On March 4, a day before Watchmen opened nationwide in this island nation, I was surprised to see a review of this movie, based on one of the best graphic novels of all time, received a depressing 2 star rating. The reviewer claimed that the jaded superhero story was a been-there-done-that idea that failed to ignite his imagination, and that Watchmen was nothing but yet another superhero movie with no essence and zero entertainment value.
Well, I beg to differ.
Watchmen the movie, like Watchmen the graphic novel, is set in 1985 in a parallel universe where America won the Vietnam War and Nixon never had to go through the Watergate scandal. America and USSR are steps away from a nuclear war, and the doomsday clock is set at 5 minutes to midnight, indicating that annihilation is just around the corner. A group of superheroes, known as the Minutemen, was lauded and loved by the public in the 1940s. Forty years later, a new generation of superheroes known as the Watchmen has been disbanded, rejected by society and despised by its people, thanks to the Keene Act.
The story is basically a whodunit murder mystery. The Comedian aka Edward Blake, a Minutemen/ Watchmen member, was thrown out of his apartment window to his death. Roschach, another Watchmen has-been, suspects that The Comedian’s murder is only the beginning of more masked vigilante’s deaths. Roschach’s investigation introduces us to the other characters in the movie: Dan Dreiberg/ Nite Owl, Laurie Jupiter, excuse me, Juzpeczyk/ Silk Spectre II, Doc Manhattan, and Adrian Veight/ Ozymandias.
As the story unfolds, the background of each characters is revealed, and we learn how jaded and depressed these ex-superheroes are, how the dejection of the Keene Act takes away a livelihood and happiness that each character (except Roschach who refuses to obey the Act) takes from crime-fighting. We also learn about the widespread fear and uncertainty of the looming nuclear war, and ultimately, what humanity fears, what motivates it, and the results of these motivations and fears. In the process, the movie peels layer after layer of complexity that the novel took 12 issues to reveal, and we learn in the end the true motive behind The Comedian’s murder and the unexpected consequences in the search for justice.
Zack Snyder, who has been entrusted in translating Watchmen to the big screen, has stayed loyal to the graphic novel by religiously following the dialogues of Alan Moore and the illustration of Dave Gibbons. Critics may say that Snyder was using the same formula of his previous movie 300, another graphic novel adaptation, but let me say this: by using that same formula, Snyder has made a movie out of a graphic novel that has been widely believed can never be made into a movie.
Watchmen is more than just a story about a superhero trying to find the bad guy and bring him to justice. Watchmen is more than just jaded superheroes trying to find meaning in their lives after their crime-fighting alter egos are rejected by society. Watchmen tries to answer society’s questions of who is held responsible for those in power and it attempts to explain what humanity is and what it is capable of doing.
Watchmen is an intelligent, deep, complex movie that is also visually satisfying. The graphic violence is, well, graphic and unforgiving, but the story will be crippled without this violence (Roschach will never be Roschach if his acts are censored for a PG13 rating). Symbolisms that are prominent in the novel are displayed faithfully in the movie, giving more realism and completing the whole movie experience, though I am itching to see the movie again to see what I have missed.
Watchmen is a pure entertaining movie that carries a lot of intellect and (dare I say) philosophy that some people may find tiring or unbelievable, as our 2-star reviewer has found. However, fans of the graphic novel are rejoicing, and those who are new to it are awed at what a graphic novel can do. Watchmen is, without a doubt, worth more than 2 stars.
I agree with you in parts and disagree in others.
Even at two and a half hours, the film felt too short to do the characters justice. Having read the graphic novel numerous times, I was able to invest in what was going on on-screen. To watch the film felt, to me, like you needed to have read the source material before setting foot in the cinema. Would I have cared about any of the heroes had I not read the novel? Probably not. Well, maybe Roschach – but only because he was performed with Ledger-esque brilliance.
Watchmen is an exercise in visual excellence. Scene were taken straight from the book and were accurate to a fault. Which also highlighted my biggest problem, no character development. For example, when Dr. Manhattan is hounded on his TV appearance before finally snapping, it looked -exactly- as it had done in the novel.
In the novel I cared for him, felt sorry for him. On screen? Meh. No impact.
Oh, and the key scene on Mars where he lives every moment of his life in an instant didn’t convey how Dr. Manhattan saw time at all. Very, very disappointing.
I don’t have time to write all my thoughts down but I would give the film a 5 out of 10. Quite simply because it looks amazing, has one utterly awesome performance but is, ultimately forgettable.
Having said that, once the extended blu-ray is released with pop-up black freighter inserts… That should do the novel the justice it deserves.
Comment by galapaben — March 7, 2009 @ 5:27 pm |
Considering the time limitation that the novel was spared of, I can understand where your frustration comes from. I do feel a little disappointed that Doc Manhattan’s background was edited (love the broken watch significance), but the movie does its best within its limitation. I suppose the most importance thing is, Watchmen the movie has brought Watchmen the graphic novel out of cult status into mainstream. Yes, the book is always better than the movie, but this movie has done justice to the book, and most importantly, people who have never read the book understand the movie. If they want to find more, there is always the book to go to. Either way, it’s a success for the franchise commercially. (Alan Moore will probably crucify me for having said that!)
Comment by boilerbelle — March 7, 2009 @ 5:36 pm |
You’ve provided a good summary of the film’s narrative but not really much evidence to support your very positive assessment of the film. As a comic fan who is unimpressed by both the book and the film, I would really appreciate any insight you have which explains why this book / movie is thought to be so good by its fans. Because frankly I’m missing it.
Comment by sterlinglynch — March 7, 2009 @ 6:44 pm |
i have to agree that the watchmen movie did well in bringing the novel to the main stream but without the similar “ommph” and simple entertainment which main stream audiences sought like “sin city” and “300″(similar movies brought out from graphic novels directed by the same man).
“Sin city” and “300″ brought out more action scenes and more character information than what their orginal novels/comics shown us. That however is missing from this watchmen movie. Fans of the watchmen novel may think that the movie is good enough for main stream audiences..but for others.. it may be just simply forgettable.
While people whom know not of the graphic novel will come out of the show saying that it is a “intellectual” movie and that shows many in the main stream audience would have little clue what the show was all about really..just relegating it to “visual entertainment” ..
The main weakness is that the movie followed too much into the novel script while omitting many details of the novel it found not “necessary”, causing the loopholes with any fill-ups in the story script.
yes , the book will always be better than the movie but the movie may also enjoy cult status sooner or later but never a main stream classic.
I would give the film a 4 out of 10 if i do not know of the graphic novel but a 7 out of 10 because i grew up with the novel. Quite simply for a main stream movie it has good effects but is, ultimately forgettable.
Comment by marley — March 11, 2009 @ 3:05 am |
I had nagging feeling throughout the movie that the they chose the wrong girl for the (younger) Silk Spectre; all the other character choices were perfect tho
Comment by coffee — March 15, 2009 @ 7:44 pm |