Watchmen
I didn’t know anything about Watchmen before I went to see this movie. Well, that’s not completely true. I did know that there was a guy who glowed a pretty shade of blue and a guy that looked an awful lot like Batman. I only knew that from the previews I had seen around though. In fact, I don’t believe I ever even heard of the Watchmen graphic novel series until the movie was set to come out. So I think it’s safe to say that I was a Watchmen virgin when I went to see the movie. Since these types of movies are often viewed through two very different lenses, I feel it’s important to define which group I am in. I would define ‘these types of movies’ as movies (usually based on a book or comic) where everyone already knows the source material and has read over the story for a really long time. I would throw Lord of the Rings in there as well (more on that later).

So what did I think? To sum it up… eh. Read on to find out why.

Firstly, I’d like to say that the visual appeal of the movie is astounding. The costumes (it is a superhero movie after all) are all amazingly done while being pretty believable. I don’t think the idea was to overawe us with the costumes (as with Batman) but to make them look a bit more realistic and lived-in. I especially liked Rorschach’s mask. Although I didn’t really get why it was doing what it was doing (you’ll have to see the movie), I found it interesting to look at and such a part of the character.

The directing (from what I could tell) seemed decent as well. The movie was long and at times I felt that length. But I never wanted to check my watch and see how much time was left. However, neither was I entirely engaged at the end of the movie. I was glad it was over, but didn’t feel bad I was in the theater. So I guess that’s a draw. But the action sequences were done fairly well. There was a fair bit of ’stylization’ via slow motion and other tricks that went on and I think they worked fairly well. It didn’t stand out as a shining star of the genre but it all worked for me.

I guess my main problem was with the story. I liked the world that was built (a different path from our recent past) but I didn’t really like what was done with it. I didn’t particularly like the way that the characters stories were interjected in the film, it felt kind of forced. But, and I think this is where we get into the fanboy aspect, I think this was in some ways an homage to the graphic novel. From what I understand (I saw the movie with a fan of the series), each of the comic book issues went through a different character’s history. This didn’t seem to fit in with the movie so well.

Overall though I don’t think the film suffered to much from having to balance between putting in too little information (and having the fanboys scream) and putting in too much information (and having the virgins walk out). There were a couple of times when I knew that there was something that was being touched on briefly in the movie but that signified a much great story line in the comic series. These are like little shout outs to the fans who know what is going on. But I never felt like it took away from my understanding or enjoyment of the movie. I would compare this to the Lord of the Rings series, of which I am a big fan. Sitting through those movies, I analyzed every seen for what was being said, what was being alluded to and what was being skipped over completely. I know there were things that were thrown in there very briefly that might’ve confused a casual watcher but just opened up the story line in my head. I think Watchmen was able to make a movie that appealed to both sets of fans, and that should be applauded.

There were a couple of questions I had that just seemed to be glossed over though. If all these superheros are normal people (except for Dr. Manhattan), then why was Ozymandias able to throw people across the room? Either people have super powers or they don’t. It seems odd that only one human would have super powers. What was up with Rorschach’s mask? I said earlier that I liked it, and I did, but where did it come from? My friend later told me that it was some super secret fabric that was made by Dr. Manhattan and then stolen by Rorschach. I can accept that, but had no idea from the movie. I also really didn’t like the view from Mars. Phobos and Deimos were shown as two moons (like our moons) very bright and round in the sky. Apparently in the comic series they are shown as two lumps of rock but I guess they got the Hollywood treatment! Such a little thing, but shouldn’t someone have noticed… anyone?

My confusions were mainly small and I enjoyed the movie. I don’t think I really have any desire to see it again though, at least not anytime soon. Right now, the movie is sitting at 8.4/10 on imdb.com. I am going with a 3/5 wine bottles, but this is knocked down from a 4 because of the length. Like I said, the movie was long at 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was a very heavy movie so maybe the length was needed. But I think you could’ve cut out some of it safely… but then the fanboys would’ve yelled! Apparently there is a directors cut coming at some point that’s supposed to clock in around 5 hours, good luck!

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