Warner Bros. | 2009 | 186 mins | Rated R
Never a big fan of comic books or graphic novels, I knew next to nothing about Watchmen when the anticipation over the release of the film based on the series began to build. Written by Alan Moore, with artwork and color by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, Watchmen was originally a 12-issue comic book series published in 1986 and 1987. The comic books were subsequently compiled into a graphic novel that later became a widely respected and minutely scrutinized piece of work. Watchmen was the only was the only graphic novel to appear on Time’s 2005 “All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels” list.
Directed by Zack Snyder (300), the film is largely faithful to the story and characters presented in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ novel. Set in an alternate reality of 1985, Richard Nixon is still President and the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war. Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who once roamed the streets as The Comedian, helping to protect America’s cities before vigilantes were outlawed several years before, sits quietly watching grim news on television. Suddenly, an unknown assailant bursts through the door and the two fight until Blake is hurdled out the window to his death.
We learn among other things, Blake was the second gunman on the grassy knoll during JFK’s assassination and likely murdered Woodward and Bernstein before they could expose the Watergate break-in. As amoral as he may be, Blake is the only vigilante who understands the worthlessness of trying to protect people from petty inconveniences as the world stands on the edge of destruction.
Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), a masked, paranoid vigilante whose face even his fellow crime-fighters have never seen, is convinced there is a conspiracy to kill all of them, and that the Comedian was only the first. Rorschach sets out to warn everyone: there’s Dan Drieberg (Patrick Wilson), his former partner and once better known as Nite Owl. Rather nerdy, Dan always used a vast array of gadgets and an airship named Archie; Laurie (Malin Akerman), aka Silk Spectre, who took her persona from the original Silk Spectre, her mother (Carla Gugino), who got too old to fight a couple decades ago. Laurie is the girlfriend of Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a physicist who suffered a lab accident and emerged with control over time and space; finally, there’s Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode), aka Ozymandias, often referred to as “the smartest man in the world.” Exactly why is never really revealed; however, he has turned his vigilante days into a multi-national corporation that has made him a very wealthy man.
I won’t reveal anymore of the plot in order to keep the experience fresh for those who have yet to see the film. The screenplay by David Hayter (X-Men, The Scorpion King) and Alex Tse really only deviates from the source material toward the end of the film; most fans will likely find the slightly different ending has a positive effect on the story but that will be in the eye of the beholder. Having read the novel before I saw the film, I was surprised how many shots and scenes director Zack Snyder seemed to translate on screen directly from the novel. Often, when a director is given the opportunity to bring a popular work of fiction to the screen their tendency is to make wholesale changes to the stories basic premise in an effort to put their own stamp on the project. Snyder has avoided this temptation and the result is a remarkable strong film, despite a lot of potentially confusing twists and turns.
While Watchmen can be enjoyed as a straight action picture if you haven’t read the graphic novel, it’s not the best way to see the film. If the filmmakers were to share every detail of the Watchman saga, the film would likely end up being around seven hours long. As a result, what you see on film is a condensed version of the comic book and a lot of the details provided in the book are left out of the film. Rightly, the filmmakers obviously assumed most viewers would’ve read the book before seeing the film; if you haven’t, be prepared to be slightly confused at times.
The film has been transferred in its original 2.40:1 theatrical aspect ratio to disc in anamorphic widescreen, enhanced for widescreen TVs. The result is solid, given that the filmmakers meant for the film to look intentionally dark and gritty. Because this is standard definition, there is a degree of softness to the image. However, the colors are solid, and facial tones appear natural. The transfer appears clean, free of too much noise, except for trace amounts of normal film grain.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is strong, with a deep bass and effective, though not overpowering, surround effects. Dialogue and is always easy to hear and understand; the musical soundtrack is effective.
The disc includes English and French spoken languages; French and Spanish subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
While the feature is housed on disc one, disc two contains the bulk of the special features:
• The Phenomenon: The Comic that Changed Comics (28:46) – A history of the Watchmen graphic novel. The documentary includes interviews with former DC Comics editors, illustrator Dave Gibbons, colorist John Higgins, and various other creative professionals. For those unfamiliar with the novel’s legendary status and its ideas and themes, the piece is a fine introduction and retrospective.
• Under the heading of “Watchmen: Video Journals,” there are eleven short featurettes:
- The Minute Men (3:33) – Introduction to the first generation of masked vigilantes.
- Sets and Sensibility (3:54) – Set construction and design.
- Dressed for Success (3:03) – Costume design.
- The Ship Has Eyes (4:20) – Design and construction of Nite Owl’s ship, Archie.
- Dave Gibbons (3:21) – Illustrator Gibbons’ impressions of the production.
- Burn Baby Burn (2:12) – Fire stunt during the prison riot.
- Shoot to Thrill (3:14) – Emulating the graphic novel’s color palette and look.
- Blue Monday (2:59) – The wizardry behind Dr. Manhattan.
- Attention to Detail (2:53) – Props and set dressings.
- Girls Kick Ass (3:03) – Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman talk about their characters.
- Rorschach’s Mask (3:38) – Developing and portraying the Rorschach character.
• Music Video (3:15) – “Desolation Row” by My Chemical Romance
• Theatrical Trailers
• Digital Copy compatible with iTunes and Windows Media.
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