Watchmen :: A Late Night With The CBC

If you’ve never done it, I highly recommend treating yourself to a opening-midnight showing of a movie based on a comic book. As soon as we entered the theatre, my friends and I felt like we were crashing a Gygax family reunion. Whereas franchises such as Iron Man, Batman, and Spider-Man are accessible to all, Watchmen brought out the hardcore comic book crowd (CBC, as we called them, or Charlie Bravo Charlie). We got there a full hour before show time and still had difficulty finding three seats next to each other… partly because some of the Comic-Book-Guy-types were taking up two seats. Yes ladies, you missed out on some partially exposed bellies, 3/4” thick glasses, and the sweet scent of back-sweat and Mom’s basement. Taking this all in, we quickly deduced that we were by far the coolest people in the room and immediately starting tossing around comic book movie superlatives. Something about the Dr. Manhattans (non-nude, thankfully) and Rorschachs walking around was intoxicating and brought out the 7th grade boy that lives in all men.

The titles came up and we dug in for the next 160-plus minutes, wondering if director Zach Snyder’s take on humanity’s most revered graphic novel would be worth staying up until 3am. The verdict? It’s debatable. It felt as if the filmmakers felt a little bit of pressure in trying to adapt the novel which resulted in a film that feels a bit like a book-on-tape. Consequently, I’m not sure how the film will be received by those who have not read the book and don’t already have a sense of the story. The timeline especially will certainly be confusing to many.

The story takes place in an alternate 1985, where Richard Nixon is still president, masked superheroes roam the streets of New York, and the world sits on the brink of nuclear war. With the Russians and Cubans poised to strike and the US government thoroughly distracted, a mystery assailant begins taking out heroes that belonged to a now-disbanded group called The Watchmen. As the plot unfolds the story examines each character and reveals their motives for both discovering who is behind the plot wipe out The Watchmen and saving the world from nuclear holocaust.

The strength of the book was the depth and complexity of the characters. Only one of them, Dr. Manhattan, actually has super-powers, the others are simply well-trained and/or well-equipped ordinary people, but all of them are flawed as a result of being heroes. The first major issue I had with the film was that they tried to squeeze too much of the characters’ stories on screen. This will probably be a divisive issue amongst the diehards and those unfamiliar with the story. I think the filmmakers were a little too true to the book at some points, which turned into the main reason for the nearly three-hour runtime. The first scene to be guilty of this is the funeral for The Comedian, who is murdered in the opening scene. Snyder takes turns doing a flashback with each character, depicting their most memorable moments with the fallen hero. This scene lasts about ten minutes and serves little to no purpose in furthering the plot of the movie. Most of the conclusions about The Comedian that are shown in the flashbacks are either implied or talked about later in the film. For the sake of those unfamiliar with with Watchmen, I think the story could have been better served if it had been streamlined for the screen. Getting rid of some of the flashbacks would have angered some fans, but made for a more engaging movie for the masses.

One thing that everyone expected from this film was that it would be a treat for the senses and it did not disappoint. Synder is quickly solidifying himself as one of the top action movie directors of his era. While not appreciated by most critics, Snyder will be laughing all the way to the bank as Watchmen is destined to be a hit at the box office and on DVD. Much like his previous films (300, Dawn Of The Dead), Watchmen showcases Snyder’s talent in the physical aspects of filmmaking. The film’s look was ripped directly from the pages of the novel, but still had a cinematic quality unlike the recent hyper-stylized Frank Miller adaptations of Sin City and The Spirit. While not as visceral as Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, Watchmen audience members had the feeling that this world could have actually existed, but never strayed from the fantastical world where superheroes exist. Snyder used the perfect mix of back-lot and blue-screen sets as well as CG and model effects to create some near-perfect action sequences. The opening fight scene and the Rorschach jailbreak alone are worth the price of admission. The late-70’s through early-80’s soundtrack was nearly flawless aside from Leonard Cohen’s version of Hallelujah playing during the film’s laughable love scene.

The performances by the key players were led by Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach/Walter Kovacs. Haley’s Rorschach led the audience through the first half of the movie in amazing fashion, introducing us to the other characters and locations through the jaded eyes of a man who is completely dedicated to cleansing a society that blatantly ostracizes him. Once Rorschach’s role is reduced the film loses a little steam, which is a testament to Haley’s performance. Wilson portrays Dreiberg’s awkwardness perfectly making him the on-screen character most true to his depiction in the novel while not becoming a caricature. Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, and Jeffery Dean Morgan rounded out the rest of The Watchmen in passable if unremarkable fashion. Goode especially was difficult to believe as the world’s smartest man, Adrian Veidt. The character itself just didn’t seem to work as well as it did in the novel.

Oh, a note on Dr. Manhattan’s blue wang, because no internet review is complete without mention of it. Yes, it’s there. Yes, it’s distracting. And yes, it’s funny

While Watchmen probably won’t win any awards, it is a well made mix of drama, character development, and eye candy. It’s not your typical costumed hero movie, and it should not be expected to be. The subject matter is adult, dark, and complex and (thankfully) strays from typical Hollywood fare. However, whereas the book set the bar for graphic novels, the film does not do so for the cinema. It will be enjoyed greatly by the CBC, but might not be totally appreciated by first time visitors to the Watchmen universe.