Who Watched The Watchmen?

After the anticipation of hearing that one of my favourite books was being brought to the screen, I got a little worried. Could it be transferred without losing its effectiveness from book to film? Guess I shouldn’t worry when Zach Snyder is directing the adaptation of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons 12 issue maxi-series, which is now known as one of the greatest graphic novels of our time. “Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorshach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion, Rorshach glimpse a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity, but who is watching the Watchmen?

Snyder adapted the film faithfully, not missing a beat even though he was forced to cut out scenes or avoid sub-plots from the book. The direction of the movie shows he was the right choice, not skipping any minor detail that was on the pages. Small hints at items from the book, a joke only someone who has read it would get but he did it without confusing the casual movie fan who has not read the book. The montage that Snyder created for the opening credits over “The Times They Are A-Changing” was worth the ticket price alone. Aside from the one scene that could have been probably left out as it almost ruins your view on a certain character right away. Bringing us the history, albeit brief history, of the Minutemen and the way the path the world has taken since the dawn of the costumed hero era started in the 1940s.

Casting was extremely well done; Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Malin Akerman are perfectly cast. But it is Jackie Earle Haley who takes the weight of the movie on his shoulders by really becoming the character Rorshach, almost to the level that Heath Ledger did with the Joker in the Dark Night. The only character miscast I felt, was Matthew Goode as Ozymandias. Robert Wisden as Richard Nixon also was miscast, but that could just be because of Frank Langella’s spectacular performance in Frost/Nixon as the same character.

Attempting to bring Dr. Manhattan to the big screen in his entire blue glory was probably the one thing I was worried wouldn’t work. Yet again, Snyder and crew make it work perfectly. Along with the stunning visuals was the soundtrack, which was taken from various artists in that era. While those songs may not have worked in other films, it works wonders for Watchmen. The soundtrack to the film reminded me of the Donnie Darko soundtrack. While the score for the film was almost forgetful, yet it worked well not overpowering the superheroes on the screen.

The ending has been changed, more of tweak from the book. Without giving it away, all I can say is the effect is the same. They just used a different means to get to the end. The only flaw I found within the movie was the lack of worry about the nuclear holocaust. Maybe it was because I knew the outcome of the book and assumed it was the same for the movie, but it came across as an empty plot just in the background. With more focus, it would require more emotion from the characters as well as the viewer if we were shown that a mass genocide was immanent

This film is a highly complex character study which is layered with everything from military posturing, politics, patriotism and asks the philosophical question of what is right and what is wrong. Sitting in the theatre after the credits roll, I still don’t know who was right as both sides have very valid arguments.

With the announcement of a really good chunk of footage being added to the DVD release I will have to do another review, as the movie will be much different. Until I can see those special features I will just imagine Snyder sitting with the cast and crew showing them storyboards, but really they are not storyboards. Just the graphic novel cut out and pasted in front of them, which is how faithful the movie really is. Alex Tse and David Hayter didn’t really write a screenplay, they just took Alan Moore’s graphic novel and typed it out word for word. Not to say they didn’t work on the script but, let’s be honest, Alan Moore wrote this film and Dave Gibbons shot it.

4 out of 5

Colin Enquist