Who Watches the Watchmen?

Ever since I saw 300 a couple of summers ago on the big screen, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next film from visionary director Zack Snyder. I wasn’t disappointed with his new movie, Watchmen, which was released on March 6, 2009.

Set in an alternate reality of America in 1985 where Richard Nixon has just been elected for his third presidential term and the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union draws closer everyday, Watchmen starts with the brutal murder of a retired superhero, known as the Comedian (played by Jeffery Dean Morgan). While it’s played off by the authorities and public as simply unfortunate, another hero who never quite retired named Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is convinced the Comedian’s death is part of a much larger conspiracy. He tries to convince the remaining Watchmen- Night Owl II (Patrick Wilson), a good guy disillusioned by the dark times; Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a brilliant physicist transformed into a being of pure energy by a scientific experiment gone awry; Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), a young woman inducted into the world of heroes by following her mother’s crime-fighting footsteps; and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), the smartest man in the world who exchanged his secret identity for slick corporate glory- to come out of hiding and fight once more. Soon the Watchmen realize that not only is Rorschach right, but that the conspiracy is bigger and more far-reaching than they ever could have imagined… and that one of their own might be behind it.

The first thing that needs to be said about this film is how visually stunning it is. I would have expected nothing less after seeing the innovations Snyder has brought to cinematography on his past works, but this movie still amazed me. The opening credit sequence is one of the best (and coolest) things I’ve ever seen in a film: a series of slow-motion snapshots of various happenings in the history of the Watchmen intertwined with important events in American culture, from the Kennedy assassination to the 1970 Kent State Shootings to the moon landing to Andy Warhol’s paintings, all set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. The rest of the soundtrack was just as stellar, including tracks from Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel and Jimi Hendrix. But I could have done without My Chemical Romance’s cover of “Desolation Row” (Covering Dylan is like covering the Beatles… your version is never going to sounds as good as the original. So just don’t).

I was concerned that because Watchmen is based off a graphic novel of the same name (by the infamous Alan Moore…V for Vendetta, anyone?) that the movie would suffer like many page-to-screen adaptations. But overall, the movie flowed well, and I didn’t feel too confused once the story got going. Of course I wish the storyline could have been more in-depth in places, but for the massive amount of source material, Watchmen does a good job of bringing the graphic novel to life. The acting was also well done, with Jackie Earle Haley doing an excellent job as the psychotic Rorschach.

I really liked this movie. My only words of caution are that Watchmen definitely earns its R rating with plenty of blood and gore, violence and a few porno-like sex scenes. Plus, Dr. Manhattan has a penchant for going naked through most of the movie; apparently energy beings don’t have much use for clothing, but are a lot more anatomically correct than a Ken doll. I might be a little biased because I like superhero flicks (I love the mythology involved in the stories), but I think that anyone could enjoy this movie, especially since Watchmen offers interesting and well-developed characters and an intriguing storyline, things that you don’t always get when caped crusaders are involved.