Watching men

I've never read the Watchmen graphic novel. I've never read many graphic novels at all, come to think of it. I heard about the Watchmen when I first read about the movie accidentially. Having seen 300, and enjoyed Zack Snyder's work immensely, I figured it'd be worth a watch. I really enjoy his visual style, and how he manages to balance story, character development and action quite well. Whereas 300 focused almost entirely on the action part, not having a whole lot to do with characters, Watchmen is relying exclussively on the characters and their relationship with one another.

I won't do a full review, because... well I can't be arsed to. But what I will do is mention some general points of view and comment on the experience as a whole. I was late for the movies, as is true to my style. My bud, Ranc, had managed to secure a few tickets for the sneak preview of the movie, and asked if I wanted to come. I agreed immediately, thinking it'd be a sweet enough movie. As I said, I hadn't ever read the graphic novel, and as such, had no idea apart form a VERY general idea, of what the movie was actually about. So I went in with a clean mind. I don't know if that was a good or a bad thing, but I ended up enjoying the movie quite a lot.

After having hassled our way past the row of annoyed movie-goers (of course our seats were in the absolute dead center of the row), we took our seats, and had only missed a few minutes of opening credits. What unfolded before our eyes was a pretty stunning movie, all in all. Lots of nice effects without ever going over the top. An interesting plotline, with a few twists and while not concluding a whole lot, it left some increasingly relevant questions open for interpretation. The characters were all likable and well played.

It left me thinking for a bit afterwards, and sort of wanting to 1) see it again and 2) want to know more about the people in the movie. I take that as a good sign. It was mostly unknowns acting in the movie, and, like 300, it served it well. You feel more unbiased that way. I do anyway.

I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys an action flick, but also to people who don't mind having to use your brain a little bit. It's not that the movie is complicated, but your ethics are challenged. All in all, enjoyable to the point of having 163 minutes slip by you in notime at all.