Take one: a fan of the graphic novel on the film
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in Zack Snyder’s long-awaited, big-screen adaptation of the graphic novel, Watchmen.
Aside from a few details, this adaptation is a dead-on representation of the brilliant graphic novel created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins.
When I first read the graphic novel, I was immediately impressed by the intense and dramatic illustrations that brilliantly bring the well-written story to life. The graphic novel is a true work of genius and one of the best books I have ever read.
When I learned of a movie adaptation, I was worried that some of the story might not fit onto the big screen, instead replaced with too much mindless action that misses the point of the source material.
But, after I emerged from the theater on opening night, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie carries all the elements that made the graphic novel brilliant.
The plot remains the greatest strength of the Watchmen franchise. In an alternative 1985, the United States and Russia are closer than ever to nuclear war. The plot is set in motion with the murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan of “Grey’s Anatomy”), a brutal superhero who occasionally works for the government.
The Comedian’s murder causes a vigilante hero named Rorschach (played by Academy Award nominee Jackie Earl Haley) to investigate. Rorschach, whose mask displays constantly morphing inkblots, believes the murder is part a much bigger conspiracy.
After warning fellow superheroes about the possible implications of the murder, Rorschach concludes that someone may be “picking off costumed heroes.”
The reason for this may be, according to Rorschach, that someone wants nuclear war and doesn’t want the heroes to do anything to stop it.
The movie’s cast brings out the characters well without over-acting the parts. Haley does a brilliant job of representing Rorschach’s frustrations toward humanity in his movements and tone.
Malin Akerman (star of Ben Stiller’s remake of The Heartbreak Kid) is the weakest member of the cast, failing to bring genuine emotional responses to her character of Silk Spectre II as it was displayed in the graphic novel.
Once again, Snyder brings amazing visual action as director, just as he did in 300. The movies visuals are very similar to the illustrations in the graphic novel, and, just as in the novel, the visuals tell the story to the audience and generate emotional impressions that deepen the plot’s themes.
Overall, Watchmen is an amazing movie that effectively brings the brilliance of the graphic novel to life on the big screen. The visuals are impressive, and the story is told inventively and effectively.
I recommend reading the graphic novel before seeing the movie to better understand the plot. It may be confusing to first-time viewers.
Read the graphic novel and watch the Watchmen. You won’t be disappointed by it.
Take two: A comic book non-fan on the film
Let’s get one thing straight right away: I’ve never read a comic book. My view of graphic novels parallels my view of vegetables: I know some people like them, and I’ve heard rumors that they will enrich my life, but I try to avoid them at every turn.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I was one of the first in line to see Watchmen, Director Zach Snyder’s (300) adaptation of the grande dame of graphic novels. Maybe it was the ubiquitous ad campaign. Maybe it was the promise of a pop culture spectacle. Maybe it was the gratuitous CGI nudity. At any rate, I strapped myself in for the three-hour superhero epic and-gasp!-kind of enjoyed it.
At a whopping runtime of 162 minutes, Watchmen has something for everyone: romance, violence, betrayal, translucent blue dudes, childhood dysfunction and a really weird two-tailed tiger with fuzzy horns. The catch is that the movie jerks from one motif to another, and lingered a tad too long on schmaltzy back-stories that bored me to tears.
When Watchmen is good, it is electrifying. The fight scenes burst forth with a mixture of gritty realism and gravity-defying stunt work. Each time the heroes put the smackdown on a bunch of hooligans, I rocked back and forth in my chair, unable to suppress my boyish glee.
The major story arc-packed with heroes and villains and antiheros and twisty-turny plots for world domination-is fun and lots of it.
My favorite character is the grumpy and grizzled Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children), who guided us the through film’s central mystery, which is a compelling, if straightforward, whodunit. Whether he’s following a trail of murdered superheroes or melting someone’s face with a vat of french fry oil, this guy’s a scene stealer.
Haley manages to make the unconventional hero magnetic despite the fact that he always wears a mask, lacks any moral scruples and speaks in an animalistic growl.
And now for the bad news.The film lags when its characters slip off their masks and wallow in their mopey personal lives. Here’s where I think the source material gets in the way. Instead of editing the plot points down to fit a two-hour piece of popcorn perfection, Snyder and company bog everything down by trying to include too many of the novel’s subplots.
Consider, for instance, the dull love triangle between Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson, “Angels in America”), Doctor Manhattan (a CGI-ified Billy Crudup, Almost Famous) and Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman, 27 Dresses).
This story line might have been more interesting in the novel, but in the film, the characters aren’t developed enough for us to care about them.
The resolution, which flies in the face of every superhero stereotype you’ve ever heard, is a stunning surprise.
The film leaves you with a mildly misanthropic vision of the world that transcends the hopelessly optimistic endings that usually keep me away from the genre.
If you don’t mind tirelessly wading through 45 minutes of filler, you won’t be disappointed.
