Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s celebrated graphic novel Watchmen has long been considered ‘unfilmable’. When you consider the film’s turbulent production history, it looked likely to stay that way too. Before Warner Bros. asked director Zack Snyder to come onboard in 2005, the film had already failed to go into production at the hands of no less than three major studios, three directors and multiple script rewrites. The success of Snyder’s 300, despite its MA15+ rating, gave Warner confidence in the director’s ambitious vision for making the most faithful adaptation possible – rape, child murder, impotence and a naked blue guy all inclusive.
The result is a visually striking film that, despite its flaws, is an ominous, provocative and audacious comic book adaptation in the same vein as The Dark Knight…albeit one that is not quite as easy to, well, watch.
Much to the relief of fans, Snyder fought tooth and nail to have the film set in its original 1985 timeframe instead of modern day as early drafts attempted. However, this isn’t the 80′s you might remember – Richard Nixon is entering his fifth term as president, JFK’s assassination was in fact ordered by the Government and masked superheroes were the deciding factor in Vietnam, leading to an outright US victory.
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History is given a skewed rewrite in Watchmen. |
Not all of history is completely rewritten; tensions between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War have reached a critical level, many predicting an impending nuclear war. It’s an alternate timeline that might take newcomers some getting used to; Snyder does his best with limited time to ease the audience into Alan Moore’s universe by using a history-condensing montage, fittingly overlayed with Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changing’. Although, what on earth Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ is doing later on in the film is anyone’s guess.
Even though we are taken back to 1985, the relevance of the films underlying message is not lost on modern society; we still exist in a world on the brink of destruction, and we only have to blame ourselves. Sure, we don’t have a fluorescent blue man (a CG Billy Crudup) capable of reconstructing matter at the flick of a wrist, who is a member of a group of masked vigilantes pursuing justice; but if we did, I’m sure they’d be as troubled as the Watchmen are here.
Having since retired from crime fighting at the introduction of a new law banning masked superheroes, former Watchman The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) turns up dead in his apartment, immediately raising suspicion that someone is trying to kill off each of the masked vigilantes. The psychopathic Watchman named Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) begins his own investigation into the murder, providing the basis of his cold Noir-esque voice over, ultimately uncovering something far more sinister than he originally thought.
But Watchmen is more than just a murder investigation; while it’s not exactly an origin story, the film intertwines flashback sequences into the core story to explain how each member became a masked crime fighter, revealing their dark and problematic pasts. The superhuman Dr. Manhattan and psychotic Rorschach, portrayed with cold menace by a standout Jackie Haley, are particularly fleshed out. Yet such shifting chronology can make for a turbulent journey; the pacing is sometimes off, expected for a film nearing two and a half hours, and the convoluted narrative structure will likely prove to be confusing to newcomers. This is due to the films most ironic critique; Watchmen is perhaps too faithful to the graphic novel.
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By attempting to recreate the source text frame by frame, Snyder’s film mightn’t appeal to the moviegoers unfamiliar with the Watchmen universe. The extreme level of violence, highly mature themes, long runtime and relatively unknown cast are not the typical makings of a summer superhero film.
Yet for the very same reasons, one must commend Snyder. Watchmen needed to be the fan film it is; if Snyder went about drastically altering the most celebrated graphic novel of all time, it would have certainly caused a bitter outcry from the many fans. Snyder has also achieved what many said was impossible; he has in-fact filmed the unfilmable, and arguably done so as well as anyone could have.
Verdict:
Watchmen is a visually arresting and affecting adaptation that mostly does the source material proud. Yet because of the specific appeal of Alan Moore’s mature graphic novel, and the convoluted narrative structure that has resulted from its translation to film, Zack Snyder’s faithful recreation is unlikely garner the wide praise that rightfully bestowed last year’s The Dark Knight. After all, The Comedian is no Joker.
Follow the author Anders Wotzke on Twitter.
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Can't wait for this, the novel is brilliant! Glad to see it liked, a good sign!
Posted on March 6th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Really enjoyed the graphic novel and already have tickets to see it tonight. Been reading very similar reviews from around the net and being a fan of the novel, should be a fan of the movie. It's supposed to be epic and I am ready for it.
Posted on March 6th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
My god. I fucking loved this. 'Scusing my French, of course. I'm re-reading the novel at this very moment, I'm seeing it again at IMAX next week. Already, it's dividing those in my circle of existence, and the interwebbing public – which was altogether expected, what with the status of Alan Moore's novel as perhaps the most important graphic novel of all time.
I think that Snyder's position as a complete fanboy means that I don't think widespread acclaim and accolades was as high a priority as a faithful adaptation of the material.
As such, I guess one could even say I'm proud of him for keeping the running time so long, in trying so hard to cram as much of each character's backstory into the narrative. Of course, this means that we've got montages coming out of every orifice, but for once, this didn't annoy me.
Oh, and I really dug the use of Cohen's "Hallelujah"
Posted on March 7th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Wow I really wanted to like this movie, but I hated it. the watchmen was a waste of time. It is a crime to compare it to Batman Returns.
Posted on March 9th, 2009 at 3:23 am
That's a shame, Tom. It's certainly a love hate film. Critics are VERY divided over the film. However, I really loved the themes and style of the film….in fact, the film creeps back into my mind all the time. Still, I totally agree that The Dark Knight (I assume that's what you mean when you say Batman Returns, as I didn't compare Watchmen to Tim Burton's film) Is a far better film in most aspects.
Posted on March 9th, 2009 at 4:33 am
I disagree with Tom, and am happily on your side with this one Anders! Not only is it (as you say) "visually arresting" but it's operatic in sweep, and philosophically profound. There's no cohesive plot to speak of, but rather an adherence to thematic context. Yes, you make a good point when you say it may have stayed "too close" to the graphic novel, but therein may be part of its strength too. I went in to this film fully expecting to hate it. I never connect with bombastic superhero movies (I'm an old fart in my early 50's anyway!) but my five kids who range from 12 down to 6 all love a number of them. They were a bit cool to WATCHMEN, but i really was mesmerized but much of its visceral style and stark scheme. Your stellar four-star review is dead-on methinks! Here's your excellent summary verdict here which i fully agree with:
"The result is a visually striking film that, despite its flaws, is an ominous, provocative and audacious comic book adaptation in the same vein as The Dark Knight…albeit one that is not quite as easy to, well, watch."
Nice work Anders!
Posted on March 10th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
You've made some great points about Watchmen. I enjoyed it mostly, but agree it is no Dark Knight. The confusing narrative is part of it, but the caliber of acting isn't quite in the league of DK either. But it honored the novel and entertained the hell outta me.
Posted on March 14th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Okay, so I FINALLY saw the film, so here's my two cents: unbelievably faithful to the novel, what was left out was compensated for by cameos anyway.
Soundtrack was really awesome, particularly liked the subtle use of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' during Veidt's discussion with negotiators. To me, 'Hallelujah' represented something good to come out of the dark place the Watchmen find themselves in.
Casting was spot on, particularly with the Comedian and Dan Dreiberg. They were exactly as the book depicted them. It's uncanny just how much they actually look like the drawn characters and managed to pull it off.
Perhaps having read the book it was easier to grasp, but it appeared easy to follow on screen. Visually it was stunning.
It asks a lot of questions about who we are as people and our society – that's why I felt so compelled to write something about it. I really do see it as relevant to our world now.
One of the films of the year already. Expectations were upheld. Excellent!
Posted on March 18th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Okay, so I FINALLY saw the film, so here's my two cents: unbelievably faithful to the novel, what was left out was compensated for by cameos anyway.
Soundtrack was really awesome, particularly liked the subtle use of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' during Veidt's discussion with negotiators. To me, 'Hallelujah' represented something good to come out of the dark place the Watchmen find themselves in.
Casting was spot on, particularly with the Comedian and Dan Dreiberg. It's uncanny just how much they actually look like the drawn characters and managed to pull it off.
Perhaps having read the book it was easier to grasp, but it appeared easy to follow on screen. Visually it was stunning.
It asks a lot of questions about who we are as people and our society – that's why I felt so compelled to write something about it. I really do see it as relevant to our world now.
One of the films of the year already. Expectations were upheld. Excellent!
Posted on March 18th, 2009 at 12:35 am
in the final words of the female lead “it go on forever”… the same is true of this film!
Posted on October 10th, 2009 at 11:04 am
in the final words of the female lead “it go on forever”… the same is true of this film!
Posted on October 10th, 2009 at 11:34 am
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