Watchmen (2009)

director: Zack Snyder 

writer: David Hayter and Alex Tse 

starring: Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earl Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Amy Ackerman, Billy Crudp

genre: Crime, Comics

Who watches the watchmen? Well I did. After years of plagued attempts to get this to the big screen it’s finally here. But now that film is out on the big screen does it do the graphic novel any justice? Can the public actually like a film so dept into politics? The truth is yes. Most fans will be pleased that the work of Alan Moore was treated with much respect and this the best we could have wished for from all the terrible comic book films that are put out. And yes for the common man or woman who doesn't know of the comic, will enjoy this flick. If you enjoyed The Dark Knight then you're in for a treat.

The story is placed in an alternate history 1985 where vigilantes are now outlawed and the cold war rages on as the doomsday clock goes close to midnight. In the midst of this there is a plot to kill masks. The Comedian/Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is killed in his home. Not known to the public that he is the Comedian. Old team member Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley) believes it’s a plot to kill masks. In an effort to uncover the plot he investigates and warns his former Watchmen teammates of the incoming danger. Not everyone is still in vigilante form. The Comedian now dead had become an goverment agent, Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) scientist for the government with his wife Silk Specter II accompanying., Night Owl/Daniel Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson) left to mundane beer nights with original Night Owl and Ozymandias/Andrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) the smartest man in the world running a corporation. Rorschach investigation starts getting warmer when dire events occur. As things get hairy the Watchmen reunite to find themselves in the middle of the end of the world.

To talk about this film we should realize how difficult it was in the first place to be made. The material in the novel is not easy to put on the big screen. A comic within a comic is one example. Things were taken out and things were put in. One thing that the production did right was casting. All very good actors and primarily not A-listers was a wise choice. Special effects were incredible to say the least. A lot of the political material of the novel is still present and a lot whats going on in the film can be connected to what’s happening today in the world. Fear, riots all this we can correspond with. Also the meaning of what a hero is. All this make Watchmen a unique film where other films don't usually step into.

But like I said before that we have to realize the difficulties of making this film that still don’t mean we can forgive mistakes so easily. Director Zack Snyder had a difficult job and made some weird choices. The music in the film is quite awkward. All songs are too known and clichéd for example Sound of Silence or All Along the Watchtower. A sex scene that never needed to see the light of day and a very clunky subplot that a 2 ½ hour film didn’t help me believe it. Also an action scene that looked cool but didn’t help the film story wise. Most of the mistakes are silly and derail the film in making the experience a better one.

Let me now talk about about the comic. This was by far one of the most difficult comics to adapt for various reasons. Creator Alan Moore not willing to help out, studios messing up right and left. Zack Synder was the guy though that changed that. The comic was a satire of the superhero genre and a deep research into what is a superhero. All this did not help to bring it to film form sooner. The problem with this film compared to the comic is that it resembles sometimes too much the comic. You don’t see that many artistic liberties and those taken in the film are not great to say the least except the opening credits sequence which one of the best ideas I’ve seen in years. There is another thing we have to understand the comic was over 12 months which you could read each chapter at ease and get really into the plot, the characters and so on. Here 2 ½ hour film is not enough for us to believe this subplot. The whole mystery to whose was behind the plot felt lackluster. There was no mystery to the plot and there were too many clues to who did it .Few changes have been made to the comics story and there not bad but not needed.

There’s not much more too say but that Watchmen is an very intelligent pop corn film that proves films can be smart and fun at the same time. The work of Alan Moore was ahead of its time so we should be a little grateful that the adaption was so faithful at times and then others times not faithful enough. It loses it self in silly moments were exploration of more creative avenues would have been necessary to make this a better film. Let’s just hope that this is not the end of serious comic book films coming out that The Dark Knight started and that Watchmen here continues.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul