Watchmen Movie Review
WATCHMEN: SUPERHEROES ARE PEOPLE TOO
This is not your feel good comic book movie. Watchmen makes The Dark Knight look like a Disney movie. A relatively unknown cast brings these dark characters to life. With its good intentions, its length takes away from the originality of the film.
It is 1985 and Richard Nixon has just been elected to his fourth term as President. The United States is on the brink of war with the Soviet Union. Superheroes have gone underground after the public has turned on them. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has just been murdered. And fellow Watchmen Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is on a mission to find out who killed him. He starts contacting his fellow former crime fighters to warn them they might be next. Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman) don't want to get involved. Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymadias, (Matthew Goode) appreciates the information but doesn't feel threatened. And Dan, aka Nite Owl II, (Patrick Wilson) feels helpless. But when Rorschach is arrested, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II decide to save him and help figure out what is going on. They never imagine that the possible war between the U.S. And the Soviet Union is connected to the murder.
The story takes its time making a point in the first hour. It tries to give background on the Watchmen while also showing The Comedian in all his amorality. But it does pick up in the second hour and finishes strong. Its dark tone is something that has never been shown in a high profile comic book movie. Director Zach Snyder tries to stay true to the acclaimed graphic novel. Snyder has shown that he is truly a visionary with the 2006 hit 300. He takes on a monster job with Watchmen and proves he isn't a one hit wonder. The cast is superb as these heroes that don't know what to make of their special powers. They don't want to be ostracized but also don't want to turn their back on the people. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian shows he can play something other than a dead guy (Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural, Weeds). He takes pleasure in killing people and shows no sign of remorse on his face. And everything visual is large scale from Dr. Manhattan to Nite Owl's flying machine Archimedes.
The length of the movie could have been trimmed to two hours instead of three and sacrificed some of the history without taking away from the story.
Watchmen is not here to show that they are in the same category as Spiderman, Batman, and Iron Man. They are more complex with darker emotions and problems. The world they live in is not idolized and they are just trying to make it through the day just like the rest of us. Watchmen is a unique film but is not for the faint of heart.
Report Card:
Story-B-
Acting-B
Visuals-B
Originality/Innovation-B
Enjoyability Grade–B
Overall Grade-B
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