Watchmen
Watchmen is one of the few books that I have read before seeing the movie based on it. It is even more unique for being one of the first graphic novels I read after dipping my toe into comic books around a year ago. While I liked the book, I didn't love it as it seems most comic book fans do. That said, I was very curious how the movie would adapt this very dense comic.
Overall I think that Watchmen is one of the best film adaptations that I have seen. Since Watchmen is a standalone work that isn't as well known as other comic book stories like Batman or Superman, this film had a lot of work to do. It has to establish a lot of characters and the alternate reality world that they live in without losing the audience. In that regard Watchmen succeeds brilliantly. The director Zach Snyder and the writers did a fantastic job of trimming the fat and presenting the core of the story while maintaining the themes and tone of the book.
Zach Snyder leverages his ability for slick effects and brilliant production design to create an amazing visual show. The world of Watchmen is seamlessly produced with texture and style. The credit sequence alone is incredibly impressive, let alone the various fight sequences. This is a movie that benefits significantly from watching it in a theater.
The cast of Watchmen is also fantastic. I can't think of one weak link in the bunch. This is an ensemble movie with no true central character and the cast makes the most of their individual screen time. Jackie Earle Haley, however, nearly steals the show as Rorschach by completely embodying this larger than life character.
Much has been said about the deviation the filmmakers made from the ending of the book. While the film's ending is different, it is more of a modification than a complete change. Frankly I prefer the ending in the movie since it makes more sense, in my opinion. Watchmen always had an atypical ending and I think the films version is somewhat more satisfying.
My only major criticism of Watchmen is the sex scene between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II. I can't wait to listen to Zach Snyder's commentary for this scene because I really want to know if this scene was purposely played for laughs. The scene is so long and so cheesy it would easily fit in a soft-core porn film.
Watchmen is a fantastic movie and a great translation of a classic graphic novel. I am amazed that the filmmakers were allowed to maintain the uncompromising nature of the book in its adaption for film. Despite being a complex narrative, it is very watchable even for a casual audience. I saw it with my sister, who has never read the book, and she liked it a lot. Definitely worth a look. 4.5/5
Comments
Posted by: caine
Posted on: April 7, 2009 07:14 AM
tHE BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE!