discussing car parks in great detail.  In-depth and rigorous, but ultimately very boring.  I’m sure you wanted to hear more about my thoughts on Watchmen, not car parks, right?

Most of you will know that Watchmen started out as a graphic novel.  I was aware of this, but as of yet I haven’t got around to reading it.  I will though, someday.  So, to many people a comparison with the graphic novel is a must, but alas I cannot do that here.  For that, you can take a look at Empire’s review.  Considering the creator of Watchmen, Alan Moore has been quoted as saying that Watchmen is “inherently unfilmable” I didn’t exactly know what to expect.

Again, if you want a sublime review considering every facet of the film, then I urge you again to read Empire’s review.  All as I am providing here are a few thoughts and opinions of mine on the film.  Obviously the film tends to benefit the reader of the novel, not your humble movie-goer.  I can tell you that my friends didn’t really ‘get’ the film, and rated it below average as it wasn’t a particularly action-packed film, and the pace didn’t really kick up a gear.  So whilst Empire has rated it 4/5, I’ve rated it 3.5/5 due to its poor translation on to film.

But even I feel that’s missing the point.  Whether or not you believe the film compares favourably with the graphic novel, it is still a very intelligent film that gives you a lot to think about.  Whilst coming out of the film initially disappointed- the underlying story, themes and concepts have been gradually eating away at me.  I want more!  And I’ll definitely be picking up a copy of the Watchmen graphic novel.  As a side note: the book containing artwork from the film is worth a look.  The black and white photos are fantastic.

So, a mixed bag of thoughts.  Those of you who have see Watchmen as well, please let me know what you thought and maybe I’ll be able to add another angle to this article.