I was pleased to offer the exclusive limited ticket giveaway to my blog readers for the advance screening of the WATCHMEN movie in San Francisco on Monday, March 2. For those of you who were the lucky few, I was glad to see some of you there and to those of you I didn't see I hope you had a good time. As faithful comic book fans my friend Jason and I were not disappointed as we recorded our first impressions of the movie following the advance screening without any spoilers. Director Zack Snyder delivered a dark, gritty, and violent adaptation which stayed true to the core story details of the original comic book. It's R-rating is appropriate with the vivid portrayal of violence and sexual content.
Google news has close to 800 related stories for "Watchmen review" with many critics offering sobering critiques rather than gushing praise. Some fans suggesting that the international reviews have been positive, and that an overwhelming majority of U.S. reviews have been negative. Comicbook.com wrote that the movie doesn't live up to the trailer citing negative criticsm from Hollywood Reporter, Variety who predict that once the core fan base sees it that the box office numbers will drop. But to balance that there was positive feedback from other sites like Ain’t It Cool News, Comic Book Resources and Newsarama. However, following the success of Dark Knight (partly fueled by Heath Ledger's untimely demise) and Iron Man, the viral marketing campaign on television and the web and the overall popularity of the comic book film genre this may be the first blockbuster action movie of the year. Or it may be a big flop at box office. We'll know more after a few weeks.
Watchmen opens in theaters on Friday, March 6.
