Grade: B+Right off the bat I’ll tell you: I did in fact read the graphic novel on which this film is based.
Movies adapted from another source material, be it a book, play, or in this case, graphic novel, always make my life hell when it comes to writing a review. One the one hand, if I’m familiar with the source material, I generally am thrilled with how the film brings it to life and am thankful I read the original because of the extra insight it provides. If I’m not familiar with what a film is based on, and I don’t understand it, I generally rail against it and go on a tirade claiming the film should be a stand-alone product and shame on the filmmakers. In this case, I side with the former (as expected).
Director Zack Snyder walks a fine line in his retelling of the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. He takes a very rich novel (once called, ‘unfilmable’) and translates it, almost frame by frame, to the screen in a manner that is sure to satisfy fans, while simultaneously welcoming newcomers. Screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse did a fantastic job parsing down such a dense piece of literature and leaving not only the necessities, but most of the colorful details as well.
The story revolves around an alternate 1985 in which Richard Nixon is still president after repealing term limits and real people dress up in costumes to fight crime. The costumed hero phenomenon began in the fifties, and continued until Nixon outlawed vigilantism and heroes with the Keane Act. Now, former heroes are coping with living in a world that not only doesn’t want them, but one that is on the verge of nuclear annihilation that they can’t do anything about it. Meanwhile, one man caught in a scientific experiment actually is a truly super superhero but has become detached from humans and their silly emotions.
In a way, capturing the soul and nuance of a graphic novel and accurately translating it to the screen is a wonderful cinematic achievement... as well as one of the film’s pitfalls. The comic already feels so alive on its own, with each brilliant illustration drawing you further and further into the story, that simply slapping that on a screen feels almost redundant. Having read the comic only a few months ago and with it still lingering in my mind, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of “been there done that” during the film.
While it’s impossible for me to put myself in the shoes of someone who hasn’t read the book and then watched the film, I imagine it’s a bit more exciting and fresher than my experience was. However, I’m also guessing that the first two acts and their numerous flashbacks would leave a newcomer struggling to connect the dots and get it all straight before the finale.
Graphic novel aside, the film itself is truly a sight to behold. It is dripping with style much like Snyder’s pervious work 300. He puts his signature look and vision to more mature use here... for the most part. He regrettably includes yet another unnecessarily elongated sex scene and some gratuitous nudity that serves only to distract and cause the audience to snicker instead of focus on the content of the scene.*
Those minor qualms aside, visually the film is constantly stunning. One thing Snyder has down pat is atmosphere and the ability to immerse. You will lose yourself during this 2.5+ hour ordeal and you won’t mind one bit. It is thoroughly entertaining with plenty of exquisitely executed action sequences peppered throughout.
Holding Watchmen back from being the masterpiece everyone hoped it would be are the performances. Billy Crudup plays a realistically detached Dr. Manhattan and Jackie Earle Haley stands head and shoulders above everyone else, as he inhabits the character of Rorschach. On the other hand, Patrick Wilson is a merely serviceable Nite Owl and Malin Akerman struggles to keep up while playing the Silk Spectre. She is out of her league and it shows. The only performance worse is that of her character’s mother, portrayed by Carla Gugino. A film this big in scope requires an ensemble cast up for the job and this one doesn’t quite make the cut.
I also question some of Snyder’s music choices. I understand most of the songs he chose were taken directly from their references within the source material, but seeing a song title mentioned on the page is different from having a beautiful scene squashed by the overly loud opening notes of Hendrix’s ‘All Along The Watchtower.’ And I think we need to pass some kind of legislation banning the use of ‘Sound of Silence’ in a feature film ever again. That song has met its quota.
In the end my gripes with the film are nothing given its enormity and the amount of things it does right. Does it bring Watchmen to the big screen faithfully? Yes. Is it accessible for anyone to watch and enjoy? Yes. Is the action second to none? Yes. Does the transitive property hold true that because it’s the best graphic novel of all time, Watchmen is also the best graphic novel-based movie of all time? I wouldn’t go that far just yet.
BOTTOM LINE: A fantastic rendition of a phenomenal graphic novel that is worthy of your attention, even though it’s not the be all end all of comic book movies as Warner Bros. may have hoped.
*I understand it’s more “realistic” to keep Dr. Manhattan nude, but during scenes in which he is shot close up he magically has black underwear... why not just put those on him all the time? It would at least be consistent.*