The Watchmen --- reviewed by Craig Silliphant "The Movie Geek"
Dir: Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) Stars: Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman
Synopsis: Based on the comic book limited series/graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, The Watchmen tells the story of an alternate 1985, where costumed heroes are being knocked off as part of a much more fiendish plot.
Wow. This movie was 2 hours and 42 minutes long --- and for the most part, I thought it flew by. This is not your Daddy's Superman. It’s a dark mediation on the anxieties we feel as a society --- like the threat of nuclear war, crime, and government trickery. It’s also meant to be sort of an anti-superhero book, where the heroes are more complex, people who are often violent reflections of their reality. It’s been imitated on shows like NBC’s Heroes and Pixar’s The Incredibles.
This was the movie that they said could never be properly adapted. But Snyder's movie brings the comic book to life in amazing ways. The colours and characters explode off the screen. There is depth to the story and dialogue that is taken right from the book. I would have never thought anyone could pull this movie off so well, but Snyder has done a bang up job. All the acting was great, with perhaps the exception of Malin Akerman, who delivers her lines in an awkward Drew Barrymore sound-alike fashion. Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley (who were both in 'Little Children' with Kate Winslet) were incredible as Nite Owl and Rorschach. Patrick Wilson put on a bunch of weight to play the aging, overweight Nite Owl, which was a nice touch.
Here's the catch. I loved this movie --- but it’s not going to be for everyone. This isn’t a guy ducking into a phone booth and emerging with a shiny red S on his chest while children cheer. This is a bloody, R-rated whirlwind of violence. The Watchmen was a challenging comic book that defied tradition and was filled with subversive messages. The movie is a faithful adaptation of that. The comic book was one of the first to be considered 'literature', even winning a Hugo Award and landing on Time's list of 100 Best pieces of Fiction since 1932.
A lot of it will go over your head if you're not familiar with the comic --- and there's no shame in that. Now, could they have dumbed it down and made it more accessible to everyone? Yes --- but in doing so, they would have lost the essence of what made The Watchmen one of the greatest comic books of all time. The comic book was meant to be read 4 or 5 times, so that you’re still picking things up each time you read it. Alan Moore, who refuses to watch any of his work when it's adapted by Hollywood has said that he likes the medium of the comic because he can make the story complex, and if you miss something, you can flip back a few pages, which you can't do with a movie (well, at least until the DVD is released!). Zack Snyder, in staying faithful to the material has once again proven that he has the chops to be one of the best up and coming directors around. You could dumb down Moby Dick to just make it about a guy hunting a whale too, but Moby Dick is so much more than that. The Watchmen is much more than just a fun action superhero romp. I'm guessing this will become a huge cult hit. It is a movie that you'll be able to watch again and again, picking up something new each time.
4 and a HALF Dorks out of 5 on the Geek-o-Meter (though that rating will come down for those who were expecting a fun little comic book movie).