Copyright © 2009 by Michael A. Burstein
Written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, based on the comic book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson
167 minutes
When a movie such as Watchmen comes along, it brings with it a level of expectation rarely seen for any other film. After all, this is a movie based on the only comic book/graphic novel that made it onto Time magazine’s list of the top 100 novels of the twentieth century. For over twenty years, many comic book fans have eagerly awaited a film version of the story, while others have been wary, agreeing with co-creator Alan Moore’s philosophy that a film version could not do proper justice to the tale. Indeed, Moore’s name does not appear in the official credits for the film, by what is assumed to be his own request.
Like any comic book movie, Watchmen has to appeal to two intended audiences: Serious fans of the original work want to see a movie that fulfills their expectations, while casual moviegoers need the film to be accessible for someone who is not already steeped in the lore of the tale. The film’s success is predicated on this two-pronged approach, and it works too hard to earn that appeal.
At the time the movie begins, only two costumed heroes are sanctioned by the US government: Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the only being with true superpowers, and the brutal, amoral Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). As the film opens, the Comedian is murdered, and one of his former colleagues opens an investigation into what appears to him to be the beginning of a targeted killing of superheroes.
In the meantime, the United States and the Soviet Union find themselves on the brink of World War III and total nuclear annihilation. It doesn’t help that President Nixon’s (yes, Nixon’s) detente strategy has been predicated on the American loyalties of Dr. Manhattan, whom he sent to Vietnam to end the war a decade before the movie begins. And as the superheroes will find out, the killing of the Comedian is tied into the ongoing threat of nuclear war more than anyone would have first suspected.
The visuals are stunning, as is the dedication to the artistic feel of the original source material. It’s obvious that the filmmakers wanted to evoke the experience of the comic book for that segment of the audience, and they succeeded admirably. As a director, Zack Snyder does not shy away from the passionate sex and brutal violence portrayed in the comic book; indeed, he brings it to its logical conclusion on the screen, playing up the contrast with the relatively sanitized world of most comic book superheroes (even that of The Dark Knight from 2008). Some scenes feel literally ripped out of the comic book panels and brought to life.
The acting is also superb throughout the film. Jackie Earle Haley slips into Rorschach’s skin and mask perfectly. His voice-over narration of Rorschach’s diary sounds precisely like the voice imagined by this comic book reader. His Rorschach exemplifies the film noir ideal of justice without mercy and doesn’t look back. It is a testament to his acting that even when he does horrific acts in the name of justice, the audience roots for him.
Patrick Wilson gives off a vibe as a competent Chevy Chase when he plays Dan Dreiberg; as Nite Owl, he is clearly a superhero in it for the fun, shocked at the consequences that the real world brings to his playtime. Malin Akerman as Laurie Juspeczyk, the second Silk Spectre, comes off as more of a pastel to the other actor’s primary colors, but part of that is due to her own character’s story being given shorter shrift compared to the others. Billy Crudup’s Dr. Manhattan and Matthew Goode’s Ozymandius also sometimes seem to fade into the background, again mostly due to the more understated personalities of their characters. A short but brilliant performance is given by Matt Frewer as Moloch the Mystic, a retired villain who provides one of the key clues to the mystery. Frewer’s portrayal contains within it Moloch’s earlier triumphs and final tragedy.
But sad to say, despite the many things the film gets right, overall it falls short for both of its intended audiences.
For comic book fans, part of the problem is that the formalism of the comic simply can’t be replicated in a film. Some stories can be portrayed in many different media without losing much; that’s why certain superheroes lend themselves to the film treatment. But Watchmen wasn’t just one story among many about a group of superheroes; it was a novel contained within itself, that relied upon the artistic conventions of comic books to weave metaphors throughout. The flashbacks of the story, while replicated in the movie, come off more as separate vignettes than as woven parts of a greater whole. Even the opening sequence, which does its best to show the history of costumed adventurers leading up to the main action of the film, only hints at the seamy underbelly of their world. Comic book fans might nod knowingly at the images and remember the panels they are intended to evoke, but casual moviegoers will feel as if they’re dipping into a swimming pool and never quite getting wet.
And comic book fans will sometimes be a little disoriented by the alteration of various plot points. A film adaptation can take liberties with the source material if those changes make for a better film; in this case, the changes seem almost irrelevant. In a handful of cases the changes are damaging to the little ironies that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons so carefully laid out.
In short, the movie failed to find what screenwriter William Goldman (The Princess Bride) calls the “spine” of the story. It’s possible that director Zack Snyder and writers David Hayter and Alex Tse loved the source material too much to jettison that which needed to be thrown out in order to make a good movie. But, had they done that, the movie would not have been Watchmen.
In many ways, this version of Watchmen is the best possible film adaptation of the comic book. But if so, that justifies the fear that many fans have had about Watchmen from the day a movie deal was first announced: this is a comic book that is, at its very essence, unfilmable.
Three out of four stars for fans of the original; two out of four for everyone else.