Slap's Take: Watchmen, a Review and Thoughts

Surprisingly I owe my love for Watchmen to a girl.  She will remain nameless but I should thank her nonetheless.  It is rare that someone "out geeks" me but she has her moments.  I had heard of it previous to her mentioning as it is almost a prerequisite of anyone with a solid interest in comics.  It was her rabid interest, someone who wasn't really big in to comics that sold me.  I picked it up the trade paperback and have been raving over Alan Moore's work ever since. 

Obviously I had a great interest in seeing the movie.  I have written about it constantly here at GR.  I have seen the worst the comic-to-movie world has to offer so there was no way I was going to miss out Snyder's adaption of the Watchmen; piss poor or Oscar contender.  Thankfully it leans much further towards the later though it does have its flaws. 

Almost every negative review I have seen compares the movie to the source material as if it someone was supposed to surpass it and because it didn't it is a failure.  If anyone can recommend me movies that were better than their source material I am all ears.  We all know this rarely happens.  You have to judge the movie on its own as a film.  Obviously we are going to compare the two as it is human nature but to dismiss a quality film just because it doesn't live up to the standard set by one of Time's All-Time 100 novels is absurd.  Spoilers ahead, so be warned.

What holds this back from being nearly perfect?  There are just a few things to be honest.  First off the ending does bother me slightly.  I know this has been discussed to death in the media but hear me out.  The point of novel's climax was to showcase something alien that would unite the world.  Instead of grief over New York we now have attacks across the globe "caused by Manhattan".  But the line "God exists and he is American" still has me feeling the attack isn't enough to bring the world together and not have the Russians suspecting us of being involved.  Would it be beyond the USA to attack ourselves to help defer blame as to spare us from WWIII?  With the movie you have to assume it is.  The alien/squid is a much more unifying device in my opinion.

A ton of content has to be skimmed over and cut out.  Even a run time of 163 minutes, which flew by, it still feels crammed.  I imagine the rumored 210 minute Blu-ray still will have to miss a few beats here or there from comic.  Many key moments like the death of Hollis Mason, the news paper stand, activity out on Veidt's island would have further fleshed out the story but for the sake of film had to be cut.  I have always claimed this would have made a fantastic HBO miniseries but we take what we can get.

Quite a few people have complained about Malin Ackerman as Laurie but I felt Veidt was surely miscast.  While Goode did great bringing the character to life he just didn't come close to looking like Veidt in the comic.  Ozymandius is supposed to be an Adonis, a physical specimen of perfectness.  Goode did not have the height of the build to fit the role and the character wasn't nearly as imposing as he should have been.

Other than these few gripes I have little to complain about.  Rorschach was nearly perfect.  Jackie Earle Haley did an incredible job of bringing the character to life both in and out of costume.  The "you are locked in here with me" line was epic and one of my favorite moments in the film.  These "big fans" were next to me in the IMAX and some lady got up to pee just as the lunchroom scene came on and I couldn't believe someone having some bad timing. 

I think Snyder did a fantastic job of filling in so much back story considering the time constraints.  The credit montage, which you can view here till it is pulled offline, was a fantastic way to catch people up on what was going on though I don't know that many people who hadn't read the graphic novel knew exactly what that was all about.  And Dylan over the top of them was a perfect choice.  The flashbacks were well done and timed nearly perfectly in step with the comic. 

The effects were stunning and not just "there is a blue dong on the screen" stunning.  Manhattan looks incredible.  The shots of Mars were breathtaking yet simplistic at the same time.  The CGI work on Manhattan and his transformation, his powers and the splitting of his body were pretty much flawless.  Crudup who was fantastic in Almost Famous now has a new role that I will always remember him for.

The music was great.  The soundtrack choices made for really grand moments within the film.  I did feel a couple of songs were a bit out of place; that while they still would have fit in the movie lessened a few moments that I felt were more serious in the comic. 

I am so glad they kept the New Frontiersmen ending in the movie.  While they hardly showed the the paper throughout the film the ending was an absolute necessity to the whole "what if".

Overall I have to say that Snyder did much more than I expected from the early going.  If you have seen the scripts and revisions and choices of actors over the years that have been attached to the film you would be horrified.  Arnie as Dr. Manhattan?  "GET TO DA CHOPPA TO GO to MARS".  Snyder came closer than anything in the past and I feel an honest love for the source material really helped his cause.  This wasn't Alan Moore's Watchmen on the big screen but it was Zack Snyder's Watchmen and that is an impressive feat in its own right.  He was able to make his movie, the way he wanted it, with minimal interference and we should thank Warner Brothers for that as well.  When this was first green lit ages ago I was prepared for some Uwe Boll'esque trash and instead I am ready to go see it again and can't wait to add it to my Blu-ray archive. 

Watchmen is a movie you should not miss out on.  Compare the two mediums if you must but judge the movie's quality on its own right.