2009, in theaters

You know, I still haven't seen Wall-E.

Sorry. Look, everyone knows that Pixar is basically Midas without, you know, the bit where it turns its dinner and children to gold. But seriously, everything else they touch is pure gold.

I suppose it's not a spoiler to tell you the basic premise of the story: Carl Fredricksen, as a small child, loved watching news reels about his favorite explorer, Charles Muntz, who traveled the world with his dogs, finding rare species in the farthest reaches of unexplored continents (yes, yes, imperialism. Carl was like 6 at this point). One day he meets a little girl named Ellie who just may be a bigger fan of Muntz than Carl is... and who wants nothing more than to fix up her dilapidated "club house" and perch it atop Paradise Falls in Venezuela.

You could probably say that about most, if not all, Pixar fare, but there's a good reason for that. Just remember: cartoon or no, it's still rated PG, so be mindful before taking your youngest little ones.

Beware of spoilers!
Comic commentary at Medium Large.
Dana Stevens at Slate gives an enthusiastically positive review.
Zach Oat at Television Without Pity has figured out the Pixar formula.

The IMDb page.
Amazing reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
The Wikipedia page.

Ok, that's all the spoilers.  Anyway, there's plenty to nitpick, but overall, if you keep my original two points in mind, you'll be able to have a good time watching this very entertaining movie.

OK, most likely, if you were planning on seeing it in theaters, you have by now.  But if you're still on the fence, because it's Star Trek and you're not into Star Trek... get over it and go see the movie.  I'm not going to say it's the best film of the summer (see my next post for that), but I will say that this summer's action offerings have a lot to live up to.

The rest of the Internet

Beware of spoilers...
The IMDb page.

The Wikipedia.

Excellent reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Alex at Super Dudes Power Squad puts this film in the context of all Star Trek films. 
Zach Oat at MovieFile reviews the movie.
Dana Stevens at Slate gives the movie good a good review.

2009, in theaters

I've read the book.  Chris, with whom I saw the movie, has not (at least, as of press time).

First off, let me emphasize that this is not a kids' movie.  Yes, it was based on the graphic novel, but that's not a kids' books, either.  There is violence, sex, sexual violence, lots of murder, bad language, bad music, and a moral ambiguity that never takes a break.  If your 8-year-old can handle that, awesome.  If not, don't blame me; I warned you.  But it's rated R for a very good reason.  This is not one of those movies where they add the s-word to get a PG bumped up to a PG-13 and attract the 18-35 crowd.  This is a real, actual R movie.

OK, that's out of the way.

So, having said all that, I want to add that for the most part, I really did enjoy the movie. I never expected it to be exactly the same as the book.  For one thing, I was spoiled as to the ending.  For another, the book is long, and even with the movie as long as it is (162 minutes), something had to give.

I did find that having read the book filled in some blanks.  There were a few moments  that were a little unclear to Chris that made sense to me since I had the context.   So on the off chance you haven't heard already, the film takes place in a world where superheroes -- or, at least, costumed vigilantes -- are very real.  And illegal. Former heroes essentially have three paths they can take.  They can work for the government, like The Comedian.  They can flagrantly break the law, like Rorschach.  Or, they can retire, and either capitalize off their past, like Ozymandias, or just walk away from the whole thing, like Nite Owl.   But then, costumed heroes start turning up dead, leaving those who survive to face their demons and avenge their colleagues.

And by the way?  It's 1985 and the United States is counting down to nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

We open with a great montage that explains the alternate timeline we're dealing with, showing the heroes who have gone before; some are dead, others are retired.

As we proceed through the narrative line, we begin to fill in the blanks and learn more about the characters and what makes them tick.  Why is Silk Spectre so angry at her mother?  How did Dr. Manhattan gain superpowers (he's the only one who actually has them)?  What makes a hero?  What makes a villain?

I mentioned above that something had to give.  In the original text, much more attention is given to the backstories of the first generation of heroes.  This is not strictly necessary -- the opening scene really covers the major points -- but it does provide a lot of information.  Likewise, there is quote a bit more information about Ozymandias's post-hero activities -- he's a massively powerful businessman (it would not surprise me if it turned out he was a partial inspiration for David Xanatos).  Finally, there's a complex subplot invlving a man who runs an newsstand and a boy who buys comics there, which revolves around a comic within the comic (which is available on a direct-to-video DVD and will be a feature when the movie comes out on video).

You can't stand violence, or you have a small bladder.  Reference my paragraph above about the R-rating, and if that's not a deal-breaker, make sure you can handle sitting through a film that's almost 3 hours long.  If so, get going.

I do recommend reading the book first, but you can get away with no doing so.  If you come out of the movie less-than-impressed, though, seriously consider returning to the source material, rather than assuming that since the film didn't do it for you, the book can't.

Beware of spoilers...
The real Doomsday Clock is currently set to 11:55 PM.  Interestingly, the real-life Doomsday Clock in 1985 was set closer to midnight than the one in Watchmen.
TelevisionWithoutPity's Moviefile writes about the world in which the movie takes place, and writes reviews both with and without spoilers, as part of its extensive coverage  of the movie.
Francesco Marciuliano at Francesco Explains it All was impressed by the movie, but didn't really enjoy it.
Dana Stevens at Slate explains what the big deal is.
Wil Wheaton waxes enthusiastic about the film.
A review at Selections From the Scrolls of the PlatinumWarlock notes that some of the more graphic scenes take things a touch too far.