Buy Or Don’t Buy

Let me go ahead and warn everybody right now…I am a huge fan of the Watchmen graphic novel, so, this is a review coming from someone who has been anxiously awaiting this movie for the past few years. I’ll do my best to critique for the uninitiated as well, but, seeing as how I can’t speak for them, this will be more of a review for those who have read the novel (I’d definitely be interested in finding out the reactions of those who haven’t read the book. I’m surrounded by nerds who eat this stuff up…and I include myself in that group).

The Directors:

Watchmen is unlike any other graphic novel ever written. It was created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons to be unsuitable for any format other than the comic book. It turned the idea of costumed heroes completely upside down and was considered to be not only the greatest comic book ever written, but one of the greatest works of fiction as well (Time Magazine included it on its list of the 100 All Time Novels). It’s taken nearly 25 years to get it to the screen and a slew of directors had been attached to direct over the course of its development, including Terry Gilliam (director of Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, who claimed he could not make the movie with a running time of less than 5 hours) and Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler). Finally, with the release of the surprise R-rated hit 300, Warner Bros. found their savior in director Zach Snyder.

Snyder initially refused. As far as he was concerned, Alan Moore meant for it to stay away from the movie theaters, and he wanted to respect that. However, after seeing how other potential directors had planned to tamper with the classic story (It would take place in present day, becoming a commentary on the War on Terror; Its bleak ending would be replaced by a happy one where everything worked out), he decided the only way to ensure that it made it to screen in a form that was respectful to the source material was if he directed it. After a slew of legal battles involving 20th Century Fox claiming they had the rights and threatening to ‘veto’ Watchmen altogether, the final result has finally made it to the screen. Was it worth the wait or was Alan Moore correct when he stated that the book really is unfilmable?

Though there is no easy answer to that question, I’d say, for the most part, Snyder and co. have succeeded. Somehow, they’ve managed to take the book, and, even with flashbacks and origin stories of the main characters slowing down the pace of the film, they’ve succeeded in making a movie that should blow people away. The visuals are absolutely stunning. It’s pretty much like living in the world that Moore and Gibbons have created. The alternate era that was imagined by these two is depicted quite accurately by Snyder and his merry band of filmmakers. Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach, especially, seem like they tore their way out of the comic just to be in the film. On top of that, Snyder sure does know how to make a good action sequence. The fights in this movie are brutal, and spectacularly choreographed.

The Cast:

Performances all around are surprisingly good as well. Patrick Wilson particularly shines as Dan Drieberg, aka Nite Owl II, the ex-superhero whose adventurous past never ceases to haunt him. Other great performances come from Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian, who manages to instill quite a bit of humanity into this despicable personality. Surprisingly, you even end up sympathizing with him, despite all the horrible things he’s done. Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan aka that naked blue guy) also has the thankless role of being completely digital for practically the whole movie, and, in addition, playing a character who is emotionally disconnected from everything and everyone around him. Thanks to the brilliant special effects team, he still manages to provide a good performance. Malin Akerman (Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II) and Matthew Goode (Adrian Veidt,/Ozymandias) are the only weak links in this otherwise great cast. It’s not that either of them are horrendously awful as some have stated, but neither of them are particularly memorable in their roles.

But, let’s not kid ourselves, though these performances were all incredible in their own ways, there is only one that stands out not only the finest performance in the movie, but as one of the finest this year. That performance is Jackie Earle Haley’s as the masked vigilante Rorschach. Rorschach has always been the fan favorite of the comic book, and Haley seemed to understand this right from the get-go. His performance is spot on. He captures the grittiness and the insanity of the character, and even manages to show glimpses of humanity…and that’s just with the mask on. When it’s off, his performance only gets better. His scene, being analyzed by a psychologist, is probably the finest performance of the movie. The look in his eyes sent shivers down my spine. The only other performance I can think to compare it to is Heath Ledger’s Joker. Yes, it’s that good.

The Actual Film:

So, with all this praise about the visuals and the performances and blah blah blah, the movie is, undoubtedly a masterpiece and a new cinematic classic, right??

Well…not exactly. The pacing of the movie is always a bit off with all the flashbacks and seemingly endless amounts of exposition. This helps deepen the characters’ personalities, but it definitely slows down the pace of the film every time we go into flashback mode. This is perfect in book form, but on film? Not so much. Another thing lost in the translation was the amount of humanity that Moore managed to instill into this cold and depressing world he created. A lot of the supporting characters have been sacrificed because they have no place in a linear telling of this story. These were just average people living in NY, discussing the events and offering an interesting commentary on the time period. Getting rid of all those scenes keeps things moving along, but these characters are sorely missed, as they provided a lot of humanity to a very strange story. The movie always shows flashes of brilliance, but it never seems to keep it up. For every flash of brilliance, there are a couple things that just don’t work well. For instance, the opening credits set to Bob Dylan’s brilliant ‘The Times they are A-Changin’ is inspired. A sex scene set to the song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen is not quite as successful, but it did manage to inspire some laughs.

Final Thoughts:

Watchmen ends up being more of a fascinating experiment than a successful, stand-alone film. One can’t help but be impressed by Zach Snyder’s ambition and sheer enthusiasm in getting this material to the screen. His love for comics and this graphic novel in general is definitely evident, and I highly doubt anyone else could have pulled it off better than him. Let’s also not forget that this is his THIRD feature film. I don’t care what angle you’re looking at it from…that’s pretty impressive.

Even though I’m in agreement with all the crazy fans that Watchmen should have just been left alone, there’s no doubt that people would have complained and whined until a film adaptation was released. If this is the result of the unfilmable book being made into a movie, then I have nothing to complain about. It could have been so much worse, and, even though fans will complain to no end, this is probably the best film adaptation we will ever get of the material. It’s nice to see it done so respectfully, even if it wasn’t perfect.

I’d say if you really don’t know if you want to see the movie or read the book first, by all means, go for the book. It’s a true masterpiece. The film feels more like a companion piece for fans who just wouldn’t rest until they got to see their favorite characters in action. On that level, it works. As long as you don’t go in expecting a masterpiece of filmmaking, you’ll be ok. DO expect a disjointed, ambitious, and visually stunning work from a fan who was determined to get Watchmen to the screen as best as possible. Whether he was successful or not will depend on how badly you wanted to see a Watchmen movie in the first place.

**** out of  *****

Image Sources: Elblogazodelcomic’s Flickr, OfficialWatchmenPhotos’ Flickr, JamesFuture’s Flickr.