Watchmen Redux

So the husband and I saw “Watchmen” again, only in IMAX.

This time around, I enjoyed the movie a lot more. I think since I had already seen it and gotten to do the whole “comic vs. movie” thing, I could relax and just get into it more which really helped reduce some of the issues I had during the first viewing, such as not getting attached to some of the characters.

I noticed a few things I had missed the first time around which was a nice thing.

Watching it in IMAX was definitely a lot nicer too and I highly recommend this format if it’s available to you.

Oh and I think I may be one of the few people NOT distracted by Dr. Manhattan’s…er…nakedness.

Watchmen

Watchmen (2009)
Rated R
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Patrick Wilson
Runtime: 163 mins

I have to start off saying that I walked into this movie with a weird perspective.  I had only gotten thru part of the graphic novel; while I was familiar with the characters and had an impression of who they were, I didn’t know the entire story.  So the first half of the movie was pretty familiar to me while the 2nd half was new.

Let’s start with the visuals.  Amazing.  Everyone looked like who they were supposed to play.  The scenes were basically the book’s panels come to life.  In this respect, this movie was phenomenal and really preserved the visual aspect of the graphic novel.  The CG was also well-done.  It was pretty seamless.  As for Dr. Manhattan, *applause*.  Probably the best CG-rendered character to hit the screen yet.

I definitely appreciate the fact that lesser known/unknown actors were cast.  I think it helped because star power did not overshadow the characters.  You didn’t see the actor and think “Okay, this is Brad Pitt playing Achilles”.  You saw only the character.  All of them did a fantastic job in just immersing themselves in their roles.  I think they got the characters spot on, from looking like them to sounding like how you think they would sound to moving like them.  Jeffery Dean Morgan gained some attention with his previous roles but he showed he can fill a drastically different role from his demon-hunting father on “Supernatural” or lovable Denny on “Grey’s Anatomy”.  Jackie Earle Haley was just fantastic as Rorschach.  His gruff voice, the tone, especially during the narrative part, was just perfect and fitting for the character.  The only issue I had with these two characters is that they felt a little diluted from their novel counterparts.  The Comedian didn’t seem as nasty, Rorschach as crazy.  I don’t think it is a fault that can be attributed to the actors but rather the way the movie was edited.  As for Dr. Manhattan, Billy Crudup provided the motion and voice for the character.  His subtle movements and stiffness of body, his voice that was not exactly monotone but had an eerie detached calm, all of it definitely pointed towards a character that was pulling further and further away from humanity.

Now to the gritty part.  How did the movie reflect the novel?  Given the cult status associated with “Watchmen”, there were a lot of excited fans as well as apprehensive ones.  After all, didn’t “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” get completely butchered?  There was worry that “Watchmen” would suffer the same fate.

Snyder kept his promise and followed the book as closely as possible.  Some flashbacks n’ things were re-ordered but it didn’t affect the story; it worked for the flow of the movie.  A lot was edited out, sadly, which I think was the main cause for the character dilution.  It also prevented me from really getting into the story and forming an opinion on the characters and what was going on.  I think Snyder would have done better if he had decided to do a multi-movie series and kept everything intact.  We know these things work (LoTR trilogy anyone?) and I really feel that Watchmen could have benefited from that format.

The big thing that changed was the ending.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say the end result was intact but the conduit changed.  For those of you familiar with the original ending, the movie does not use the squid.  (For those of you not in the know, don’t worry about it.)  Since I have a husband who’s a Watchmen fan, he filled me in on what happened in the book.  I sort of understand why the ending was changed.  I think the squid scenario would not have executed well on the screen.  I didn’t think it subtracted from the story; it still inspired the questions and thoughts that were intended, in my opinion.  It just lacked that punch in the gut, definitely, from a visual standpoint.

Overall, I thought this was an okay movie.  It wasn’t the stunner I was expecting or was hyped up to be.  I think “Watchmen” will suffer a bit from the build-up surrounding it and also from the purists panning it.  I don’t think it was butchered like LoEG was; it was a decent adaptation and attempt at doing an Alan Moore story justice on the big screen.  I would say it was worth watching, definitely from a visual standpoint.   (Shout out to my husband who worked on the mo-cap for Dr. Manhattan.  ^_^)