Watchmen Review

"The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'."
- Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin'

Dylan's song is in the brilliant opening credits sequence to Watchmen, Zack Snyder's second comic book movie. Yet again Snyder has brilliantly captured the feel of the comic as he did with 300. The difference here is the scope and length. 300 was short enough where Snyder actually created content to fill in the backstory (basically everything that happens at home while Leonidas is at war). Watchmen is a far different and far denser beast. It's a layered comic and has an incredible amount of backstory despite only being a 12 issue series. Snyder really makes about as faithful a theatrical adaptation of Watchmen as can be made. The only thing that really differs is the ending, which I didn't mind but purists might have a problem with.

When discussing a comic book adaptation, one of the most important factors is characterization. As I stated before, this is an incredibly faithful adaptation, and that applies to the characters as well. Rorschach is the best realized of the bunch. He leaps off screen and owns every scene he's in. The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan are well represented as well (Dr. Manhattan a little TOO well represented in the nether regions). The Comedian was great, he's the star of the film in a sense. As for Dr. Manhattan, I'm glad they kept his voice subtle and not overpowering and god like. He's a normal man made into this all powerful being and you get that sense from the character. The scene showing his origin was particularly well done for Dr. Manhattan. Nite Owl could have been more pathetic, but was represented pretty well. Silk Spectre was fine (I didn't really care for her character in the comic so I suppose that's why I'm not up in arms about it like some critics). The only character whose portrayal bothered me was Ozymandias. He wasn't charismatic like he should have been and his costume was too dark. I'm not nitpicking with the costume comment here; Ozymandias was a bright character, who I always felt was sort of the Superman of the story in a sense. He's a public figure and the brightest of these heroes, he shouldn't be dressing in black and grey.

As for changes made, I thought the ending changes made sense for the most part, although I'm disappointed (but not surprised) that it was as optimistic as it was. Watchmen is an extremely depressing book and that's one of the things that makes it stand out. I'm not saying the ending is optimistic, but it's certainly doesn't have me asking, "Why do we even try?" like the book does.

One of the most interesting things with Watchmen is the soundtrack. It ranges from pitch perfect to "why the hell are they using this?" Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin' is the best usage. It is the absolute perfect song to use while showing the history of the Watchmen universe. Nat King Cole's Unforgettable is used to great impact during the death of the Comedian. I've also never thought I'm Your Boogie Man by KC and the Sunshine Band could be used to great effect. This film proved me wrong. Other choices don't work as well. I'm specifically thinking of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. It's used during an already awkward love scene and just adds to how odd it is. I also don't think that the lyrically appropriate Jimi Hendrix version of All Along The Watchtower fits as well as that incredible song should. It's an ambitious use of music and using music from popular culture works overall. The movie takes place over different eras in American history and the music helps reflect that.

While Watchmen the film has already gotten nowhere near the critical acclaim of the comic and probably never will, it still might have the effect the comic did on its genre, that of the comic book movie. In the 80s, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns really put comics on a more mature track. In the past year, The Dark Knight and Watchmen have made people reconsider how they think about the comic book movie genre. Watchmen is absolutely an adult film. It earned it's R rating. All joking about Dr. Manhattan's exposure aside, there is lots of sex, blood, gore, violence, and adult topics. Snyder gets this absolutely right. Watchmen needs every bit of this. Losing this element basically destroys the movie. Rorschach's scenes are especially brutal. The brutality adds to the thought that these are some seriously fucked up superheroes. This isn't Spider-Man or Superman. They aren't the Justice League, they're the Watchmen. And the Watchmen are fucked up. Just like life is.