Poor composition, much?PlotI've already read the graphic novel so I basically knew the plot of the movie. At the start of the movie, I constantly wondered to myself whether that was a good or a bad thing. Still, I was glad that my recollection of the details of the plot was a little hazy (the last time I read the comic was two years ago, I think) coz it put me in a win/win 50/50 position. Having said all that though, I think having read the source material made sitting through the extra long opening sequence more meaningful. :D
I thought that the plot suffered from a slow build up. It felt rather plodding and was just quite slowly moving along for the first half of the movie. Granted, they had a lotta things to establish, but it felt like things could have been presented more succinctly, or at the very least have had more M18 violence (and no, I'm not talking about no more added instances of CGI dongs -_-'). Thankfully, things picked up around halfway through the movie and I can confidently say that it's all thanks to Rorschach.
Rorschach Rorschach made the M18 rating worth it and to me (and the missus :P), he was the best part of the movie. He was a badass psycho (gotta love'em badass psychos!) and had the coolest scenes in the movie. My favourite line which he says to the convicts : "You got it all wrong. I'm not trapped in here with you. You're the ones trapped in here with
me." As they say, "Respect,
sia." Haha.
CostumesI find the costumes very well done. The coolest was Rorschach's mask and Night Owl costume. I didn't think that they would make the blobs move around in the movie but they did, so extra points! :D
I'm also really relieved that they redesigned Night Owl's costume for the movie. Coz if not, it would have looked like this :
Just like in the comics... only more moustache-yYerrrrrrp. -_-'
Anyhoo, I just gotta add this in. I've read rumors on the interwebs about Zack Snyder taking over from Nolan after he's completed his trilogy. It would definitely be cool to see him do Batman in full comic book style mode; without the trappings of needing to ground him in the real world. All in favour? :D
VisualsThe visuals were excellent. Archie was
da bomb and the crazy intricacies of that whatchamacallit structure thingie on Mars was very much
whoa. From the effects to the choreography of the fight scenes, the visuals get a definite A+ from me.
CastingI found the casting to be almost perfect, save for Ozymandias whom I found too skinny. I thought that he didn't really fit the part and when he got into costume, I was like, "Whoa dude... Bulk up a bit..." But then again, that's just me.
The Three Line VerdictMy review seems to say mostly good things about the movie; and rightly so because in terms of aesthetics, it deserves the credit.
However the slow first half of the movie, which made me very consciously aware that I was sitting through a three hour long movie instead of enjoying a thrilling superhero romp, really affected my opinion of it.
The action packed second half and ubercool Rorschach managed to save the day and stop it from going into the realms of "bad to mediocre" movies in my book but was unable to push it to the upper echelons of movies that I hold in high esteem.
Thus, I give the movie :
