Saturday, May 22, 2010

Watch New Hollywood Hit Movies Like The Watchmen Online

By Eliza Gray

The Watchmen came out a few years ago and was really one of the biggest movies of the year, if not one of the biggest movies of the decade. The zeroes were kind of defined by the whole superhero film genre, and if you're just plain tired of all these capes and tights flicks, then that's actually a great reason to watch The Watchmen, as it really redefines the whole genre and turns it into something new. Next time you want to watch movies online, go ahead and give it a try.

The film was based on the comic of the same name by English comics legend Alan Moore, who used the story as a commentary on American superhero comic books. So now that superhero movies are as common as superhero comic books, the movie actually has a leg to stand on in terms of making a commentary on the genre. The film really does work as both a commentary and a reinvigoration on the whole genre.

Many readers of the comic were against the film adaptation, including Alan Moore himself. The story is firmly rooted in the concept of comics and makes a lot of use of the medium, so an adaptation seemed an ill advised idea. However, the story surprisingly came through intact, and all of the characters have been done justice.

The interesting thing about these heroes is that they're not purely heroes. They're incredibly morally complex, and none of them always do the right thing. The Comedian is barely a hero at all, but rather, something of a sociopath who's been reined in by the government and used for the power of good, more or less. Rorschach is the purest of the heroes, very moralistic, but also suffering something of an addiction to violence.

The story is just as morally complex as its characters. After the finale, you'll find yourself wondering who was really in the right, whether or not Ozamandius' plan to save the world was truly justified, and whether or not his victory will be very long lived. While Alan Moore himself refuses to see the adaptation, it is, nevertheless, a worthwhile attempt to translate his story to film.

Zack Snyder is really on a roll these days, taking big, commercial projects and making them personal. His Dawn of the Dead remake actually took the story in a whole new direction, knowing that he couldn't top the original for scares, he decided to make an action film out of the same basic premise. 300, based on Frank Miller's comic book, stayed true to the original story while also doing some things with it that you can only do in film, and The Watchmen, while being Moore's story through and through, couldn't be what it is without Snyder's influence on the film.

It's rare for such big budget films to feel so human and personal, but Snyder is one of those rare directors, like Sam Raimi, who can actually make it work. The independent spirit is, in a way, actually completely alive in Snyder's work.

Watchmen is certainly one you're going to want to see, especially if these superhero movies have just been boring you to tears. The movie serves as commentary both on American culture and society, as well as politics, and is definitely worth watching.

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