Watchmen

Watchmen was one my most anticipated movies of the past year or so- I have been counting the days faithfully, reading every scrap of material I could find online, watching the previews over and over again. I was curious and I was fascinated: could they do this- could they turn this dense, complex graphic novel into a good movie?

I remember being curious about Watchmen a long time ago. Time Magazine did a list of the 100 Most Influential Novels of the 20th Century and there it was- the only graphic novel to make the list. How, I wondered at the time, hadn't I heard about this? So, I got a copy and began to read it. I took me two or three tries to get through it, but once I had, I could see why it had made the list. As a rule, the comic genre (or graphic novel genre, whichever you prefer) hasn't really been known for delving into complexities or stopping to really debate the 'whys and wherefores' of just what makes superheroes tick- Watchmen not only takes this notion as a starting point, but delves further, deconstructing the whole notion of what it means to be a superhero to begin with.

What results is, quite frankly, mind-blowing.

But how do you turn this into a movie? Can you? Many, many people have said 'no' but incredibly enough, they pulled it off- and the movie is as mind-blowing as the book. While I was watching the movie, I was waiting to see just what each scene would look like translated into film, but upon further reflection, the sheer power of the movie itself is masterful. Jackie Earle Haley owns his role as Rohrshach, the uncompromising vigilante who borders on the edge of insanity throughout the picture. Patrick Wilson also rips out a great performance as the former superhero 'Nightowl' struggling to come to terms with a life that is so pale and meaningless it renders him literally impotent. Zack Snyder retains much of the structure of the novel, flipping into flashbacks and backstory, between characters- refusing to compromise the complexity of the original source material. It makes it a challenging movie to watch, but I think it's to Snyder's credit that he doesn't want to dumb things down for his audience.

Is it the greatest superhero movie of all time? That crown gets passed around a lot- X-Men 2 had it for awhile, but then The Dark Knight showed up and Watchmen might just take the crown on points merely for the sheer achievement of bringing such a graphic novel to the silver screen in one piece. I'd be happy to tell you that in every way Watchmen is a superior film to The Dark Knight, but that just wouldn't be true- it does have a few weaknesses that hold it back from true, titanic greatness:

Firstly, the ending: this has been controversial for months now. They got rid of the squid! Personally, I thought the squid was a bit odd to begin with and I think had it been retained for the movie, everyone else would have thought that too. Snyder made a good call and sewed together a logical ending that worked for me- but it also just comes across as a little too neat. Which flies in the face of nearly everything you see in the rest of the movie.

Secondly, the antagonist: (won't give it away) they fail to develop him on the level that they develop every other character. He seems flat and lacks depth, which makes his motivations just a little bit of a stretch to get behind. We don't get enough context with him and I thought it made the ending of the movie just a little bit weak.

But everything else was incredible. The details, the creation of this alternative 1985 that Watchmen is set in. Truly, one of the great movies so far this year- not that it'll get Oscars or anything (what genre movie ever does- for anything but special effects) it was worth watching for the nerd and the geek crowd such as myself (and they're going to go and see it anyway) but I think it also has something for people who merely love movies- and it for sure has something for all those long-suffering wives and girlfriends that had no idea they were with such giant dorks. Dr. Manhattan's glowing blue penis.

Yes, that's right. There's a glowing blue penis in this movie. And it has the most male nudity I've ever seen in a movie before. There are butts and penises everywhere in this movie and most of them are well sculpted. (There's also a boobie or two as well)

And that, to me, makes for a good formula: great nerdy movie, great movie in general, and there's a glowing blue penis.

Something for everyone.