WATCHMEN: THE STARSTORE REVIEW
Sitting in a cinema packed with long-time Watchmen fans and new converts was a strange thing. The sense of palpable anticipation was noticeable. After two decades, all the hype about the book and now all the hype about the film itself, would it live up to all the praise? Lights dimmed, half an hour of trailers passed without many people noticing, and then the screen went yellow. As the brilliant opening title sequence played, it became something rather surreal. Seeing the WATCHMEN logo rise up during that sequence cemented it. At long last, here we all were, watching the Watchmen movie.
Few films have been scrutinized and talked about so much. The benchmark by which pretty much all graphic novels are measured was finally on the big screen in live action, and I must admit that I was hoping Zack Snyder would have pulled off at least a half decent adaptation. I never suspected he would surpass all of my expectations by such a wide margin. Ladies and gentlemen, Watchmen isn’t just a good film, it is a great film. An incredible film. The most incredible comic book film of all time. Easily. Over Superman 2. Over The Dark Knight. Over X-Men, Spider-man and Iron Man. Everything honestly pales in comparison to this twisted, complicated, multi-layered masterpiece.
In almost every sense the Watchmen movie is a literal interpretation of the graphic novel, with a few things missing, a few things changed, but those changes are justified and make narrative sense. The extended cut with put some of these elements back, but this theatrical cut is as perfect as I could have possibly hoped it would be. It captures the characters, the story, the feel of the graphic novel to an extent that I found rather incredible. The script is sublime, poetic, and in scenes such as those involving Dr Manhattan’s origins, so poignant that it becomes something more than a film. Am I going too far here? No. Watch it and understand. This is a work of art.
The film is extremely violent, brutal, harrowing, just as expected, but it is within its context. It has its place. This is not a throwaway comic book film, or a bloated piece of pseudo-intellectual melodrama like The Dark Knight (IMHO). This is a pretty damn close interpretation of the book geeks like me have been hyping up to people for so many years.
Visually, the Watchmen movie is one hell of an achievement. While a couple of effects sequences aren’t 100 percent perfect, these are very small instances. The cinematography is beautiful- very much in keeping with the style of the graphic novel, and also very in keeping with the visual style that Zack Snyder is known for, but melded together it becomes something else entirely. I bet Dave Gibbons (Watchmen’s original artist) must have a grin the size of Dr Manhattan’s, erm, you get the idea.
Is it perfect? No. The thing is, no watchmen movie could be completely perfect, but this is about as close as we will see to the graphic novel in its purest form. As a feature film it works beautifully. I barely noticed the huge running time. Packed with so much story, the whole audience seemed to be hooked from start to finish. The cast are incredible – Big shoutout to Jackie Earle Hayley and Billy Crudup, hell, everyone involved. Watchmen is the best comic book movie I have seen in my entire life, and believe me, I don’t say that lightly. This is an event film, and the impact it brings with it will be felt for a long time to come. Utterly, utterly wonderful.
Andrew Hawnt
