Watchmen Review

Watchmen SmileyI learned two things last night in the wee hours of the morning:

1) I’m too old for midnight screenings.  Both because I get sleepy at that time of the day, and because 95% of the people in the theater were probably simply on spring break.

2) Watchmen is a terrific movie.

I doubt that the first of those items needs much more elaboration, so I’ll move on to the second one (without spoilers, by the way, so fear not and forge ahead).

Other than the extreme uber-geeks who won’t be satisfied unless Watchmen is painstakingly recreated panel for panel, line by line, fans of the graphic novel will find much to like in this film.  Zach Snyder and company nailed the tone of the original work and kept the themes intact.  Many of the scenes, lines of dialog, and even shots themselves were taken straight from the pages of Alan Moore’s magnum opus.  In the areas where the film diverged from the book, the changes were mostly good ones, made for the sake of a cinematic medium rather than a printed one.

WatchmenThat’s not to say that all the changes were welcome.  In my opinion, there were several minor changes that weren’t true to certain aspects of the original, but they are minor and (while annoyingly unnecessary) can be fairly easily overlooked.  The other fact worth noting in the area of differences is that the filmmakers chose to ratchet up the violence (a lot) to needlessly graphic levels in several instances, as well as a sex scene that, while important in the novel, was extremely drawn out for the film.  I guess I’m not surprised at either of these things given that we are taking about the guy who directed 300, but it was excessive at times, and disappointingly so.  At the same time, I should mention that in other areas, Snyder did show remarkable restraint where he could easily have chosen to (as above) go in a less-tasteful direction.

Okay, enough of that; while all of that was important to mention, this isn’t a content review.

As mentioned above, the film keeps intact the themes of Watchmen.  It portrays a dark and dreary alternate 1985, reflecting social fear and uncertainty in the wake of the Vietnam War and in light of the increasingly tense Cold War.  The opening credit sequence does a masterful job of walking through iconic moments of the second half of the 20th century and showing how they’ve turned out differently in the world of Watchmen.  This sets the stage quite well for the rest of the film, and in a short span of time prepares the audience for the fact that what they’re about to see isn’t “superheroes as usual.”  It’s also the first of many instances of music being used to great effect throughout the movie (along with everything from costumes to makeup to details in the set design) to sell both the tone and the time periods.

In terms of casting, the majority of the actors were fabulous in their roles.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan was excellent as the Comedian, and while his scenes were short and scattered throughout, I found myself always looking forward to them.  Patrick Wilson fumbled around as a wonderfully awkward Dan Dreiberg while soaring as a heroic Nite Owl.  I was surprised at how well Malin Akerman and Billy Crudup pulled off their performances as Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan, respectively, and Jackie Earle Haley turned in a pitch-perfect portrayal of Rorschach.

Watchmen PosterA few other minor downsides include several moments that stumble a little too far into campiness or self-awareness.  Also, while Watchmen clocks in at nearly three hours, the observant viewer (especially one familiar with the printed work) will notice scenes in which the pacing has clearly been sped up in the editing process, or scenes that (based on shots that prominently featured elements that then went unused) obviously had material removed from them to shorten them.  These are small problems that will probably be fixed on some of the extended-cut DVD releases.

This is a complex movie based on a complex book, and it hasn’t been dumbed down for mainstream audiences.  If anything causes it to suffer, it will be that; I suspect that many people will go in cold, expecting just another superhero action movie and find instead a mature drama with layered, complex dissection of character and culture.  Unprepared, they won’t know what to do with it.  For that reason, I have a hard time recommending this film to the casual viewer (and definitely not to younger audiences or those understandably bothered by R-rated content).  It’s a dark work, difficult and sometimes disturbing to watch, but ultimately very rewarding to those who seek to understand all that it contains.  As with the graphic novel, I don’t always agree with everything it has to say, but there is much that is insightful, much that will make you think, and it’s a film that — like the book — will reveal something new on each subsequent journey through it.

Other reviews and resources:

  • Rotten Tomatoes: A good place to go for a roundup of reviews from a variety of sources.
  • Plugged In: Focusing more on content tallies than themes and so forth, this spoileriffic review talks a lot more about why you shouldn’t see the film than its redeeming merits.  Still, it’s a resource.
  • ChristianityToday: A much more in-depth, balanced review, with plenty of resources including discussion questions.
  • Looking Closer: Jeffrey Overstreet has posted a group of various reviews featuring differing perspectives.
Bookmark It:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • LinkedIn
  • Live
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Tumblr
  • TwitThis
  • Yahoo! Buzz

About the Author

Aaron
A resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aaron's a former radio producer turned web content creator. He prefers a wide range of geekery, mostly related to media. He also enjoys cooking and traveling as well as spending time with family and friends.