Who Watches the Watchmen

Creator Alan Moore said it was unfilmable, Terry Gilliam said that restricting The Watchmen to a two and a half hour film would take away the essence of what The Watchmen is, and yet to a large extent Zac Snyder has managed to keep the core essence of the story (well OK The Black Freighter material isn't in the film but it is coming out on dvd though it will be in an extended version of The Watchmen DVD but I don't really like that part of the story).

I feel that the film is probably the most accurate retelling of the graphic novel that can be achieved at this time in terms of scope, effects and direction. The question is, is it worth watching? Well, yes although only if you were truly interested in seeing the movie twice. See you have to watch the film twice (a)because it is long and there aren't any ad breaks or pause buttons in the movie screens and (b) there's a lot to take in.

Although to be fair the two hour forty plus minutes of The Watchmen didn't feel overly long at all, at no point did I feel the need to reach for my watch, its paced very well. The sets have this great feel of the comic book come to life,it's very evident that Snyder and his production team poured alot of effort in recreating the 1985 world The Watchmen are in.

The acting is really great, Rorschach sounds exactly how he should sound, in contrast Dr Manhattan doesn't really sound that 'godlike' often he sounds to soft and caring which doesn't really fit the 'uncaring Superman' character Moore intended him to be. Ozymandias is the only living 'Watchman' who gets little screentime so it is often hard to get behind this character, perhaps its intentional if you know the role Ozy plays in the film.

Now every film has it's flaws and without being too spoilery here are what I thought were The Watchmen's flaws, firstly Nixon's presence in the film was a bit excessive, I realise he was in it a lot so that it reminded everyone that this was an alternate 1985 and not the modern day (though the appearance of the World Trade Center buildings may have been a clue to that too), music that was relevant to Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II's trip out in Archie was used earlier in the film which kinda irked me slightly and finally in one instance Rorschach calls his mask his mask when he refers to it as his face.

One of the biggest worries for the film is the climax, while the movie ending was fantastically orchestrated, I preferred the far fetched climax of the comic but that's just me.

There are some funny moments that aren't that intentional but nevertheless can 'raise' a smile, you wouldn't find something like that in a traditional superhero movie and traditional superhero movie this isn't and I think if you go to see this film with that in mind it may be more enjoyable.