to quote kj: "whoever decided on the soundtrack to 'WATCHMEN' needs to be drawn and quartered."

one of the best things about this movie: 

jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian. (image courtesy of http://meatbun.us/)

so! last night, i piled into the balcony at the somerville theatre in davis square with 15 of my favorite people to take in the 11:45pm showing of "WATCHMEN".  we got to the theatre at 11 to be safe, seeing as we had a slew of seats to hold onto, but it was no use, really: the lobby was packed with excited movie goers, comic book gurus (i don't want to say geeks, that's mean) and even a reeeeally devoted fan who went all out and donned a Rorschach getup complete with eerie inkblot mask, fedora and trench coat:

photo snapped by the lovely and talented miss g.

needless to say, we were stoked.  here's me, stoked:

once again, photo courtesy of the lovely g.

we booked it upstairs, grabbed our seats, and the whole theatre roared when the previews ended and the massive screen in the 800+ seat theatre went yellow.  

i didn't have any expectations of the movie going into it, so i can't say that i was disappointed in this incredibly hyped-up release that's been gossiped about by avid readers of moore's comic book series and hollywood insiders alike... but a large percentage of the folks i attended the showing with were definitely of the opinion that "watchmen" is mediocre at best. 

without giving up any spoilers, a few things i loved and loathed about "watchmen":

LOVED:

+jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian: i LOVE jeffrey dean morgan in general and find him to be a refreshing, confident presence in whatever television show/movie he's involved with, and "watchmen" was no exception.  his character was probably one of the least likable in the film, but his depiction of the comedian was PERFECTION in my book. (granted, i know next to nothing about "watchmen" as a series and haven't picked up one of the comics, but i can't see anyone else doing this part justice the way morgan did.)  his smirk, swagger, saunter and cigar were all perfect and i wanted so much more of him throughout the movie.  "watchmen" is worth the price of admission for his performance alone.

+the opening title montage/sequence: "watchmen" is based on a twelve part series of graphic novels by alan moore, so the fact that they were able to edit, cut, rearrange and smush alllll of that material into a feature film is impressive.  the opening sequence, set to bob dylan's "the times they are a-changin'", is a beautifully shot, vintage-feeling montage of powerful clips that piece together the background information we need in order to appreciate and understand the plot and overarching themes of the movie.  the first five minutes still stand out to me as the most enjoyable part of the movie... i don't know why i was so into it, but it got me excited about the three-hour action epic i'd signed up for, and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

LOATHED:

+the soundtrack: ok fancy mr. director man, i understand that you want to play up the fact that the movie takes place in 1985 and you draw on nixon and vietnam and a few other historical events that you signify with musical choices relevant to that time period, but C'MON.  the random hendrix/ccr/bad eighties pop tracks interspaced throughout the most pivotal ploty points were SOOO DISTRACTING and it completely snapped me out of the story.  boo on your part, person in charge of music choices.  boo.

+the length: going back to the fact that this was a 12-part series, i get that it has to be a long flick for artistic integrity, but this was just too long. TOO LONG.  it was good and fine and everything, but 163 minutes and previews? too long.

+the ending: felt INCREDIBLY rushed.  that's all you get.  no spoilers, because i'm still trying to figure out what the hell happened, really, myself, but yeah.  wasn't crazy about it.

THE VERDICT ON "WATCHMEN":  it was ok. i would consider seeing it again, if anything for jeffrey dean morgan, but only at the somerville theatre (or MAYBE imax) because it is grrreat.