The Watchmen Post

Watchmen is one of the big releases for me this year, and is a film I’ve been looking forward to intently for a good while. Considering the breadth of the original graphic novel, Zack Snyder has done an amazing job of tethering down the 12-comic series into a 2:45 movie. The film is true to the source material almost to a fault. The artistic direction and visual appearance on screen is a frame-to-frame match with the graphic novel. Unfortunately the pacing and plot progression that worked so well for a series of comic books, doesn’t work the same way for a motion picture. While respectively accurate, the necessary pacing adjustment needed to keep the audience engaged where not made, and I found myself very aware of how long the movie was throughout. As a prior fan, I am more than willing to forgive that because I was entertained from start to finish, but I don’t think that the average moviegoer will say the same though. One thing I can’t forgive however, is the soundtrack….oh my god It was rough, almost comically so. The tie-ins where shameless at best and really detracted from the scenes. I also found the gore to be overblown in many instances, and beyond the level of violence needed to get the point across in any given scene.

There where certain elements that couldn’t be touched and had to be done exactly right to make this movie go over with the fans. If Dr. Manhattan was botched CG, or the Comedian’s dark-side was reeled in for ratings, the fan boys would cry foul. I can say though with confidence that if you are a fan of the original characters, you will be blown away by how well they are portrayed in the movie. Jackie Earle Laley IS Rorschach/Walter Kovacs so much that it is scary. The efforts that have gone into maintaining the integrity of the characters and the world they live in, is incredibly impressive. Any changes that where made where done for the right reasons. The main two being the removal of the Black Freighter subplot, and the alteration of the ending. Personally I applaud these changes wholeheartedly and think that their inclusion would have soured even more people to this already unique movie.

Watchmen is a hard movie to review because I honestly think that many people will hate it, and it’s not easy to defend. I see all of its shortcomings, but at the same time forgive them. If you don’t walk into this movie already a fan I don’t think you’ll walk out one. However if you are familiar with the source material you wont be disappointed with this dark and atmospheric social commentary-of a hero movie. I can’t stress enough how this movie is not for everyone, and won’t be what a lot of people are expecting. That said, its one of the best comic adaptations I think possible, and a dynamically engaging movie that I enjoyed immensely despite its shortcomings.