I Watched the Watchmen

We're back from our wonderful vacation to Arizona. I'll be writing that blog soon, but I wanted to quickly write about Watchmen as well as American Idol as they've been on my mind (blogging about them) for awhile, and I want to tackle those before I get to the vacation post.

I've read Watchmen not too long ago, and it was not only one of the best Graphic Novels I've ever read, but one of the best novels I've ever read. Very intelligent, deep, engrossing, and complex, more than I thought possible in a comic book.

For those of you who don't know, Watchmen was rated "R", very R, as it deals with adult/mature/graphic topics. I will be discussing the topics as PG rated as possible, but I will be discussing them.

I loved the book so I had to see the movie, and saw it with 2 of our friends from our Book Club and Writing Group.

Short Story: I really liked it, it was very impressive to see how much of the comic was included in the movie, and there was only really one major change that worked. It would have probably been really cheesy if it was put in the movie.

Longer Story: This is definitely the most rated "R" movie I've ever seen. While the comic was dark, it was never explicit, and the gratuitous sex scene (orgasm-face to the point of being ridiculously uncomfortable) the joints breaking, Dr. Manhattan's computer generated-baby-elephant-trunk, etc., I could have done without, as I'm a firm believer in NOT showing something is nearly ALWAYS better than showing it. (whether violence, sex, or whatever).

The attempted rape scene was not gratuitous, which I was grateful for, but the later sex scene was the most graphic I've ever seen, and I don't regret that I closed my eyes for most of it.

Sex aside, it was very very true to the comic. What impressed me perhaps the most is that nearly all the actors for the movie looked VERY much like the illustrations in the comics.

Overall, very well done, and glad I saw it, recommend it to anyone who's read the book because you'll know what to expect, and caution those who haven't read it to stay away, as you'll probably be either lost, apalled, or both.