Robin PottratzReview: "Watchmen" is flawed but ambitious and worth watching *** stars out of 4
April 1st 2009 02:43
The much anticipated "Watchmen"...it rules...and sucks.
It was supposed to be the event movie of the spring. The much anticipated adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen was supposed to redefine comic book films in the same way that the source material redefined comic books. Thus far, Watchmen has underperformed both critically and commercially, however it is hard to deny just how artfully done and ambitious this film is. That being said, Watchmen is also an incredibly flawed film that is a direct result of being too faithful to the comic book.
It is rare that a film can be simultaneously awesome and awful...however Watchmen achieves such a distinction...and I guess that is another example of how high a level of filmmaking is on display in director Zack Snyder's follow up to his other brutally violent comic book epic 300.
Watchmen provides a brief backstory in its amazing opening credit sequence that tells about how costumed mortals posing as superheroes have been involved in every major historical event in the 21st century, from a lesbian kiss on VJ day to being the shooter on the grassy knoll. Because of this, Richard Nixon (in his 4th term) has outlawed costumed superheroes (or "masks") from practicing their nightly rituals.
We are introduced to a former superhero...the amoral "Comedian" played with cold blooded, wiseass bravado by Jeffery Dean Morgan. The Comedian is a former "mask" who is attacked and tossed out of his high rise apartment by a masked killer. The death of The Comedian is the central event in Watchmen and it introduces us to Rorschach (played by a haunting Jackie Earle Haley), an inkblot faced sociopath who has not given up his own brand of pitiless justice despite what the law says. Rorschach believes that the murder of The Comedian is an attack on every mask and he pursues the former members of the titular "Watchmen" group. The problem is that the former members of the group have embraced the law forbidding them from being superheroes anymore.
Nite Owl AKA Daniel Dreiberg, played by a "shlubby" Patrick Wilson, is an impotent coward.
Ozymandias AKA Adrian Viedt, played by a smarmy Matthew Goode is a retired superhero who is more concerned with selling toys based on his former identity then solving the worlds problems.
Silk Spectre II AKA Laurie Jupiter, played by Malin Akerman, is a second generation mask, whose mother, the original Silk Spectre (played by a perfect Carla Cugino), may have been raped by the Comedian.
Lastly is Dr. Manhattan AKA Jon Osterman, played brilliantly by Billy Crudup. After a lab accident turned him into an all powerful being, he became dangerously detached from humanity...so detached that even banging Silk Spectre II cannot awaken him from his slumber.
The film is structured much like the comic book, in that we are shown flashbacks of the various characters and how they came to be. Some haunting and poetic, such as when Dr. Manhattan tells of how he came to be...or when the first Silk Spectre is shown being beaten and nearly raped by The Comedian.
Some flashbacks are cringe inducing and violent, such as a brutal revenge scene where Rorschach uses a meat cleaver to split open a pedophile's head like a grapefruit...or when The Comedian shoots a Vietnamese woman who is pregnant with his child. These flashbacks give Watchmen the film the dark soul that Watchmen the graphic novel oozed with.
So what else is great about Watchmen?
For starters, most of the actors are pitch perfect. Jackie Earle Haley is perfectly cast as Rorschach. From the monotone voice, to the dead stare, Haley perfectly captures the qualities that made Rorschach such a nightmare inducing character on the page. Jeffery Dean Morgan has an absolute ball as The Comedian. Capturing both the cold hearted fearlessness as well as the aching vulnerability of a haunted man driven by his own sick desires.
The gold medal for acting goes to Billy Crudup. Crudup has the dramatic chops to take on perhaps the most complex character in the entire Watchmen Pantheon...Dr. Manhattan...and i'm not just talking about the blue wiener. Dr. Manhattan is a terribly tragic figure who is able to understand the entire universe...but not the people in it. Crudup nails every nuance in this role and he may be the best part of this film.
So...what sucks about Watchmen
Two words...Malin Akerman. As Silk Spectre, Akerman is trying to channel Cameron Diaz...unsuccessfully. She says every line with such banality that it brings down the story and slows down the movie. Her affair with Nite Owl is ok...that brings me to the other major flaw within the actors. Patrick Wilson is ok as Nite Owl but he is not the tubby loser that the novel projects. Wilson still looks like a greek god, even though he gained 25 pounds...however he does what he can with Nite Owl.
The biggest flaw in the film is that it is almost too faithful to the source material. In the film, as it was with the novel, there are simply two many ideas and characters to be contained, even within a nearly 3 hour film.
Watchmen may still go down as a new classic, but for the audience now, it stands as a overstuffed film that is good and bad. However, after seeing the film, I was so interested in the story that I ran to my local bookstore and purchased the graphic novel.
If a film can keep me so interested in it despite its flaws that I ran out and bought the source material...is it really a bad thing.
My Verdict: See Watchmen and have the inner debate for yourself, whether or not you like the film...believe me it give you more than just a little thoughtful walk to the car afterward.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Techbreak
... there's a scene in the movie, where Dr. Manhattan makes a robber in a nightclub explode. In the comic, it's a single frame; in the film, an entire sequence... in gory detail...