Review of Watchmen
Watchmen (18)
Director: Zack Sydner
Writers: David Hayter and alex Tse
Staring: Jackie Earle Harley, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman & Matthew Goode
Running Time: 2hrs 43 mins
The greatest graphic novel of all time has finally been made into a film after twenty years of development hell and having a number of top directors attached to the project. The main question is does it appeal to fans of the graphic novel and the general public?
The answer is a yes and no.
Watchmen is set in an alternative version of 1985 where superheroes have existed and been outlawed by the American Government. Richard Nixon has been elected to five terms as President and the United States have won the Vietnam War. America is even more powerful in this version of the world and has the only real superhero, Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) who makes Superman look no better then a gymnast. However, the world is on the edge of nuclear war and the Soviets are building up it forces against the Afghan border.
The film starts with the murder of Eddie Blake, AKA the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), in an excellent fight scene. The paranoid conspiracy nut Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) and the only mask vigilante to be working illegally, investigates the Comedian's murder and believes there is a ‘mask killer'. He believes his theory is confirmed when there is an assassination attempt on Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) and Doctor Manhattan exiles himself to Mars after completely loosing touch with humanity. Rorschach is then arrested by the police and the last two superheroes the Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) and Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) are called into action.
Watchmen starts promisingly with the opening fight scene and uses the forth minute opening credits to give you a quick history of the Watchmen world. The film is mostly loyal to the graphic novel but does change a bit in the final third. There are minor changes throughout the film but that is acceptable.
One big change however is Doctor Manhattan seems to be the most major character and is looked at most in-depth. But in the graphic Rorschach is the driving force of narrative. The film does overlook Rorschach's origins which was my favourite chapter in the original format.
Watchmen had a number of screenwriters and directors before the film got off the ground. Terry Gilliam was originally offered the chance to direct but he felt Watchmen was not filmable (and he is the master of the not filmable). Gilliam felt that Watchmen would have worked best as a five hour mini-series.
Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were also offered the chance to direct, Paul Greengrass coming very close but both projects fell through.
Zack Synder was the man who finally got to make this film. He has been involved in tough challenges; he made a rather good remake of Dawn of the Dead and 300 which was highly entertaining. Synder trained as an artist and he had a flair for visuals with their excellent actions scenes. Synder is a Watchmen fan-boy and wanted to make the film as loyal as possible. He did not want to update the story nor change the plot dramatically. Throughout filming he demanded that every member of the cast read Watchmen and have copies available on set.
The fight scenes are very similar to ones in 300: the fight scene in the prison was almost a copy of the first fight in 300. Synder also fought to make the film R-rated, which is 15/18 over here. Watchmen is a highly violent and if you don't know the graphic novel you will be shocked with some of the scenes. As well there are sex scenes, nudity and blue willy action.
Unfortunately, some of the CGI is a bit too obvious and ruins the illusion. But Doctor Manhattan looks impressive, especially close up.
The casting is hit and miss. Jackie Earle Haley was perfect as Rorschach, getting the look and the voice right and he is by far the best actor in the film. Haley is also a big fan of the graphic novel. Patrick Wilson was very good as Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II. Billy Crudup, an actor who has been a couple of films I liked, did well as Doctor Manhattan, giving a deliberate monotone performance.
Matthew Goode offered a strange lisp as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias but lacked the charisma he had in the graphic novel. I thought Malin Akerman offered the worst performance, being wooden and seemed only to be cast because of her looks.
Robert Wisden offers a good impression of Richard Nixon.
The soundtrack was very hit-and-miss. There was no Muse or Smashing Pumpkins that were in the trailers which surprised me. There is Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix who are excellent singers, but I thought Simon & Garfunkel did not fit with the film.
The graphic novel is a very complex read with a number of subplots and a commentary on both the Cold War and the comic book industry. If you know your history and American politics you can see some of these references and fans of the graphic novel can see some of the Easter Eggs. In the theatrical cut most of the subplots had be to cut, but there will be a three and half hour director's cut and if you know the graphic novel then you will see where some of these subplots interlink with the main story.
I read the review in the Daily Mail (ashamedly) and the critic gave it a turkey. He criticised the film when the heroes are involved in an attempted rape, murder a pregnant women and a villain murders a six-year-old which results in violent revenge. I was thinking that was the whole point. These are not superheroes in the traditional scene. They suffer human emotion and all are conflicting characters. Some are not meant to be heroic. Some have political views, from a strange type of liberal, to neo-conservative to outright fascist.
If you plan to see Watchmen I suggest you read the graphic novel first. It may also be worth waiting for the director's cut. The characterisation and the themes will appeal to Watchmen fans and the action will hold the attention of non-fans but I think the film is far from perfect. It is not the Dark Knight or X-Men 2, but it is far better then Fantastic Four and Daredevil.
