Watchmen
Year:
2009
Directed by:
Zack Snyder
Rated:
R
Country:
United States
Runtime:
2 hrs. 43 min.
Production Company:
Warner Bros.
Written by:
Alan Moore (source graphic novel)
David Hayter
Alex Tse
Starring:
Patrick Wilson
Jackie Earle Haley
Billy Crudup
Malin Akerman
Similar Films:
Epic.
I was skeptical, as I believe nearly everyone was, going to see this movie. How can you faithfully adapt to the silver screen what is often considered the greatest graphic novel ever written (though technically it should be called a trade paperback) -- especially one that collects a series of twelve comic book issues, each of which is novella-dense? Such a project is simply too big to wield, I thought. I was wrong. Clocking in at two hours and forty-three minutes, Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen amazingly stays true to both the spirit and the content of the comic. This is an epic tale of heroism, morality, humanity, and the confusion inherent in understanding what any of those terms mean in an ever-changing world.
Watchmen is about superheroes. It is about men and women who dress in silly costumes to fight crime. However, it transcends most such comic books (and their adaptations) in that it acknowledges that, yes, this is a silly thing to do. The characters are also redeemed by this very quality. They are not simplistic, invincible cartoon characters fighting bad guys in order to look cool and maybe save the world; these are sad, if not misguided, human beings with a genuine will to try to make the world a better place, each according to his own beliefs. At the same time that we may laugh at them for dressing up in owl costumes or spouting super-conservative beliefs as absolutes, we also admire them for fighting for something they believe in. When one character says, "[I] have lived life free from compromise and step into the shadow now without complaint," as he walks toward what he knows could very well be his death, we believe him, and we feel his contentment. This sense of humanity is the core of Watchmen.
After an extended opening montage that both provides the background for the "masked vigilantes," as they are referred to (read: human superheroes), that perfectly evokes a sense of nostalgia, the story begins and is framed as a simple whodunnit. Masked vigilantes have now (now being the era of the Nixon administration) been long outlawed, and one of them, "the Comedian," suddenly winds up murdered. Rorschach, a rather infamous masked vigilante and the only one still active, investigates and begins warning the retirees, believing that a mask-killer is out to eliminate them. It would be foolhardy to attempt to summarize all the subplots and back-stories that arise, but briefly put, this bud of a plot blossoms into a complex story involving atomic bombs, Mars, a beyond-genius and beyond-mad conspiracy, the un-retirement of former superheroes, and a desperate attempt to unite the world in the face of a third world war.
The film's motifs -- heroism, morality, and humanity -- are ever-present. Unlike many superhero films with good guys to root for and bad guys to throw popcorn at, each main character in this movie has his own view of morality. Because of this, Watchmen is, in part, a moralistic sandbox, a place to throw all these things together to see which, if any, prove to be better than the rest. Some of the characters are radical utilitarians, some are ultra conservatives, some are absolute nihilists, and others are fairly pedestrain do-gooders, and they are all given a fair chance. If you view this movie with a friend, it is very likely that when it ends, you will have different views of who the bad, the good, and the ugly were. That is part of Watchmen's beauty. No single moral ideology comes out on top in this movie because they all have their virtues and their faults.
On the other hand, if you simply want a movie to watch without having to devote much thought to, Watchmen still entertains. At its extremely simplest level, it is an action-mystery film and in fact seems to emphasize the action, and the violence, a bit more than the book. There are plenty of bloody noses, broken arms, great physical feats, and scenes where our heroes take on multitudes of criminals with relative ease. Though there are one or two instances in which the action goes on for slightly too long, it provides a strong dose of excitement on top of what is already a very engaging film. The movie, in other words, is not only thematically meaningful but superficially fun; if all you want is another comic book movie, Watchmen is prepared to deliver you that as well.
