Another day in London! The sun is shining and I can’t wait to go out again. Not sure where we’ll head today – thinking about visiting the British Museum – and bring my camera there as I should find a lot of cool stuff. Other than that, I haven’t got much planned for today…going out later this evening to HMV to look at some films probably – should be fun; I’ll try not to destroy myself economically.

Oh, and I’m taking the train tomorrow to Norwich to say hi to the FXhome team and visit their new office, which is going to be loads of fun. And I’ll finally be forced to do some homework on the two-hour train ride there and back (for my civics test on Wednesday). And I still can’t get over how incredibly good the weather is here, feels like summer – in the middle of the Swedish winter!

Talk to you guys and gals more tomorrow! Take care!

Here’s my review of the long-awaited film “Watchmen”, directed by Zack Snyder – starring Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman and Billy Crudup, among others. I’ll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible!

I’ll just start by saying I haven’t read the graphic novel just yet (planning on buying it as soon as possible though). Even so, I had been waiting for this film for quite some time now – the first trailer premiered around the time The Dark Knight was released. It quickly caught my attention and I’ve been – as I always do – building up the hype for it the last couple of weeks. And watched the trailer so many times I’m sure it can’t be really healthy. Based on this, i obviously went in to the theatre with extremely high hopes. Oh, and I saw it in IMAX as well – but more on that later in the review!

The Comedian is dead. The oldest figure of the Watchmen masked vigilantes – as well as the only remain of the former Minutemen – has been murdered, thrown out of a skyscraper. This is where we enter the film’s universe. Rorschach (Earle Haley) suspects something more is behind the motive of The Comedian’s murder, rather than just a simple robbery. It’s reallly difficult to go any further without spoiling the rest of the film (before you start bashing on my no-spoilers policy, this was the first 2 minutes, and can all be seen and understood in trailers ). What I can say is the rest of the film takes you to a whole lot of places, both literally and emotionally. By the end of the film I basically sat still in my seat, almost hyperventilating – sort of the same probably quite unhealthy experience I had having watched last year’s masterpiece The Dark Knight. So, yes – you could say I enjoyed the movie’s story. A lot. Although I was quite frequently shocked at the amount of violence in the film – definitely not for children, or anyone faint-of-heart. I can’t wait to read the graphic novel to get the full idea of the story’s smaller details, and therefor also completing what I think is a pretty remarkable film.

While all of the actors had pretty good performances, the ones I would like to focus on are Jackie Earle Haley as well as Jeffrey Dean Morgan, as they are by far the best of the bunch.Firstly, Jackie Earle Haley is phenomenal as Rorschach. He almost brings the same intensity and level of insanity to his character that the late Heath Ledger did to last year’s Joker – which coincidentally, covered his face in make-up in both comparision and contrast to Rorschach’s ink-blot mask, which he uses throughout the majority of the film. Haley manages to give an object which is not able to display-emotion exactly that, and the few scenes in which he is unmasked are surely some of the better this film has to offer. (Two words: dining scene). Jeffrey Dean Morgan is The Comedian is also amazing, and somehow adds depth to a character who is very easy to hate, and justifiably so.

Visual Effects. They were seriously amazing. To have one of the leads being a CG blue naked man (a fact which I’m sure r will spur some intense debates over at FOX News, masters of integrity and modern thinking) is an interesting move, and one I wasn’t sure of how well it would be pulled off walking into the theatre. Billy Crudup’s performance as Dr. Manhattan is amazing though, and totally works in every single scene. Oh, and from about 2 hours or so in the film starts presenting visuals I’ve never seen the likes to before. Ever. If you see it, make sure you sit close to the screen, and allow yourself to fully immerse in the world that Alan Moore has built – and Zack Snyder perfected on screen.

I loved the film’s music! It’s from the get-go pretty obvious Snyder loves to use unusual bands and songs at unexpected moments of the film. It all works really well in the end! Also Tyler Bates delievers a great score, as always. Sound Design was also fantastic, with the scene featuring the creation of Dr. Manhattan standing as my favorite when the credits rolled after the quite long runtime of 163 minutes. The lengthy runtime was never an issue when watching the film though, and now that Snyder has confirmed his director’s cut version to be a bit over four hours, the eventual Blu-Ray release can’t come soon enough.

Saw the film at BFI IMAX, which was truly amazing. Sitting at the third row, it felt as if you were right in the middle of the film’s events. If you ever go to London, make sure to give the theatre a visit, as it truly turns just another movie-watching experience (albeit an excellent one) to an incredible experience.

Overall, I loved this film. While I feel it might have been easier to follow in some scenes if I had read the graphic novel beforehand, it doesn’t hurt the film notably. 5 stars, and a sure contender for this year’s Best Film.