The Independent Film Forum: 5. Watchmen
Our new film forum is your chance to pass judgement on a recent release. Here's a selection of your views on Zack Snyder's interpretation of the comic book classic
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Your support makes all the difference.John D Hall: The film is faithful to the source material, almost slavishly so. This means fans of the graphic novel are not deprived of any of their favourite scenes. The change to the ending works well on screen and is more credible than the book's version. Full credit to Zack Snyder for doing the best he could with this difficult material – and staying true to the concept.
Firecamel: The strong violence in Watchmen may distance the audience from the underlying themes As a fan I was troubled, almost to distraction, by the nagging question of how the film would impact if I was unfamiliar with the text. It would be a shame if it comes across as a pretentious gore-fest. But I think a good percentage of the uninitiated will be challenged by the questions the story raises.
Manico: This idiotic film closes with apologies for both rape and genocide. It would be disturbing if it wasn't quite so ludicrous. The film is so murky – Zack Snyder claims to be a fan but he has misinterpreted the use of light in the novel. Snyder's Watchmen is so grimy it's like peering through a telescope which has been smeared with mud.
Jim Dave: Fairly top notch. Sublime in places. Flawed in others. Some characters definitely need fleshing out more. It is violent, but only about 15 per cent of it is superfluous.
Nekuramanji: It is an incredibly faithful adaptation, and I'm very happy with it. There are one or two minor things I would like to have seen differently, but nothing major enough to spoil my enjoyment of the film.
Gliddofglood: Watchmen is meant to be an ironic take on superheroes. Fair enough. But how far can you identify with (or even be interested in) superheroes who are not only flawed versions of ordinary people, but psychopathic and fascist? How are they then heroes? ... and it just isn't very entertaining.
Next week: Another fine addition to the prison film canon or self-indulgent Bafta bid? The next film up for discussion is 'Bronson', a portrait of Britain's most notorious prisoner.
Air your views at www.independent.co.uk/filmforum and we'll print the best comments next week.
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