Who Watched the 'Watchmen'

Bottling up the Buzz

Well it's almost here and already the pre-release buzz is splitting a wide swath through the critical community and lighting up flame wars by less civil minded commentors...which would be all of them...except of course for the fabulous commentors at Daily Monotony :).  So which pundits are pandering to the publicity and which are stamping another kill on their typewriters?  Check out a break down of the pre-show press after the jump as I wade through a sea of pith and pun to bring you back a representative recount of journalist jabber.

The Good:

"The film is rich enough to be seen more than once. I plan to see it again, this time on IMAX, and will have more to say about it. I’m not sure I understood all the nuances and implications, but I am sure I had a powerful experience. It’s not as entertaining as “The Dark Knight,” but like the “Matrix” films, LOTR and “The Dark Knight,” it’s going to inspire fevered analysis. I don’t want to see it twice for that reason, however, but mostly just to have the experience again." -Rogert Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

"A huge budgeted superhero movie that delivers intellectually? That takes serious, ballsy chances with the form? That isn't giving [the] audience what they expect, and is possibly not giving them what they want? Why, that sounds like a piece of art. A glorious, epic, exciting, mind blowing piece of art." -Devin Faraci, CHUD.com

The Bad:

"As 'Watchmen' lurches toward its apocalyptic (and slightly altered) finale, something happens that didn't happen in the novel: Wavering between seriousness and camp, and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the book's headier ideas, the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert." -Justin Chang, Variety

"There is something a little lackadaisical here. The set pieces are surprisingly flat and the characters have little resonance. Fight scenes don't hold a candle to Asian action. Even the digital effects are ho-hum. Armageddon never looked so cheesy...Looks like we have the first real flop of 2009." -Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

The Trailer:

The End

Check back Saturday for the review or be on the look out for a new Weekly Monotony to drop this Monday and listen to us discuss our opinions. 

And in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger at the premiere of End of Days, "Come on, let's go see the movie!"