Comments on: I Watched the Watchmen!

By: Roderick

Roderick — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:17:43 +0000

Yeah, those things were good. Stark’s characterisation was a bit more extreme/humorous than he’s (usually) been in the comics, but I liked it. But then Iron Man was never an especially iconic character for me so I didn’t have much in the way of fan prejudices to overcome.

By: MBrown

MBrown — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:21:21 +0000

Interesting. Both your assessment, and the longer review you site pretty much match my feelings of the movie.

And I think they better explain then I could why the changed ending wasn’t an improvement over the original.

By: Richard G.

Richard G. — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:10:03 +0000

What did you think of Stark’s “change of heart” (no pun intended) after coming back from captivity? I liked how Rhodey tried to convince him that he was shell shocked, and that he just needed some time to get over it (just what a military man would think, no doubt). Clearly Stark didn’t become anti-war, but he at least made a good first step (wanting to get out of the military-industrial complex).

Also Roderick, what did you think of the movie as a Marvel adaptation? A fairly faithful translation of the characters? I thought the slight tweaking of the origin (eg. Afghanistan for Vietnam) worked quite well.

Richard G.

By: Roderick

Roderick — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:27:58 +0000

I don’t believe that you ever gave a review of the Iron Man movie.

I really enjoyed it. Downey was terrific. I’m not sure I have any deep philosophical thoughts about it.

By: Richard G.

Richard G. — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:04:36 +0000

I think I’ll wait for the director’s cut, which is rumored to add something like an extra 40min or so.

I just reread the collected edition a couple of months ago, which was only the second time that I had read the comic. The first time was not too long after the first trade paperback came out. Wow, did I ever miss a lot during the first reading. My own worldview has obviously changed after so many years, but also, I’ve been reading a couple of different “study guides” to the series, and they have been quite helpful in getting the most out of this landmark comic.

BTW Roderick, I don’t believe that you ever gave a review of the Iron Man movie. I reckon that I’m not the only one interested in your take.

Richard G.

By: Tom G

Tom G — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:05:01 +0000

After watching the movie – and it IS great, I thought – I realized that the changed ending (specifically who gets blamed for the “attack”) is simply not plausible….
The villain already showed he could provoke an emotional response from Jon during the news interview – so why would he set Jon up as the scapegoat and IN HIS PRESENCE show that it was done? Highly risky to piss off a demi-god, in my humble opinion.

By: scats

scats — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:51:20 +0000

Spot on youse guys. Even more than the nonsensical ending, the villainification of Veidt and superheroizing the other protagonists completely guts the movie of meaning. It’s pretty, but ultimately a hollow shell.

By: Jesse Walker

Jesse Walker — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:43:57 +0000

Snyder likewise makes the main characters more like conventional superheroes than they are in the book – e.g., better fighting skills and less dorky costumes.

I think this is much more than a gripe. It gets to the heart of what’s wrong with the movie. (This comes, of course, from someone who has a much lower opinion of the film than you do.)

By: Roderick

Roderick — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:55:53 +0000

P.S. – Italics work if you use <> instead of [ ].

By: Roderick

Roderick — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:55:26 +0000

I am less enthused about Saw than you are; but in any case I don’t see why an adaptation should have to change itself just because the original has been copied in the meantime.

By the way, I suspect one reason that Dr. Doom was changed in the Fantastic Four movie was that the original one was too much like Darth Vader in origin, personality, and powers. Although of course Doom came first.