Accessibility links
Are Critics Or Crowds Right About 'Watchmen'? Watchmen topped the box office in its opening weekend, but critics across the country panned the film. John Ridley, who has written both movies and comic books, thinks there's "nothing wrong" with the film and that critics might just need to get over themselves.

Opinion

Are Critics Or Crowds Right About 'Watchmen'?

Heard on Talk of the Nation

Are Critics Or Crowds Right About 'Watchmen'?

Listen · 17:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/101622528/101622522" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Enlarge this image

Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays The Comedian, a character he believes is "a little bit on the insane side." Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Warner Bros. Pictures

Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays The Comedian, a character he believes is "a little bit on the insane side."

Warner Bros. Pictures

Watchmen topped the box office in its opening weekend, but critics across the country panned the film.

Kenneth Turan, who reviews movies for both NPR and the Los Angeles Times, wrote "What went wrong with Watchmen is not really anyone's fault. It never should have been turned into a film in the first place. " And Anthony Lane, who reviewed Watchmen for the New Yorker, called the opening sequence "easily the highlight of the film."

John Ridley has written both movies and comic books. He thinks there's "nothing wrong" with the film and that critics might just need to get over themselves.