Watched the first episode. I had no idea the Tulsa Race Massacre was a real event before watching this, so at the very least I’ve learned something new (and horrifying) thanks to HBO this week. How in the hell was this not in every American History book in school?!
As for the actual show, I enjoyed it, but holy crap am I confused as hell. I know nothing of the Watchmen comics, never even saw the supposedly terrible movie either, so I came into this blind and I feel exactly that way after watching the first episode.
I mean, I understand that there were vigilantes years earlier and people weren’t too cool with it, so they were either outlawed or folded into the police forces (which is what I assume is going on with Angela, Shiny Face Guy and Red Tracksuit Guy). I get that the Seventh Kavalry is racist right-wing nutjobs that want to reenact the Tulsa massacre on a grander scale. I get that the police now take pains to hide their identities due to some kind of backlash that happened years ago or something.
What I don’t get is who is the old guy (Jeremy Irons)? What is the deal with the interdimensional squid showers? What the hell is up with the cop with the Panda mascot head? Why can’t police just be police now, aside from the racists are there other groups still out to get them? It’s all very confusing.
I think Watchmen Director’s Cut is pretty good, especially considering people called the comics “unfilmable”. There’s some tonal differences from the comics I don’t like, and a couple of the actors are sub-par, but all in all, I really enjoyed it.
Thank you both! I watched all three videos and am now far less confused and feel like I should be in a good position to make sense of the next couple of episodes as well.
Although none of that explained why the hell the Panda Head Guy seems to be in charge of all the police weapons or who the Red Track Suit Guy is. Maybe that will be explained via flashbacks later in the series.
The movie was the best version of filming watchmen we could hope for. Considering that trying to capture the Watchmen in one film is a pretty difficult task, it did a fine job.
I think that watching it over reading the comics is OK if you don’t have the time to read it all.
That being said, Episode 2 was great, and I can’t wait to see more.
Ozymandias is in some sort of exile, where the rest of the world has shunned technology he is secretly working on something sinister, as well as making tomato trees, I guess.
So, Angela was attacked by 2 assailants during the white night, and she killed one. The other seemed to be readying to finish her off, and she survives with Judd Crawford by her bedside? The same Judd Crawford that has a full on secret klan uniform in his closet? This seems like too much of a coincidence.
I don’t agree with that. The omission of the psychic squid was fine and while the changed ending doesn’t hold up to any kind of scrutiny it was understandable due to time constraints. The real crime was that the movie missed many key thematic notes that a better director could have included, instead of spending time on gratitutious fight scenes and misguided fidelity.
(not a complete snob, I’m really enjoying the TV series)
I mean, sure, but really difficult to put in any action oriented movie without bogging down the pacing, and considering Snyder’s job with trying to add pathos and drama to Batman and Superman, probably better for it.
Most of the people I know who never read the comic enjoyed the movie. The core story is great (not even Snyder can mess that up) but it’s not what makes Watchmen amazing.
I’m not much of a film buff, maybe someone can explain to me why they couldn’t just film the Watchmaker issue pretty much panel by panel. It seems to me it would translate well to screen straight.
I am torn on Veidt. It’s likely that he is being held on Mars. But it is also possible that is just Jeremy Irons having a normal Sunday afternoon for Jeremy Irons.
