One of the most classic and treasured lines in all of comic book history. I'll admit that I'm something of a fan of Alan Moore's works, at least the two books I've read by him (V for Vendetta and Watchmen). Watchmen was a fantastic graphic novel that in my view redefined how graphic novels should be produced and introduced some of the most intriguing characters to ever grace this world. Now, about 20 years after its completion, Hollywood decided it was time to produce a Watchmen movie. Situated in release almost immediately after the truly excellent Iron Man and The Dark Knight, expectations were high for this movie to both entertain and remain true to the source material.
In many ways, it succeeded. The script for this film was very well thought out and included pretty much all of the major points that needed to be hit from the novel. I was a little disappointed that certain characters that were important to the novel were practically glossed over in the movie, but I can understand why Snyder and the writing team decided to cut them. They turned out to be extraneous to the overall plot, and there is only so much screen time that the average audience can handle. The major reveal at the end is actually even better than the original version in the graphic novel, and it's always impressive to see something like that come out of a movie.
The characters all maintain their unique characters and both move and sound almost exactly how I imagined they'd sound in my mind. The Comedian is a gruff, overbearing jock with a deep voice and a snarky smile. Nite Owl II is appropriately dressed down and underwhelming, even though he's impressively skilled and intelligent. Rorschach has a gruff, deep voice that is subtly different from Comedian's, and he emits an air of danger and intrigue basically everywhere he goes. Adrian Veidt, in my mind, was somewhat underwhelming both as a hero and a villain. His personality was very understated, and his voice wasn't as commanding as I would have liked it. However, he serves his purpose very well and Goode's acting skills are well utilized.
The story moves along at a relatively brisk pace most of the time and doesn't attempt to overwhelm the viewer with too much information at any single time. Again, some subtleties and nuances of the original novel are missed due to the more visual nature of the film medium, but that is again to be expected.
Visually, this film takes great strides, but ultimately I believe comes up short in a lot of ways. Rorschach's face is an impressive bit of CGI and shows his emotions perfectly. Nite Owl II's gadgetry is treated with great respect and is utilized perfectly. Veidt's true nature is almost literally shown many times with the way the lighting and camera work captures him. However, there are flaws here, as I'll explain below.
I have four major gripes with this movie, though, and all three of them have to do with the movie's style, not its substance.
The first is the overall visual style of the film. The Watchmen graphic novel was almost unnecessarily bright, filled with sharp colors and crisp, clean lines that clearly defined each character and his surroundings. The film, however, is very, very dark pretty much from beginning to end.
The only character that relays the brightness in color of the original novel is Dr. Manhattan, and his body is literally glowing. Other than that, the entire film is all but noir in look. Colors are subdued almost to the point of being black and white. Compare the movie version of the characters above to the comic version to the left to better understand my point. There are some interesting things that happens because of this scheme, but overall I feel that it detracts from the experience of Watchmen.The second is the film's score. I understand the need to have more topical music for some of the montages, but the music as a whole just felt wrong for the scenes it was used in. For example, they used Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence for the funeral scene. A great song, to be sure. Yet I don't feel it was appropriate for both the funeral and the collection of montages that surround it. The rest of the movie is littered with these odd music choices that I feel only distract from the movie as a whole.
The third is the almost unnecessarily graphic treatment given to basically the entire movie. Fight scenes involve not just arms getting broken, but skin getting ripped off, blood splattering everywhere, bones sticking out of bodies. In one scene, a character takes a bite out of another character's cheek. In another, an extended fight scene between two Watchmen and a gang of thugs culminates in a thug getting stabbed in the neck and then getting used as a human bullet shield. In the novel, one of the things that is quite clear is that the violence is talked about, but never shown. Most of the characters try to avoid taking lives unless it's absolutely necessary. The level of violence is obscene. The treatment of sex is almost as obscene, almost to the point of being pornographic. At least no parts were shown in action, but that seems to be a token gesture at best. This is not a movie to take the kids, no matter how much they beg and plead.
The forth is the use and overuse of CGI footage. One of the basis of the original graphic novel was the idea that every single hero was an ordinary person behind the mask, with no superpowers to speak of; just a will and the training to be better than their opponents. It seems like every single fight scene in the entire movie utilized CGI to some extent. One human character seems to be completely CGI generated whenever bathed in light. These characters were never supposed to be pretty. They were supposed to be ordinary, flawed people. Having CGI to alter one human character's appearance is completely out of line in my opinion. The only character that truly deserved CGI treatment was Dr. Manhattan, and that's because he's literally a glowing, pulsating body of energy.
Overall, this is a faithful retelling of the Watchmen story. It's filled with unique visual images, the characters are true to the original telling, and its script is well done. This film, while not a classic, is a worthwhile watch for any comic book fan interested in the history of the craft.
3.5/5
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