We have been in the middle of a new superhero era of film for a while now. The eighties and nineties gave us Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns” as well as Sam Raimi’s “Darkman.” The trend died down for a while, but now Hollywood brings us a superhero more grounded in reality, more human and more relatable. It started with Sam Raimi’s “Spiderman” series, but really took off with Christopher Nolan’s re-imagining of Batman. The success of “Batman Begins’ lead studios to seemingly throw everything they had into superhero movies. Many have failed and the rest have been mediocre to good. Where does "Watchmen" sit amongst the rest of the crop? It is definitely towards the top but not on it.
In an alternate version of 1985 Edward Blake has been murdered. Masked “superhero” Rorschach discovers that Edward Blake is a retired masked “superhero” himself, The Comedian. While the country edges closer to nuclear war with Russia, Rorschach believes he has uncovered a conspiracy to eliminate The Watchmen and sets out to warn the rest of the retirees: Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl II), Doctor Manhattan (the only one to have true super powers), Laurie Jupiter (Silk Spectre II) and Adrian Veidt who was Ozymandias but is now a successful businessman and the only Watchman to have revealed his true identity.
You might be wondering why a few of these characters have II next to their name. It is because they are not the first set of masked crusaders to watch over America. Previously the outfit was called The Minutemen. Silk Spectre II is the daughter of the original Silk Spectre and Nite Owl II is simply the second Nite Owl. Director Zack Snyder does a great job of weaving the whole story of the original Minutemen and the creation of the new Watchmen during a beautiful opening montage over Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They are A-Changin’. What is so great about the story also makes the telling of it in film a difficult one. These are intelligent and dense characters with a long history. In order to tell the complete tale, while allowing the viewer to understand and attach to the characters, Snyder incorporates a weaving narrative that flashes back to the past while propelling the plot forward at the same time. This requires an attentive audience. I caught almost everything my first go around, but I know I will need a second viewing to catch it all. I personally don’t mind a challenging film and the complicated structure used is not a gimmick used to fool the viewer for a surprise ending; there really is a lot of information to convey. However, why not plan for a trilogy? Perhaps the material would be better served spaced out into three shorter and more precise films. I thought that’s what studios wanted these days anyway.
I had a few worries going into the film; one was the casting of Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II and the second was the direction of Zack Snyder. During several discussions about the film I worried, “I really hope the entire movie isn’t in slow motion.” Like the Matrix before it, Snyder’s ‘300’ was ripe with slow motion action sequences as well as the trailer for this film. ‘Watchmen’ definitely doesn’t disappoint in that department. However, I feel this is one thing that detracts from the grittiness and honesty of these everyday masked crusaders. In addition, a cute face and nice body does not a good actor make. Ackerman isn’t absolutely horrible, but definitely sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the stellar cast. Jackie Earle Haley is chilling as Rorschach, Billy Crudup is wonderful and otherworldly as Dr. Manhattan, and Patrick Wilson is perfect as the mousy and proper Nite Owl II. Not to mention Jeffrey Dean Morgan, himself an eerie mix of Robert Downey Jr. and Javier Bardem, who embodies harsh reality as The Comedian.
Watchmen definitely ranks right at the top with the current Batman series of films at depicting everyday relatable superheroes. The Watchmen all have issues that many of the viewers in the audience may have as well. Instead of sitting in a movie theatre they’re using their painful past to fight crime, kill the bad guys and save innocent lives. The word superhero is surrounded by quotations in my writing above because the label is debatable. These people are definitely not all likeable let alone heroes. Snyder does a great job bringing the story to a rich and luscious life, but for me the film doesn’t spend enough time letting us get to know these down to earth “superheroes.” All in all it’s a pretty cool flick, with a few disappointments.
This is sort of in response to your last two posts...
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things about art-whether it's in a gallery, a movie theater, or a bookstore-is that when people experience it, a dialogue ensues. When a critic does a good job, he/she presents the audience with a topic to discuss--either by breaking down what has been shown to them, or by presenting their personal opinion.
Critics have been saying that Watchmen is "too true to the graphic novel," which sounded stupid, but when I saw the movie, I agreed. This is a movie that was made for the fanboys (and fangirls), because, the fact is, if you haven't read the book, you missed 1/4 of the movie. In a way, I think it's a bit genius--to make the movie both acceptable to fans of the book (by showing details from the book in sort of a secretive, "shout-out" style), and at the same time make it entertaining for moviegoers that have no familiarity with the book at all. In another sense, it's a bit snarky. For instance, all of the classic tunes that are used in the soundtrack are actually quoted in the book. The boy and old man hugging as the city turns to rubble are actually a sub-plot of the novel. The opening credits? Basically a summary of several in-depth background stories. And, there was a very significant change in the ending that I still don't know how I feel about.
That said, I still think the movie kicked ass. Every frame is gorgeous, the fight choreography is fantastic, and Jackie Earle Haley deserves an academy award for his performance as Rorschach (I would love to see a "superhero" get one of those).
Sam said she head dialogue in the background during the dinner scene between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II. Something about ordering the four legged chicken? Is that a shout out to the novel?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that one specifically--but it probably is. The dialogue seemed pretty much word-for-word.
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