March 6th, 2009
Rated R
strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language.
STARRING
Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson
DIRECTED BY:
Zack Snyder
Watchmen is an intellectually heavy and intricately created masterpiece of sequential story telling.
To say the least, I was an established fan long before I ever thought a movie would be possible, even though such rumors are almost as old as I am. Simply put, I’ve always thought Alan Moore was the comic book world’s equivalent to Kafka.
There has been no piece of literature to touch me more than his masterpiece, Watchmen. When I first flipped through the comic’s pages in the loud food court of Paramus Park mall, it made me confront fears about the world and myself, even about the very basis of our system of morality. It has influenced my choice of major, but simultaneously causes me to question that choice everyday.
Watchmen, the comic and film, follows a small group of former masked vigilantes in an alternative 1985: the US won Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers never were printed, Russia and the US are about to have WWIII and super heroes are just part of the fabric of everyday life. The murder of a government-sanctioned hero, The Comedian (who isn’t as funny as the name would suggest), sets off a chain of events that may save or destroy humanity.
Many nerds felt Watchmen, the movie, was like StarCraft Ghost; Sure, it sounded sweet, and you might see some concept art or some set designs, but it just wasn’t going to happen. That not withstanding, I’ve been waiting for this movie for the better part of my adult life.
As an elitist fan of the comic, I actually thought the Hollywood version of Watchmen would be a travesty and I would go opening night so I could be the first person to rip it a new one. I was delightfully disappointed. No sardonic paragraphs calling for Zach Snyder’s head will be found here. The movie was as good a movie as one could hope to be made from such rich and deep source material.
While Snyder does give Watchmen his own brand of stylized violence, he had sense enough to know that this isn’t a “super hero” movie; this is a movie about the very flawed and very human people “under the hood.” Those of you that go to the theatre expecting to see X-men 4 are going to be extremely disappointed.
Calling Watchmen a superhero action movie is like saying Ralph Ellison’s Battle Royal is a story about a really zany graduation party.
This movie for the most part is not going to make you feel good; instead, it rips out the darkest part of the human heart and smears it across the screen. I’m not referencing the gore, though there is plenty. What I’m talking about is how excruciatingly human every character is, even the god-like Dr. Manhattan.
The characters, despite being covered head-to-toe in latex or not being covered with anything at all, will seem more real to you than most people you know. They seem real because they inhabit our real flaws, hopes and fears.
There are a lot of scenes and subplots cut out. Some of them had some of the best dialogue in the graphic novel. But as sad as I was to not see them, I think they would have overloaded the movie and confused viewers that were unfamiliar with the comic. The editing of the movie was as seamless as is probably possible.
As a fan familiar with the novel, it was a little jarring to feel gaps missing, but I can see the reason for cutting those parts. I hope that some of it will see the light in a director’s cut, but I know there will never be a page for page, word for word Watchmen movie.
I think the movie works because the team behind it opted for omission and editing as opposed to adding a lot of content to the story that was never intended to be there. It kept the integrity of the story intact. Even the ending that was changed due to content being taken out of the movie made sense. And I’ll be brave enough to say, it was an improvement on the ending of the graphic novel.
What really shines about the movie from a design point of view is the wardrobe. While some characters had their trademark outfits overhauled, it worked. NiteOwl’s suit reflected more a man who studied aerodynamics. Silk Specter II’s outfit was a lot sexier than in the graphic novel, but to me seemed to be a nod to the outfit overhauls of many female comic book characters in the 80s. I remember as a little girl wondering why the Uncanny X-men started having an uncanny resemblance to a Fredrick’s Of Hollywood Catalog.
All in all, this isn’t a film I recommend you just see; I recommend you see it at least three times, as well as getting acquainted with Moore’s masterpiece, the inspiration for the movie! Unless you think Twilight was good. In that case, I hear Wal-Mart has some neat coloring books (and bleach tastes like sunshine. Try it!).
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