“Looks like we have the first real flop of 2009,” writes Hollywood Reporter critic Kirk Honeycutt, predicting Zach Snyder’s “Watchmen” will fall off a box-office cliff after a big opening-weekend turnout by fanboys. Kirk’s pan is blistering. He says the superheroes, “operating in an alternative 1985, are seriously screwed up — and so is their movie… As stimulating as it was to see the superhero movie enter the realm of crime fiction in ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Watchmen’ enters into a realm that is both nihilistic and campy. The two make odd companions. The film… will test the limits of superhero movie fans. If you’re not already invested in these characters because of the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, nothing this movie does is likely to change that predicament.” And then Kirk twists the knife: “That’s bad news for Warner Bros. and Paramount, which hold domestic and international rights, respectively. Opening weekends everywhere will reflect the huge anticipation of this much-touted, news-making movie. After that, the boxoffice slide could be drastic.” Over Variety, the complaints and predictions are more qualifed, as is often the case for big-budget studio projects at Peter Bart’s more advertiser-friendly trade publication. Justin Changcalls the film “less a fully realized comicbook epic than a sturdy feat of dramatic compression. Fans.. will thrill to every pulpy line of dialogue and bloody act of retribution retained in director Zack Snyder’s slavishly faithful adaptation. But auds unfamiliar with Moore’s brilliantly bleak, psychologically subversive fiction may get lost amid all the sinewy exposition and multiple flashbacks. After a victorious opening weekend, the pic’s B.O. future looks promising but less certain.” Fanboy reviews on the ‘Net are overwhelmingly positive so far; the film is currently rating a whopping 92 percent positive at Rotten Tomatoes, but that will likely change as more traditional reviewers are permitted to weigh in.
‘Watchmen’ Looks Like ‘The First Real Flop of 2009’ After Huge Opening, Hollywood Reporter Sez
