kimdino-1

I imagine most will watch this as fans of Discworld, and expect to see things as Pratchett wrote them. If you are one of these then stay away, you will be left feeling very disappointed and angry.

I would liken this this rendering to be like what countless Hammer/Hollywood films did to Shelleys 'Frankenstein' or, perhaps even more so, what Disney did to Dumas's 'The Three Musketeers. However, many who did not know of Dumas's novel or the great work on the nature of life that was the novel 'Frankensien' enjoyed these very lightweight, totally different & trite renditions. You need to do the same in order to enjoy 'the Watch'.

If you view it with an open mind & no expectations then it becomes an enjoyable lightweight romp. However, you will still need to have read the Discworld novels to understand the Cheery comes from a people (dwarves) where the women are as butch & masculine as the men. Also, though Carrot is physically a human he identifies as a dwarf, though a very open-minded one.

But this knowledge of the novels left me very confused as to which character was Lupine Wonse. Vetinaris assistant was not named so when the name came up I naturally assumed that, as Pratchett stated, this was who Wonse was. But then who was woman with Carcer. It took until ep.7 to deconfuse the issue. And then introducing characters with the same names as used used in the novels, but as a totally unrelated character (e.g 'throat Dibbler the of Thieves Guild)!

This could have been good. Either by much better and more mature treatment following of Pratchetts novels or, alternatively, applying much more thought to the writing, casting & editing in the way Hammer did.

I have to give credit for. Richard Dormers portrayal of Sam Vimes though. He gave us a character much closer to how I imagine Vimesy from the novels than ANY other portrayal I've seen. Everyone else plays Pratchetts loveable, slovenly, ex-drunkard, but briiliant Watch leader far too seriously. Dormer brought out the full humour of the character, It is only unfortunate that the producers didn't supply a Carrott that was ultra-serious enough for Dormer could play of against.

I am not a great fan of Wuxia, in fact it bores me stiff to the point. Where I'd rather watch paint dry than the posturing heroes showing off. However, this film, though based on the Wuxia genre, becomes something much greater. However,a friend was adament that I should watch this and I am glad that she was so persistent.

Ang Lee has put together excellent actors, beautiful ci9nematography and his directorial skills to create a work of artistic greatness for which the Wuxia is only a framework to wrap a story around. He has taken an eye for mind wowingly beautiful camera shots and added a story that twangs the heart strings. Then he reassesed the fight scenes, necessary in any martial arts film, and choreographed them into beautiful dance scenes while retaining them as believable fight moves.

A true work of genius that should satisfy the martial arts nuts, but is something so much greater. A great work of art that will leave you with your soul refreshed regarding the beauty of mankind & the world..