REVIEW: The Watchmen

At the age of 12 or 13 the Watchmen comic book series came out, and although I still frequented the comic shops I really wasn't interested so much in reading comics anymore. Obviously you begin scouting for raunchier material. A graphic novel was a "buzz word" at that time in the later 80's. They were comics that were well more graphic in violence and sexual situations. I was always a DC comics guy. I loved me some Superman and Batman, but there was some pretty dark themes in those from time to time but nothing Earth shattering. Then I saw this Watchmen happy face all over the place in the comic store. So I picked up an issue, I think it was maybe the Dr. Manhattan issue of him on Mars. And he did a lot of talking to a chick in spandex. Not having read the other issues in the 12 part series, I had no idea what was going on and it was way over my head. I never read another issue, and probably went on to scope out some Playboys.



Now the film version of the Watchmen has been going on since that time almost with a host of directors most notably Terry Gilliam. When I head that Gilliam was going to make this I was intrigued to read the comics again. I though maybe I had missed something, and perhaps I should start at the beginning. Well that movie never happened for obvious budgetary reasons. So I lost interest until recently when it fired up again with several other directors getting as far as pre-production with Paul Greengrass. Flash forward to X-mas 08 and my wife, Amy gives me the complete graphic novel for Christmas and a companion book. So I knew the film was coming out in March, so I needed to get reading. I read most of it on my X-mas vacation. And as many of you know that have read it, its not in any way a typical super hero yarn. It is in fact almost an anti-hero yarn. I was quite taken with the characters first and foremost. They all had flaws like we do. They were all vulnerable human beings with the exception of Dr. Manhattan who is the only hero with actual super powers. And unlike most super heroes they were all rejects and castaways thought to be part of the problem, not the answer.

The book worked on many levels for me, I think it asks us about what we are as a human race and how foolish we are in times of war. The characters themselves have a hard time defining who they really are. Are they the person out of the costume or the person in the costume. And if they are the person in the costume are they insane to begin with and should they even be allowed to fight crime. But the most important theme of the movie is in the title itself. If the heroes/politicians that protect and watch over us are as human as we are, who watches over them. Who watches the watchmen. Is it a God, which in many ways is what the character of Dr. Manhattan represents. The book offers no definitive answers of course, it's left to you to think about after you are done reading the novel.



So we were able to see a sneak preview to the film last night in Big D thanks to a very special friend... We were searched from head to toe by security and I was wanded twice. It felt good after a long drive. For the first time I actually saw a security person take a video camera from a person in the audience before it started. So as a result we had creepy security people staring at us all night. Anyway on to the review of the movie.

The movie wastes no time by dispatching with the thrust of the story which is the murder of the Captain America like hero, The Comedian. The Watchmen is essentially a murder mystery which serves as a device to reveal more devious Armageddon like crimes about to happen. The opening credits then begin and in them you get a lot of back-story from the comics in a very compressed amount of time. I like how they did it and although it might confuse some who haven't read the book, it gives you all you need for the movie experience. Much like the Justice League, The Watchmen are a retired group of super heroes who have been banned from fighting crimes by Nixon now serving a third term of office. The Watchmen are all stand ins for other DC and Marvel heroes like Superman(Dr. Manhattan) Nite Owl and Rorshack make up the two sides of Batman, and Silk Spectre is Wonder Woman to an extent. And The Comedian is in several ways Captain America gone horribly wrong. The country is on the brink of nuclear war with the USSR. Things are bad all over.



Rorshack played with perfection by Jackie Earl Haley begins to investigate and persuade his fellow heroes that someone is killing "Masks" or heroes. This leads them out of retirement and eventually uncover a hideous plot to destroy the world. Director Zack Snider almost committed career suicide by trying to remake Dawn of the Dead. However that was OK, and 300 was a fun if very inaccurate ride. But it looked cool. Watchmen looks fantastic. I loved how he made it look very 80's in style but didn't try to over stylish stuff too much. Looks like he used a lot of real sets instead of a constant blue screen. It was a very good balance of styles.

The adaptation itself cuts out a lot of stuff that although worked in a novel context for the film it needed to be left out. However there were some major sins committed here. The first being the ending that has been re-worked to implicate one of the main characters. I did not like that at all. It hit me like a speed bump. I thought it was very out of character and kind of a soap operish move. The biggest problem I had with the ending was not so much the device they substituted for the one int he book but a line Dr. Manhattan utters to another character that is replaced by two other characters in the next to last scene. For me that was a very emotional part of the novel for both of those characters and reflected who they were. I did not like AT ALL that Snider shifted that line to another. It lessens its impact in a major way. That one damn thing almost ruined it for me.



But in short I really dug the rest of the movie. And I missed the plight of the people on the street. That plot is all but gone int he Watchmen. In the novel you spend time with the common street people, the inhabitants of whats left of USA. you're left with living with the rich elite and the super heroes almost. The stories of Rorshack and Nite Owl are great. I can't say enough of how perfect those parts are. Silk Spectre is also quite good, but I felt her mother played by Carla Guigino was a little overacted. The Comedian was also played quite well. Although in the novel I think he was more of a shithead than he is here. But that is nitpicking. Dr. Manhattan played by Billy Crudup is quite nice. He is not as talky as he is in the novel, and I missed some of his time shifting speeches and his F humanity scientific speak from the book as well. Overall this is a really good adaptation that for whatever reason rushes too fast to a conclusion and as a result kind of mucks up a perfect ending. I am hoping the Director's cut will find itwa way here soon, and it is about 45 mins longer. Maybe they will fill in some blanks and slow that ending down. Not to harp but it almost felt like they needed to end it because it was getting too long, and so they just made the ending shorter.

So see the movie first maybe before you read it if you plan too, and be prepared to have a blast at the movies. This is what I wanted to see when I was 12 years old on the big screen. This movie will have a hard time catching on for general audiences but I think over time it will grow in legend. This is a movie made for geeks by geeks. And now it can be done! Bring on the Green Lantern!!!!