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Imagine if you will an alternate dystopia circa 1985, one in which America triumphed in Vietnam thanks to an accident involving quantum mechanics, Nixon gained political control, the Russians are threatening an all out nuclear assault and the grim violent haunts of NYC were once tamed by a collective of now disbanded vigilantes.
If that last paragraph seemed overloaded with information, that's exactly why original writer of the Watchmen graphic novel and self-styled shaman Alan Moore distanced himself from the very thought of such a film way back in 1987; the year the 12 part ground-breaking, unnervingly dark adult comic was first published.
Moore had always intended Watchmen to be just that, a work of literature, one “to be enjoyed in front of a warm fire with a steaming cup of coffee.” So, after the utter travesties of other attempted adaptations such as League of Extraordinary Gentleman, From Hell and V for Vendetta (the latter in particular originally intended as an anarchic reaction to the Thatcher regime, instead it becoming a shallow americanised pastiche designed for a teenage audience) you can't help but empathise with his reasons for having his name removed from the credits and graciously handing over all due royalties to original artist Dave Gibbons.
Watchmen the film is as true to the original vision as it could have been.
We can see the occultist Moore reaching for his Zak Snyder shaped voodoo doll right now, sticking pins into the most twisted of places but thankfully in its big-screen version this is (almost) every Watchmen geek's wet-dream come true.
Yes it's overly convoluted to the uninitiated and perhaps stays even too close to the comic panels, with director Snyder's loving recreation of the sets and CGI seeming overbearingly pedantic. You could also argue that there's a lack of emotional humility. The sleek overproduced slo-mo direction often left gaping voids in this reviewers poignant sensibilities. With the entrapment of those images, he did at times wonder whether he'd prefer something more tangible, to hold the book with such strong associations for many, wondering whether there was any point to the hyper-real multi-million dollar spectacle before him.
It's also very camp in places; for instance when Cohen's Hallelujah kicks in and a knowingly humourous comedy sex scene almost cripples the tough nature of Moore's original postmodern saga. In the end though, it was never going to be perfect, yes perhaps Greengrasses's, Gilliam's (who deemed it unfilmable) or Aranofsky's versions might have been directed to the extent that some of the performances didn't end up as cartoonish as Gibbon's original drawings, but like the moralistic tale itself; there's no time to be cynical or sensitive in this life and we'll never know anyway.
Watchmen the film is as true to the original vision as it could have been. Just imagine the drama if we'd got the touted PG version? It's visceral, brooding, philosophical yet contrived, in parts breathtaking with the ambitious scope of it all and should keep most psycho-fanatics of the graphic novel very happy people indeed. See it right this instant or if you're superhumanly patient, wait for the planned three and a half hour directors cut. The reviewer has now pissed and soiled himself with excitement at this thought, only Dr. Manhattan himself could hand-wash these shit-stained badboys clean.
V for vendetta was great you dirty fanboy
I'd like to go on record as saying that me and CityScreen have a date on Wednesday at 12.30 to watch the Watchmen, and I can't wait!
'Watchmen' is one of the few graphic novels my older brother forced me to read that I found really interesting, and as someone who is currently planning a dissertation on film adaptations of graphic novels, I'd be intrigued to find out what others think of it.
Surely the image is the wrong way round - the blood spatter should be approaching midnight?
I went to see this film last night and thought it was one of the worst I have ever seen. They should tell people who haven't read teh graphic novel to stay well clear as the plot will make absolutely no sense otherwise.
This needed to be made into a trilogy of films or a 6 part tv series as they don't get into any depth with the characters and the middle hour seemed obselete.
Great shame as it could have been a good film - but see something else if you havent read the book
I have to disagree with Sean there, I thought that for even those who hadn't read the book it was still a good film, yes the plot is complicated but it would be a shame if they dumbed it down and pandered to an audience.
He is right though that if you have read the book I think you will enjoy it much more. Personally I thought it was a brilliant film.
I'm with Iain. I hadn't seen the film, so for the first hour or so I didn't really understand what was going on. But I was intrigued, and that kept my interest. And as for not getting into any depth with the characters? I felt a strong emotional attachment to Rorschach, and was able to engage with the rest of the Watchmen to (except maybe Ozymandias).
I enjoyed the film, and it was very faithful to it's source material, despite leaving out the whole 'Comic within a graphic novel' element that was very prevalent in the graphic novel.
I do agree with Sean though. It didn't get into any particular depth with the characters (despite being nearly three hours long!) and it could have been better. It's by no means the worst graphic novel adaptation I've seen, but it wasn't the best either.
There is no dumbing down required to make a plot flow. I have read many reviews on this film and its either a massive hit (generally people who have read the novel) or a complete and utter bomb (generally those that havent).
If you have read the novel you have an emotional investment in the characters already, as in the novel the plot obviously works nicely. You must treat this as a film in its own right and it just doesnt work. It is difficult to see this when people have great affection for the story, as it is in the novel.
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