Watchmen

These times they are a’changin. It used to be that most comic books where considered inadaptable to the big screen, or if it got adapted dozens of things would have to change to get green lighted.  Hell, it was less than a year ago that we were all shocked to hear that Watchmen was going to take place in the 80’s just like the comic does, instead of adapting it to the more accessible here and now. So now that most comic books can make it from the page to the screen while screaming “never compromise”, the creative team becomes more important, since changes now feel like a matter of choice rather than necessity. Such is the case with Watchmen, which up to now was considered impossible to adapt. It turns out that yes, you can bring it to the screen with slavish reverence for the source material, yet directorial style still plays a huge part in the films tone and structure. In this case all of Zack Snyder’s quirks make it into the movie and intertwine themselves with the original story producing great visuals while sometimes undermining the story with his lack of subtlety.

Even though it is a super hero movie, it is also a murder mystery full of political intrigue and existential crisis, starting with the defenestration of a superhero called The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) which sends shockwaves through the now outlawed superhero community. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the last active vigilante, sets out to find the killer and warn the other Watchmen about the impending danger they face.

This serves to introduce the rest of the cast including Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman). Most of these heroes have moved on and now devote their lives to charity and scientific research so a menace targeting super heroes is the last thing on their mind.

Of course things don’t just blow over, and next thing you know the nuclear powered Dr. Manhattan has fled to Mars to escape allegations that he has given all his loved ones cancer.

Scene-stealing Rorschach finds himself framed for a murder he did not commit (and a bunch that he did), and Ozymandias survives an attempt on his life. The Silk Spectre leaves Dr. Manhattan for Nite Owl and they both get back into costume to spring Rorschach from jail and set things straight. Of course this is the simplest plot summary I can think and it leaves out the political setting where conservatives rule with an iron fist after wining in Vietnam thanks to superhero intervention. A nuclear war against Russia looms on the horizon and conservative heroes such as Rorschach and The Comedian endlessly fight a dangerous world they are inadvertently creating. Also there is Dr. Manhattan, who after nuking himself in a scientific experiment now exists on a quantum level, able to rearrange matter at will and perceive himself in the past and future at once. Every day he loses a little bit of his humanity as he forgets what the little pink creatures around him feel, to the point where he spends his day’s doing research naked while failing to satisfy his partner (Silk Spectre) on any emotional or physical level. One of the best scenes illustrates his ability to be in two (or more) places at once, when Silk Spectre catches him doing research while making love to her, which is the last straw for her to leave him.

Unfortunately Zack Snyder supercharges the sex and violence from the Watchmen comic to the point where it is completely absurd. Having watched my share of “art movies” I’m ok with Dr. Manhattans blue manhood, but the sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre aboard a sci-fi vehicle is ridiculously explicit. Also there is a difference between showing violence and aestheticizing it, and Zack Snyder treats violence like chunky, bloody fireworks. On top of all this screwing and maiming you have one of the loudest, most obvious soundtracks in recent memory. Now when you listen to your favorite songs from decades past you can attach them to new memories of humping heroes and bones poking through flesh.

Overall Watchmen is a great movie but it also collapses on its own weight several times and barely manages to get back up. Then again, we comic book fans are used to seeing our favorite characters in flawed films, and in the case of this movie the pros by far outweigh the cons, at least in terms of superhero movies. Then again if you are expecting Citizen Kane in a mask and a cape, odds are you will be disappointed.