Watchmen Movie Review.

*There are spoilers in this review if you are not familiar with the graphic novel. If you have read it, then there is nothing really in here that you should not know already.*

My original plan was to see this movie at midnight on the 6th, dressed in a full on Silk Spectre II costume. That did not exactly happen. I made the plans back in July when I first found out about the Watchmen movie at the midnight release of Dark Knight. But they still fell through. The flu barred me from attending the midnight showing and the lack of tasteful Silk Spectre II costumes led to the lack of a black and yellow spandex suit. So I saw the movie last night, dressed normally. Despite the relatively low ratings in the reviews, my expectations never lowered. And of course, I disagree with all of the critics, as usual.

I decided to read the graphic novel again a couple of weeks ago so the story would be fresh in my mind. And first thing's first, Zack Snyder pulled off an excellent adaptation. His big screen version of possibly the best graphic novel of all time was faithful and exact to the tee...almost. In general terms, it was perfect. But there were a few discrepancies. The most noticeable of these was the ending. Instead of the giant squid-like alien being attacking major cities, Veidt attacked the cities with a Dr. Manhattan-like power and framed the invincible man for the crimes. While this is quite a major difference, I liked it. I hate to say it, but I may have liked it more as an ending than Alan Moore's elaborate alien attack. It made more sense. And while graphic novels are not exactly known for making sense, I tend to like sensical plotlines. Most of the minor discrepancies that I noticed revolved around Rorschach's story. For example, in the movie, he did not cuff the kidnapper to the radiator, give him an saw, and burn the house as an intense ultimatum. Instead he just kind of hacked the guys head repeatedly with a butcher's knife. In this case, I liked the graphic novel version better. It portrayed Rorschach's mind in a better way in my opinion. Also, in the graphic novel, young Rorschach burns a bully's eye with a cigarette. In the movie, he bites the kid's ear and pulls off a piece of flesh. This change was really too insignificant to bother me. Most of the other changes were like those, small and insignificant when the whole picture is considered. There were some semi-significant omissions from the storyline. For example, there was no comic within the comic. And there was no island. But other than that, Snyder's adaptation was the most faithful in terms of graphic novel to movie adaptations in a long time. Oh and there was one other semi-significant omission I noticed. Hollis Mason's death wasn't really made clear. In the graphic novel, he gets killed by an angry mob of people on a vendetta against masked heroes. This does kind of matter because when Dan finds out, he freaks out and his character changes pretty significantly. He finally realizes how messed up the world is and has a less optimistic view when his own hero dies.

The visual effects of Watchmen were stunning. I am a major fan of well executed stylized violence, and Watchmen was very successful in this area. There was a lot of slow motion, but I didn't mind. The opening scene when Blake gets beaten up and thrown out the window was awesome looking. Laurie and Dan beating up bad guys in the alley and then again in the jail was intense. Archie, Dr. Manhattan, the scenes in Vietnam, all looked spectacular. And a majority of the scenes looked like Zack Snyder lifted the graphic novel pages up and set them in motion. In other words, it looked exactly like the illustrations. I should also note that I saw the movie in an IMAX theatre, which was an amazing experience. I highly recommend seeing it again in IMAX if you didn't the first time. The images are even more stunning when they are 90ft wide and 60ft high. The thing that made the cinematography so awesome in this movie was the fact that even gruesome and disturbing scenes were aesthetically spectacular. Sillouhette's murder scene, the Comedian burning a man alive, Dr. Manhattan blowing a couple of thugs into pieces and blood splattering all over a bystander, Jon Osterman disentegrating into a million little pieces, the same happening to Laurie and Dan in Dan's dream, all of these scenes were rather disturbing and yet, they were absolutely visually stunning. I love when dark things are made twistedly beautiful. Dark Knight was another movie to do this rather excellently.

Jackie Earle Haley was a perfect Rorschach. He embodied the twisted, brutal, complex character very well. Rorschach is such an unconventional hero who is so tough on crime that it is almost sickening. Haley was particularly good at the end of the movie. The crazy thing about Rorschach as a character is that he is so obsessed with order. He sacrificed himself because he just could not stand to live in a world that was being fueled by Veidt's lie. He couldn't handle it. So he literally begged for Dr. Manhattan to kill him. The only moment better than this was perhaps when Haley delivered his "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me" line. That was probably the best line delivered in the whole movie.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was an excellent Eddie Blake/Comedian. Aside from looking exactly like the illustrations of Blake, Morgan captured his twisted and yet accurate perception of society to a tee. He was just malicious enough to make you hate him and yet you would still feel terrible when he died. His American dream lines is one of my favorites. The interesting thing about the Comedian is that he understands the fact that life is just one big joke. He sees how messed up the world is and chooses to attack violence with violence. And it works, for him at least.

The only casting decision I did not exactly agree with was Malin Akerman as Laurie/Silk Spectre II. She just seemed kind of random and she was definitely the weakest link acting wise. She just wasn't all that likeable. Billy Crudup was an excellent Dr. Manhattan. Every word that came out of his mouth sounded beautiful and made me want to quote him constantly. Matthew Goode was a good Veidt, a somewhat complicated character to portray (although I suppose all of the Watchmen characters are pretty complex). He was charming enough to pull off being the "world's smartest man", aloof enough to make you think something was wrong with him, and powerful enough to pull off the complicated feat of being a bad good guy. Carla Gugino was a good Sally Jupiter. They did a good job making her look older. Patrick Wilson made an adorable Dan. He was awkward and cute enough to make you fall in love with him. Pretty much everyone looked like their illustrated counterparts and like I said, Akerman was the only weak spot.

The soundtrack and score for Watchmen were also amazing. The songs for the soundtrack were chosen rather excellently in my opinion. The opening scene was made even better with Nat King Cole's Unforgettable playing in the background. The serene song juxtaposed with Veidt beating Blake to a pulp made the scene very powerful. The Simon and Garfunkel song was also awesome. I mean, we all knew the soundtrack would be great when The Beginning is the End is the Beginning by the Smashing Pumpkins was featured in the first trailer. I went home and bought that song on iTunes after seeing the trailer for the first time. I will definitely be purchasing this soundtrack. The score was also very nicely composed. It was written by Tyler Bates who also did 300, Grindhouse, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Slither, Dawn of the Dead, as well as a bunch of other action movies. This was definitely his best work though.

Even the opening credits montage for Watchmen was awesome. Set to the twangy folk sound of Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin, it features clips that sum up the world of Watchmen. Nixon's third term, the end of World War II, the war in Vietnam, peace protests, and of course, masked heroes. The montage familiarized us with some of the early masked heroes, Hooded Justice, Silk Spectre I, Nite Owl I, Dollar Bill, Sillouhette, the Comedian, and the others. Then it introduced us to the new kids, Silk Spectre II, Nite Owl II, Rorschach, Ozymandias, and the others. And finally it ended with the post Keene Act world, where masked vigilantes have been outlawed and crime and the the threat of nuclear war have swallowed America.

The script for Watchmen was also great. They pretty much stuck to the text from the graphic novel. Some of my favorite quotes include:

Rorschach: Rorschach's Journal: October 12th 1985. Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!' And I'll whisper 'no'.

Rorschach: You people don't understand. I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!

Nite Owl II: What happened to the American Dream?
Comedian: It came true. You're looking at it.

The Comedian: Our days are numbered. Till then, it's like you always say: we're society's only protection.
Nite Owl II: From what?
The Comedian: You kidding me? From themselves.

I think there were other ones I liked, but I can't remember them now. I was just so impressed with how textually accurate the script was. Another sign of a brilliant adaptation.

I am going to write a review of the graphic novel soon. In that I will address more of the conceptual and philosophical ideas of Watchmen. Alan Moore is a freaking genius. This review was written mainly to judge the movie as an adaptation and as a film. The good stuff will come in my graphic novel review.

So here is my concensus. As an adaptation, Watchmen deserves an A-. It would be higher, but they get docked a couple of points for some minor discrepancies and the rather large change at the end (even though I liked the film ending better...gasp!). Here is my breakdown:
Cinematography: A
Script: A
Acting: B+
Plot: A+
Directing: B+
Score/Soundtrack: A+
Costumes/Makeup: A
Casting: A
Film Editing: A-
Special Effects: A
Visual Effects: A+
Overall as an adptation: A-
Overall as a film: B-

I would like to address the fact that my review does appear much more generous than some of the other professional reviews. I think the reason the movie is getting a lot of criticism is due to the fact that the movie would not be nearly as enjoyable if you didn't read the graphic novel. The nature of the film did not allow for a lot of explanation, so I understand that the plot would appear jumbled and the jumping around in time would make it seem fragmented, but if you read the graphic novel then it would not be confusing at all. That is why my grade for the movie as a film without considering the graphic novel is significantly lower than the adaptation grade. For those critics who are saying the movie is a bad adaptation, well they are just crazy. Like I said, I hate to admit it, but the ending was better than the contrived alien attack. The purists might be upset, but I liked the movie's ending. This is definitely in my top favorite superhero movies of all time. It might even be number one. Hard to tell. Dark Knight, Iron Man, V for Vendetta, and this movie are all pretty close in my ratings. V and Watchmen are definitely the best conceptually. Dark Knight and Watchmen are the best visually. Iron Man is one of the most entertaining. They are all pretty well rounded. Watchmen holds true to the graphic novel the best. And it features the most complex characters.