Watchmen

By D12017K
01:41 Mar 16, 2009

Brought comic to life.
Fantastic performances by male leads.
Great action scenes.
The openning montage.

Characters are underdeveloped for the uninitiated.

Okay I've only seen Watchmen once so far and let me tell you if I were to watch it thrice more it would not be enough to absorb all of of the details that Snyder and his team infused within the plot, art and action. This is The Godfather of comic book movies. That is not to say the film is flawless, in fact it has recieved somewhat a flogging from critics mostly citing that was too derivative of the comic it was based on both in terms of visual style and dialogue.

To me however Watchmen was a thoroughly enjoyable affair and the 2 hour and 40 minutes run time still left me wishing they had not cut out some notable subplots and explore the characters even more. In my opinion this was a filmographical tribute to the holy grail of comic books and it was made for the fans. I saw it as someone who greatly admired the comic and having recently reread it has a fairly clear understanding of the immense backstory and plot layers that Alan Moore had written - as such I can only evaluate this film as a fan of the source material. I should imagine that the abrupt change in scenes and multitude of characters that lend themselves out so well across multiple comic book issues would seem quite discordant and overwhelming for those who have not been exposed to the books.

Initial figures indicate the film was a financial hit, however I would attribute the high ticket sales more to fandome earned through the extravagently successful 300 than the appeal of Watchmen to the average viewer alone. Taken as an action movie the film still carries itself well. Snyder's flare for stylizing violence and everything else that moves is well suited to the brutal hand for hand fighting that Watchmen's heroes engage in. His signiture slow motion sequences are back looking as slick as ever not as overused as it was in his last hit. The juxaposition of graceful slow downed view of key moments and motions with the frantic and visceral full speed melee fighting sequences that follow gives the feeling of still comic book frames being brought to life.

Ozy

The story is slightly altered but this is as faithful an production of the comic as can be filmed. The movie was originally deemed unfilmable by the great Terry Gilliam himself. Efforts have also been made to push for a modern version with our heroes fighting in Iraq as well alternate - happier - endings to the movie that we did get. Snyder resisted these asinine directives and instead choose to make the movie that so close to the comic he probably just spliced up the frames abit and used it as a story board. What we have is the story as much about the characters as the it is about the world them inhabit. The themes of nuclear anihilation, errosion of social decency and antagonism between east and west might not resonate as well today but still makes for an engaging carricature of human nature nontheless.

The story revolves around a group of former masked vigilanties - with no actual super powers - who have lean since been displaced by society as their novelty wore off their presence threatened the establishments of actual lawmen. For the most part they are now living dull unfulfilling live as their mild mannered alter ego. There are however a few exceptions notably Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) who continues to fight crime while bitter and himself outlawed, the irrevent and world weary Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) working overseas in government sanctioned operations or pimped out his heroic persona and being highly influentual like the world's smartest man Ozymadias (Matthew Goode).

The already unbalanced status quo is given a huge shake up as we witness the murder of the Comedian in the film's openning sequence, Rorschach who views the world in much the same light as the him delves in where he is not welcomed to investigate. By doing so he involves other heroes who has long since hung up their masks, including his old partner Night Owl II (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) and even the sole superhuman power in the universe Dr Manhattan (Billy Crudup). What initially seemed like an simple murder quickly unravels to reveal there are far more sinister forces at work and it is up to those former heroes to step up and save the world from tragic destruction again. To reveal more would take away the impact of the plot, just make sure you pay attention or things might not all fall into place in your head.

Fans of the comic will note some major changes to certain plot elements, however the new narrative leads to exactly the same morale outcomes and does not distract from the tone of the comic at all. Things are as bleak as ever. There are many a flash back, occuring nearly every second scene revealing the back story to the heroes and how they got to be they way they are - with very human flaws and vulnerabilities. Watchmen is an exploration of how fallible our heroes are and how quickly we can turn on them when they begin to project the same flaws that society embody as a whole. It is also an exploration of how the individual can be simultaneously helpless and powerless in the grand scale of things and yet have a frighteningly big role to play in shaping the fate of the world.

I could go on and on about how many themes have been juggle into the plot, but there has already been plenty written on the subject. And lets face it, if you wanted to see the thought provoking side of Watchmen you should read the comic. The movie is here to dazzle and entertain with its spectular visuals and it does so successfully although it's not as well sustained as 300 was.

Where Watchmen surpasses Snyder's previous reproduction of a beloved classic graphic novel is in the richness of the art direction. They sets, backgrounds and costumes were brilliant right from the opening montage - a set of brief scenes depicting the rise and fall of masked vigilanties and their role in iconic images and moments from the decades following the end of World War 2. The movie has been criticised for following too rigidly the art of Dave Gibbons (who drawn Watchemen), again I do not see this as a bad thing as the movie serves largely as a tribute and the richness of the imagery in the source material could not have been brought to life better.

Observant viewers will also catch a few 300 references here and there, keep your eyes pilled. This is a movie full of fan service made for fans, if you loved the action from 300 or the art and story of the Watchmen comics or both then do not miss your chance to see it.

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