WATCHMEN (2009)

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"Rorschach's Journal, March 8th, 2009: Watchmen review goes up"

*MAJOR SPOILER REVIEW*

Let me tell you about my Watchmen experience. I didn't grow up in the'80s, but it sure as hell would've been a great year for a comic book junkie with the likes of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, Marv Wolfman and George Perez's Crisis On Infinite Earths, and, of course, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen, which to this day remains the most critically acclaimed graphic novel ever produced. I found myself buying this masterpiece about two years ago because I had read praise for it in Wizard Magazine numerous times. We were going camping and I saved up $20-some so I'd have something to read...it impacted me. Ask anyone who's read it, they'll say the same.

Now let me tell you about my Watchmen IMAX experience. It was my parents, a friend of mine, and I. My friend had read the novel after I let him borrow it under strict study hall rules(no bending the pages, no letting other people see it, and at the end of each study hall, he was to give it back to me), but I had to warn the others...there's gonna be lots of violence and sex. There's also a rape scene...YAY! When we get to the theater, it's easy smeazy to get our tickets seeing as how we bought them on line, but the line was humongous. We actually got there at a terrific time compared to others. All IMAX shows were sold out. Don't fret, though, for we ended up getting excellent seats, anyways, and apparently in IMAX, "there's no bad seat in the house." Then there was a problem with the projector as we're told by a very courageous worker. "It'll only be a few minutes" he said. After more than a few minutes, some douchebag in a suit who probably ordered the first guy to tell us the first time came out and said it's taking longer than expected, but we'll get a show...they knew that all along. After being delayed for nearly an hour, I was presented with the start of my first IMAX screening, and in order to properly review it, I feel I must give a spoiler/comparison review, as follows...

To kick off the film, we are presented with the attack on and murder of the Comedian. Whereas the murder in the book is shown through flashbacks, this takes place in real time, and is much more brutal. Edward Blake puts up a nasty fight against his secret killer, with Nat King Cole's Unforgettable playing the background, but it's still not enough. This is just the first of few extended fight scenes in the movie and it works, this one in particular, especially since it's in real time. As the Comedian falls to his death, the iconic blood-stained smiley badge falls with him, and at this, we are presented with a glorious opening credits sequence, a "timeline" working from the Minutemen up to the movie-Watchmen(I say movie-Watchmen because they don't refer to themselves as Watchmen in the movie because the title doesn't pertain to one particular group). This montage greatly introduces the Minutemen so we know who they are when mentioned and shown later on, with Bob Dylan's The Time's They Are A Changin' blairing in the background. After this, Rorschach carries out his "mask-killer" theory which stays pretty close to the source material(minus him breaking the guy's fingers in the bar and him seeing Veidt...for the film, it's Dan).

Chapter 2 of the novel is kept pretty much exactly the same for the film, with the exception of moving the Vietcongs surrender to Dr. Manhattan from Chapter 3 to his flashback sequence at Blake's funeral. Actually, Chapter 3 is when things start getting noticeably shifted in the film, primarily the absence of the newspaper stand owner and the kid reading "Tales of the Black Freighter." The alley fight with Dan and Laurie is longer and way more graphic, but it also works cinema wise, with Dr. Manhattan's words ringing in the background with each crushing blow. Dr. Manhattan's origin story from Chapter 4 is somewhat shortened, most likely for run time(such as the reason he marks the symbol on his forehead), but the main points are still there.

Then comes Rorschach's arrest and origin story. Rorscach's arrest also features some more stylized fighting(doesn't matter, it's cool, and it makes sense for him to fight back more), and his, like Manhattan's origin is cut short, skipping right to the kidnapped girl. I found the way Rorschach kills the guy in the film to make a lot of sense. It was satisfying to see him continually slash the killer's skull open as he did the dogs. His "transformation" is made much more intense. You can feel the anger raging in Rorschach with this scene. I would've liked to see Dr. Long have more screen time, though.

Next is Laurie and Dan's "time to shine" so to speak. It sticks pretty close to the novel, and the sex scene...well, it's like the fight scenes: longer and a lot more graphic. After this steamy moment, the two decide to spring Rorschach from prison, who's getting along pretty fine on his own. I loved the fact that Larry gets his arms cut off instead f his throat slashed. It made more sense and made for one hell of a blood fest. There's two huge changes to this part of the story though, the first making sense, the other kind of disappointing: Rorschach finds his costume in the prison, not an old hideout. I liked this change, especially since he confronts Dr. Long-"Tell me doctor...what to YOU see." However, I thought leaving out Hollis Mason's death was a mistake. I believe it's on the Director's Cut, though.

Meanwhile, Laurie has been teleported to Mars with Jon. Overall, this was well done. It captures the main elements of Jon and Laurie's conversation and Laurie's flashback about Blake, and Dr. Manhattan's new found faith in humanity is capture perfectly. The rest of the movie is pretty straightforward, and this is where fans are split. After a cool fight scene with Veidt, Rorschach, and Nite Owl, Veidt reveals his "master stroke"...and different one. In the new ending, there's no giant squid. Instead Dr. Manhattan is framed for a number of nuclear explosion across the globe. I found that this worked extremely well in cinema form and might even make more snese than the novel's ending. Manhattan has lost touch with humans and they hate him because they think he gave numerous people cancer. It ameks perfect sense for him to be framed seeing as how it's not just America that suffers. The people he's just regained faith are scare shitless of him, which gives him even more incentive to "disappear" and create his own form of life, making him a "God-like figure," even if he does not believe, if he exists, that God is anything like him. You shouldn't be complaining if they "ruined" Watchmen, it was never about the squid, it was about the fact that nuclear war was tearing the world apart and it needed to unite. Besides, a squid is in the movie...the project that Manhatten and Veidt are working on to replicate his energy? Project S.Q.U.I.D., or Sub QUantum Intrinsic Device...DUH, you got your quid after all.

The man who made this all come to life is Zack Snyder. Snyder has proven himself to be an amazing director who stays true to the source material. Him and his team should be applauded for their handling of this project. Don't bitch if you think he ruined the story-he SAVED Watchmen. It was going to be a PG-13 modern day superhero story starring Keanu Reeves before he came along. Every can be traced back to the novel(minus a select few that I've already mentioned). His attention to detail is astounding, but, as I predicted, he nailed the look of Watchmen more than anything. I never expected it to be as complex or rich in plot as the novel, but he tried his damnedest, and he should be nominated for an Oscar(along with visuals and best adapted screenplay) in that sense. Maybe a Golden Globe, but surely something. He successfully adapted a novel deemed unfilmable, so you have to give him props. The visuals are stunning and Snyder touches the film with his own signature style, all the while decreasing his use of slo mo to better the story. He expresses his own creative genius in the opening credits, even a nice twist on the JFK assassination...that took some balls.

The actors also do great jobs and I think they were the right people to portray these iconic characters. No actor is "bigger" than the other. Jackie Earle Haley has been nominated for an Oscar, but I had never even heard of him before this movie. They aren't unknowns, they just haven't been in a movie of this scope before. Haley's performance as Rorschach is easily the best, as he captures his character's psych and voice perfectly, creating a seemingly psychotic vigilante into the person we most care about, as we did in the novel. Billy Crudup quite literally shines as Dr. Manhattan, who had to be the biggest challenge to portray. Manhattan's lifeless and uncaring demeanor is ironically brought to life exceptionally in Crudup's performance, more so than Reeves would have done.Jeffrey Dean Morgan is perfect as the Comedian. Patrick Wilson portrays a believable and likeable Dan Drieberg. Drieberg's sluggish ways and awkardness is captured quite well, and he manages to change completely in the costume as his character did, and as any good actor should be able to do...change when the time is right. Malin Akerman really surprised me. She did better than people give her credit for, and I'm not just saying that because of the sex scene. Patrick Good as Ozymandius is fairly different than his comic book counterpart. This Ozy is more reserved and "professional" in his presentation, never raising his voice. While the novel's Ozy seemed more forceful and arrogant, I think Goode's performance was good because 1)it never goes over board and 2) is pretty much consistent all the way through. The only real miscast I thought was in the movie was Carla Gugino as Laurie's mom, the first Silk Specter. She isn't believable as an older woman, and was better suited solely for the flashback sequences. I felt far more connection to her comic book counterpart than I did in the movie. While none of these performances are award worthy(save Haley's), they certainly get the job done.

Now for the musical score and soundtrack. I've read online people saying it sucks. Hell, a guy said that as he was walking out of the theater. You have to remember that it's set in the 80s and a great deal of those songs were referenced in the novel. Stop acting so "hip" and realize that. Each song goes perfect with the scene it's featured with...I still can't get over that opening montage. Tyler Bates's score is exceptional as well.

So, in the end, Watchmen: The IMAX Experience was an astounding experience. I recommend seeing it, and seeing it in IMAX. Like I said, I wasn't expecting the movie to be exactly like the novel. Did Snyder leave some stuff out that should have been in there? Sure. But he also made other things, dare I say, better and more realistic than in the novel. Of course, the novel IS Watchmen, the film is just a representation of what Watchmen is, and in that sense, it does a damn good job representing it. You should DEFINITELY read the novel if you want a better movie going experience. Snyder made this movie for the fans, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a damn good film for a novel that was once deemed "unfilmable." Zack Snyder proved that zombies can fun, that 300 can take on millions, and now, that the unfilmable can be filmed. I was THIS close to giving this a perfect score, but it's not perfect, and I'm anticipating the 3 and a half hour DVD Director's Cut so I CAN give it a perfect score. Good movie. Everyone applauds. Role on snare drums...curtains.

Agent Vis's Verdict:

5 stars-Masterful *4.5-Outstanding: 4.5 star movies are still award worthy, but have minor flaws that hold it back from a perfect score. Still a must see* 4-Impressive 3.5-Passable 3-Disappointing 2.5-Mediocre 2-Below Average 1.5-Bad 1-Awful .5-Garbage 0-Unwatchable