After the 2nd screening: more thoughts on "Watchmen"

Went to see "Watchmen" again on Saturday night and I definitely appreciated and loved it even more on the second go around.

First off I have to say Jackie Earle Haley's performance as Rorschach is one of my favorites in the film, and it's a wonderfully intense one at that. Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II brings the most human touch to the movie, and probably the most accessability to the audience. He's warm and funny, yet physically precise when it comes to handing out justice. Jeffrey Dean Morgan really is perfectly cast as The Comedian. Like in the graphic novel, you want to hate him because of all the terrible things he does, but still love him in the end. Morgan brings all of that to the screen through four decades as the anti-Captain America. I also loved the Billy Crudup narrated montage of how Dr. Jon Osterman became Dr. Manhattan. As well as the before and after of his life, leading to the self imposed exile on Mars, all perfectly captured straight from the panel and page.

Many dialogue lifts from the comic resonated more with me. Especially since I took some time before the movie to re-read and reconnect with a lot of those iconic moments in the book. I have to say this movie has been a total immersion for me. Downloaded the original score soundtrack Friday, as well as a couple of tracks from the artists version. I've also been checking out all the behind the scenes featurettes online, as well as some of the faux news broadcasts, TV specials, and commercials that make up some of the viral campaign. Here's a YouTube link to some of them on the 'New Frontiersman' channel.

Even though there have been a lot of really positive reactions from critics, I read a really annoying review in The Hollywood Reporter yesterday. Guy just didn't seem to get it at all, especially when he made the remark, "And what's with the silly Halloween getups?". Well guess what? He didn't read the graphic novel! Now, I know the whole financial angle of a movie (at least from the studio's point of view) is to appeal to as many demographics as possible. Like I said in my review, this movie does cater to the faithful of the original comic. And as much as I'd like to see this movie make major bank, those people, coming in cold to a story that is definitely out there in comparison to the recent crop of superhero characters being brough to the screen, may wonder what the hell is going on. Let them.

Does the movie capture every single nuance of the graphic novel? No, but how could it at two hours, forty minutes. Will the Director's Cut being released in July encompass a broader and even more satisfying take on the original story? I say yes! Will the DVD that follows capture even more of the back story and depth found in the comic? Again, I say yes! Bottom line is there's so much more to see than what we've been given in 160 minutes. And even those 160 minutes are pretty darn good!