Watchmen

[wbassett]

"But who watches the Watchmen?"

Directed by Zack Snyder (300)

Writing credits (WGA)
David Hayter (screenplay) and
Alex Tse (screenplay)
Dave Gibbons (graphic novel illustrator)
Alan Moore (graphic novel) uncredited

Actors Malin Akerman, Billy Cudrup, Mathew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley,
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer

Rated R

Run Time 163 minutes

The much anticipated graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Gibbons finally hits the big screen. Some are saying the Watchmen is to the super hero genre as The Godfather was to mob movies. I'm not sure I personally would put it on that level, but it certainly is spectacle to behold. Visually the Watchmen is stunning. It is however though extremely violent and bloody... definitely not something to take the kids to see.

The story takes place in an alternate time-line. The year is 1985 and masked super hero's are common place. Richard Nixon is still president and in his fifth term and the cold war is raging on and more heated than ever. The movie's super hero's do not possess any 'super powers', the only exception being Dr. Manhattan. This isn't as hard to buy into seeing that Batman is just an ordinary human with no actual 'powers'.

Where the Watchmen departs from the typical comic book to movie super hero fare is these masked hero's are very flawed. Some are just as bad as the criminals they are taking off the streets, Rorschach and The Comedian being the worse of them all. The only one with true powers is slowly losing touch with humanity and sees the human race as a mild curiosity at best.

Before continuing, let's have a brief introduction to the main characters: From left to right- The Comedian, Night Owl II, Rorschach, Silk Spectre II, Ozymandias, and in the background is Dr. Manhattan

Rorschach
A vigilante who wears a white mask that contains constantly shifting ink blots, Rorschach continues to fight crime in spite of his outlaw status. Born Walter Kovacs, he was raised in an orphanage and worked in the garment industry. By the time the story begins, he is seen walking around New York carrying a "The End Is Nigh" notice. In 1975, after a failed attempt to find and rescue a young kidnapped girl before she was murdered, he loses his sanity, viewing Rorschach as his real identity and Kovacs as his real "disguise."

Rorschach sees things morally only in black and white and overall he despises humanity. After the Keene Act in 1975 that outlawed all masked super hero's except those that volunteered to work for the government, Rorschach became a true vigilante, refusing to 'retire'. He is the only none government sanctioned 'masked hero' that is still out there dishing out his own brand of justice.

The Comedian
Born in 1924, Edward Blake started out trying to clean up the New York waterfront in 1939. He joined the Minutemen after the team was formed in '39, but was expelled in 1940. After nearly getting killed in a fight in 1941, he switched his original costume for one of heavy leather. He then went on to fight in W.W.II in the Pacific theater, returning a hero. He was present at the Crimebusters meeting in 1966 (where Ozymandias first conceived his idea for saving the world from itself). At some point (possibly the late 50's) he became a government agent, working in Vietnam and rescuing the Iranian hostages.

As the Comedian, Edward Blake is deliberately amoral. As Dr. Manhattan puts it, "Blake's different. He understands perfectly... and he doesn't care."

Doctor Manhattan
Jon Osterman's father was a watchmaker and he expected to become one himself, but following the destruction of Hiroshima by an atom bomb, the elder Osterman insisted that Jon become a nuclear scientist.

While working at a nuclear research center, Jon was accidentally locked into a test chamber and caught in an "Intrinsic Field subtracter" in 1959. This turned him into a blue-skinned super powered being and he became a superhero contracted by the United States government, who gave him the name Doctor Manhattan. He is the only character in the story who possesses real superpowers. He enabled the US to win the Vietnam War and his powers were such that he gave America a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Over time, however, Manhattan becomes more and more distant from humanity, illustrated in the fact that he wears fewer clothes over the passing decades to the point that by the time his girlfriend Laurie walks out on him, he wears no clothes at all (except in public appearances) and goes into self-imposed exile away from Earth.

Nite Owl II (Dan Dreiberg)
Nite Owl is Dan Dreiberg, a retired superhero who utilizes owl-themed gadgets. Dan seems the least heroic of the bunch. Without his costume and gadgets, Dan would be the last person anyone would expect to be athletic or able to handle himself in a fight, but often looks are deceiving and Dan is quite a capable fighter, and what he can't handle physically... he usually has a gadget or some high tech device to take care of business.

Nite Owl's modus operandi has more in common with the DC Comics character Batman. Drawing inspiration from Nite Owl's dual origins, while commenting on superheroes in general, the characters' costume in the 2009 movie is much more Batman-like in appearance than that drawn in the comics. According to Geoff Klock, his civilian form "visually suggests an impotent, middle-aged Clark Kent." Nite Owl also symbolizes Batman from DC comics both he costumes and gadgets.

Ozymandias
Adrian Veidt was formerly the superhero Ozymandias, drawing inspiration from his hero Alexander the Great and the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II for whom he is named. At the start of Watchmen he has retired to devote his attention to the running of his own enterprises.

Veidt is believed to be one of the smartest men on the planet, and is often accompanied by his genetically-engineered lynx, Bubastis. Richard Reynolds noted that by taking initiative to "help the world", Veidt displays a trait normally attributed to villains in superhero stories, and in a sense he is the "villain" of the series. One thing that can be said for certain is that Veidt looks down on the rest of humanity. Where as Dr. Manhattan just doesn't care and sees the human race as nothing more than we view ants, Veidt truly feels he is better than the rest of mankind. Dr. Manhattan just doesn't care, or even think about it much for that matter.

Silk Spectre II
Laurel Jane "Laurie" Juspeczyk, the second Silk Spectre, is the daughter of Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. Laurie's mother apparently wanted her to follow in her footsteps and so she fought crime for ten years before the Keene Act banned vigilantes.

Laurie is kept on retainer by the government because of her relationship with Doctor Manhattan and lives on a government base with him. When Doctor Manhattan leaves Earth, the government has her removed from the base and suspends her expense account, forcing her to move in with Dan, with whom she starts a romantic relationship.

Unlike the other 'masks' in the story, Laurie loathed her role as a 'super hero' and disliked her skimpy costume even more. She was pressured into becoming a 'mask' by her mother and Laurie actually welcomed the Keene Act and her forced retirement.


Along with the blood and violence there is some very predominate mature sexual material, again, this is not a movie for kids in any way. Some adults may even have some problems with the content.

The movie and graphic novel have a film nor style and narrative that moves it along and adds a bit of character to the visuals. Speaking of visuals, many scenes look like exact duplication of the corresponding frames from the graphic novel. The Watchmen starts with the mysterious murder of one of the masked hero's and Rorschach is on the case. When it comes to vigilante super hero's, Rorschach makes Batman look like Barney the Purple Dinosaur. The last person anyone would want coming after them is Rorschach because they have just as much chance being found dead in an alley as being put in jail.

The running time s 2 hours and 43 minutes. At times it does seem to bog down, mainly because there is so much depth to the characters, and they are all fully developed. Overall though it was a quick three hours.

I will fully admit that I did not read the graphic novel so I didn't really know what to expect to see. After watching the movie, in some ways I still am unsure what I just watched. I understood the plot lines, but as far as a movie, it was almost a "What was that?" Don't get me wrong, it was well done, but I personally did not leave the theater with a feeling of 'wow' or awe, or even an adrenaline rush like I did with both Batman movies as well as Iron Man. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with the story and what it represents. Most super hero movies build to the final fight scene, but are also fun along the way. Watchmen is often depressing and always gritty and dirty feeling. The payoff and movie climax is more of a topic for hours of discussion and debates.

I really can't go much more into the plot because it will give too much away for those like me that haven't read the graphic novel before seeing the movie. A person doesn't need to have read the novel in order to follow the movie though.

Missing from the credits is Alan Moore, one of the creators of the Watchmen. Moore seems to have quite the ego for someone that penned a 'comic book'. He acts more like he just wrote War and Peace. Honestly I can't see how he can complain with how the movie turned out. As I mentioned a lot of the scenes look like they were ripped from the pages of the graphic novel itself, and the dialog is just about word for word the same as the novel.

I picked up Watchmen The Complete Motion Comic on Bluray (I will review that immediately after the movie review) and really was impressed at how much the movie followed the graphic novel. There were some small changes made, and one major change, which is what I suspect is what brought down the wrath of Moore. The ending of the movie is totally different than the ending in the graphic novel, but personally I felt the movie ending was more fitting. Moore obviously disagrees since he is pretty vocal and has publicly said there is no way he will ever watch the movie.

Fun Facts: Terry Gilliam considered directing this film as early as 1989, but after several unsatisfactory drafts of the screenplay, decided the material unfilmable as a feature production. Gilliam had said he would consider directing it as a five hour miniseries at least.

I don't know if I am just spoiled by being able to watch movies at home at 1080p and up on a 106" screen, but I wasn't really impressed with the movie theater and the film quality. I am sure this will be absolutely stunning on Bluray though. Again since this isn't out on DVD or BD yet I can't comment on the audio track, but I am also sure it will be just as good as the video transfer is sure to be.

All in all I don't expect Watchmen to beat Batman or Spidey's box office draw, but it is sure to become a cult classic... even though Moore refuses to have his name associated with the movie.

I give it for style and visuals.

For story line I give it a solid

[Sonnie]

Excellent review ...

I think this is one I will enjoy and am looking forward to it being one of the first in the new HT room.

[shift9999]

Arent the superhero movies getting old yet?

[wbassett]

If done right I say no, the genre isn't dead yet. They have done some pretty bad ones though.

[Jeff Aguilar]

I did see this movie at the IMAX in town. We sat way too close. I was a little uncomfortable looking at Dr. Manattan's member that close! It was a good movie, but I think they could have developed the characters more. Dr. Manhattan is a facinating character and to me, I think they could have developed him better. There is so much going on in this movie, I felt that by the time we got to the climax at the end of it, we needed to be reminded as to what was going on. It could have been just me, but I have a feeling that if I did watch it again, I would probably get more out of the story. I had never read the novel or did I know anything about the movie before seeing it.

[Sonnie]

I am soooo glad I rented this instead of buying it.

This movie was boring for me, despite a good review and my hopes of liking it. I guess I was expecting something completely different, akin to some of the other Marvel movies of late, but this was just not my cup of tea.