“The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save Us!’“…and I’ll look down, and whisper, ‘No.’”
And so opens Watchmen, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The character Rorschach delivers the above lines about fifteen minutes into the movie and the theme resonates through the remaining two hours.
Seeing Watchmen on opening night was one of the most enjoyable movie-going experiences I’ve had in a while. Spectacular is only slightly befitting of a description.
The movie excels in all aspects.
Character development is the shining beacon of this movie. The story mainly concentrates on six characters: Jon Osterman (Dr. Manhattan); Dan Dreiberg (Night Owl); Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias); Laurie Jupiter (Silk Spectre); and Edward Blake (The Comedian).
Six characters and only about two hours are allotted to properly develop those six plus a plethora of supporting characters. And yet, the story moves seamlessly, providing expediential growth, changes and insights into all the characters – even The Comedian whose death sparks the movie.
Cinematography was beautiful. There were times that I looked at the screen and felt like I was reading the graphic novel. The scene when Dr. Manhattan is standing on Mars with the starlit sky background was one of the best shots in the entire film.
As with any superhero movie, fight scenes can be difficult. Too much and it becomes cheesy. Too little and it becomes stagnant. The greatest weapons used by the superheroes were their actual talent as fighters. In fact, the only real character with any supernatural power is actually Dr. Manhattan. Fight scenes were intricate but to the point. Sound effects were modest but still gave the air of traditional crime noir.
I won’t get into the deeper meanings of the story and characters, but it is worth noting that I left the theater dissecting and examining Moore and Gibbson’s creation equally as much as when I read the novel version. But as I said, I’m not going to discuss the metaphorical meanings in this review.
But the best thing about Watchmen is that it stays true to the original comic.
In fact, the only thing that unfortunately omitted is background information provided in depth about the particular universe that the world resides in.
The only particular plot-hole I found somewhat distracting is Richard Nixon runs holds the president’s office for five terms during the span of the movie. Term legislation was passed during the time of Franklin Roosevelt and limits a person to only two consecutive terms in office.
Overall, I would definitely splurge on the outrageous and overpriced fees of the local movie theater to see it again. But a word of warning, if you do not like the crime noir genre of superhero fantasy – do not see this movie.
It is not a requirement that you read the book, you will understand everything that is going on. But I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it when you can. Like I said earlier, it help to fill in some of those slight plot-holes.
Before wrapping up, a few interesting things to note: when I said they stayed true to the book, I do mean that Dr. Manhattan does appear nude in a number of scenes. By the end of the movie, you are used to seeing the computer-animated penis graphed onto the glowing blue body.
Another thing, the credits are wonderful but there is no “special” scene at the end of the movie. If you are waiting through the credits to see an extra – don’t. It isn’t there.
As I give Watchmen a 10 out of 10, I leave you with these final words from Dr. Manhattan:
“But the world is so full of people, so crowded with these miracles that they become commonplace and we forget – I forget. We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another’s vantage point, as if new, it may still take our breath away.”
