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Reviews
Watchmen (2009)
In the Face of the Apocalyse, the Watchmen Fall Short of Saving the Day
WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST WATCH? (HEAVY SPOILER ALERT!)
I thoroughly enjoyed The Watchmen, but I do not feel that it met the caliber of the comic book films from 2008. The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight were all extremely better films than The Watchmen.
My biggest complaint with this movie was how campy it became. Early in the movie, during the scenes with The Comedian, I was extremely impressed, but as the movie grew longer I felt that it became less psychological and much more focused on visuals. The costumes took away from the focus on the story and theme and shifted it toward the characters. While the characters as a whole were well developed and unique, some of the characters fell short in my expectations of 21st century comic book film characters.
My biggest complaint was with Ozymandias. It wasn't until the last hour of the movie that I was confident Ozymandias was the villain. I also felt that Ozymandias was extremely underdeveloped. What was his motivation? I was under the belief that he was one of the new heroes, taking the place of the 1940's minutemen, but all of a sudden he became the antagonist. How was he capable of making the giant blue nuclear bomb/device that caused so much havoc? What was his relation or symbolism involving ancient Egyptian Gods and ruins? Extremely poor development on the villain of this film was a massive weakness and plot hole.
On the opposite side, Rorshach was spot on for a major character in a comic book based film. His past and present were clear indicators of his motivation. The scene where he tells everyone in prison, "I am not trapped here with you. You are imprisoned with me!" had the entire theater standing and applauding (the only point at which this happened during the film).
Overall, I still can't get over how campy this film felt. At times I wished I was watching the Joel Schumacher Batman films, because those movies seemed less ridiculous. This movie was so difficult to understand I started writing notes on my hand. Dr. Manhattan seemed too ambiguous in what he decided to use his God Powers to prevent/change.
Watch this movie, but don't expect anything better than what you've seen in the last year. I would have rather been asleep from 12:00 AM to 3:00 AM than watching this movie.
The Gong Show with Dave Attell (2008)
This really isn't good.
I expected this show to be hilarious. Dave Attell cracks me up and I loved Insomniac, but this show is as unnecessary as it is boring. About one person per episode is actually talented, and they usually don't get the credit they deserve. The two guys that won the episode I watched slapped themselves to make noise. The guy who had a musical performance on crystal glasses filled with water was amazing and didn't get the credit he deserved. At no part did I find this show entertaining. There really wasn't even a set of credentials for how to rank the contestants. The guest judges (who are washed up and not funny) just assigned an arbitrary number from 1-500 to the contestants. Extremely disappointed with Dave Attell, I vowed to never watch this show again.
Transformers (2007)
A Very Nice Surprise
The first thing I have to saw is "WOW!" I've never really been a fan of transformers, but my buddy begged me to go see this with him, so I finally agreed to go and let me say I was very pleasantly surprised. About 30 minutes in I turned to my buddy and said "Allright, you win. this movie kicks a**!"I expected it to be quite kiddy but i was entirely wrong; this is a movie that people of all ages can enjoy even if they aren't a fan (like I was, although I certainly am now).
I haven't been very pleased with anything else I've seen by Michael Bay, but that's just another surprise, he finally figured out how to make a good movie! The CGI was amazing, and Shia Lebouef did a much better job than I expected; this might be the movie that makes his career huge! Not to mention Megan Fox's name is completely appropriate; a good looking girl who isn't a bad actor is always a welcome addition to a great movie. The movie also had a good mix of humor and romance, when the Autobots weren't fighting they seemed like a bunch of knuckleheads.
The movie had a very good plot indeed, with a twist or two at the ending i didn't expect (watch the credits! there's an extra scene in there that might be pretty important!). A slightly cliché (but nun the less appreciated by me) theme is that the average looking funny guy gets the smokin babe in the end by saving the day. The only reason I didn't give this movie a 10/10 was that there are a few scenes at the beginning and end where Optimus Prime is talking that are just plain cheesy; the movie really could have done without them.
This is definitely one of the best movies of the summer, and i can't wait for the sequel. This movie never has a boring moment! So from someone who was originally a skeptic, "JUST GO SEE THE FREAKIN' THING ALREADY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING STILL READING THIS? GO TO UR LOCAL THEATERS NOW!"