‘Watchmen’ Backlash Spawns Backlash

Ben Barna

March 11, 2009

‘Watchmen’ Backlash Spawns Backlash Word of mouth on Watchmen has been so negative since the film's release last Friday, that even I -- a fan of the graphic novel -- am wondering if I'll ever find the motivation to see it before it leaves multiplexes. Friends (Alan Moore faithfuls and plebeians alike) have gotten me so bummed about the supposed lack of suspense, the fight scenes, the crap acting, and the almost three-hour runtime. My only reason for seeing the movie now is to check out its most preposterous aspect: that infamous sex scene. Sensing this rapidly spreading vitriol, two people -- one with a strong connection to the film, and one who feels strongly connected to it -- have taken to the interwebs to plead with us, go watch Watchmen!

Standup comedian Patton Oswalt unleashed a manifesto on his MySpace blog, tearing into all the haters and bandwagon jumpers. He writes:

Zack Snyder STEPPED UP, motherfuckers. THE WATCHMEN was going to get made, one way or another. And instead of bleating on his Facebook status updates or Tweeting about how shitty the upcoming adaptation’s going to be, he TOOK THE BULLET and tried to do it right. Yes, THE WATCHMEN should be a limited series on HBO and blah blah blah IT WAS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY. Zack delivered a 2 1/2 hour, honest attempt, and broke his ass cranking out tons of free extras. Hell, he even animated The Tales of The Black Freighter for you chumps. Plus, he gave you a kick-ass DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, plus 300, plus whatever else he’s got coming down the pike. He’s the best friend the Nerd Mafia’s had since Joss Whedon and Brian Michael Bendis, so everyone please crack the tab on a frosty can of Go Fuck Yourself and go see the movie version of THE WATCHMEN.

One of the film’s screenwriters, David Hayter, is trying to minimize the film’s second-week rot (and the damage to his career) by reaching out directly to hardcore fans, begging them to see it again via an open letter on Hardcore Nerdity:

You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film’s got both, literally), or true adaptations—And if you’re thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it’ll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we’d like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again. ... You’ll be thinking about this film, down the road. It’ll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Yes, do it for Jackie Earle Haley.

Posted by Greg on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 01.30 pm

Meh. I already watched the sex scenes on the Internets. Not going to the theater…

Posted by Tony LaRocca on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 01.39 pm

“My only reason for seeing the movie now...”

What, you need your friends and reviews to tell you what you like? See something because you want to! If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t. Personally, I saw it and it was great. You may not think so, but like everything in life, you should decide for yourself. The reviews seem to be 50/50 love / hate - I don’t understand why the media is on a mission to focus on the haters.

Posted by Chris on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 02.46 pm

Violence… 300 and KillBill had more. Rape-scene… non-existent really, more like a fight-scene as it was attempted before shortly interuppted by an angry mask. Nudity… come on now, are we or are we not all adults. Even Titanic had a full frontal, besides if your eyes were focused on the bottom of the screen then maybe your maturity level is not upto par.

Go see it and judge for yourself!
Personally thought it was great as did my wife and she hated 300.

Posted by Nadeska Alexis on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 03.32 pm

“See something because you want to” is great advice when that garbage doesn’t cost $12.50. Buy two $5 foot longs for lunch this week instead. You’ll even have some left over after tax, it’s like $5.42. If i had to sit in that theater one second longer last night i would’ve cried. During the post-film discussion, there was a general consensus that the sex scene was the best part—oh, and the soundtrack was randomly awesome.

Posted by on Wed Mar 11, 2009 at 06.02 pm

The film, while not living up to lofty expectations, was on the aggregate enjoyable. It is not, however, an easily approachable film. Then again, nor was the book. I continue to think that part of why people dubbed the book as being ‘unfilmable’ was a function of a number of things, not the least of which is the fact that it is just not a story and/or plot that is easily consumed and enjoyed by the vast majority of the movie going public.

Posted by Carl Redling on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 09.53 am

If you’ve read the book, you MUST see the movie. You will not be disappointed. However, I can see why people who havent read the graphic novel would be critical of the film. Even with the torturous length, the story cant be fully fleshed out in a movie. Example: your photo for this article was a significant portion of the book explained in the excerpt from ‘Under the Hood’, in the movie it was a “flash cut” during the opening credits. If you read the book, you got that. If you didnt, it was just another flash cut that left you wondering. Bottom line: go see it for the love of the tale.