Watchmen
March 5, 2009 by Maura Reilly
Filed under Reviews
I was worried going to see this much hyped movie. I had never read the graphic novel so I was afraid I wasn’t going to understand what has been heralded as the best comic series ever and thought to be unfilm-able. Anyone with a decent base in Sci-Fi /fantasy films and books will have no trouble with this one. The themes are universal, the plot more a “who-dun-it” mystery (complete with the villain monologueing).
Visually it’s stunning. Like with director Snyder’s adaptation of 300 most shots are lifted directly from the graphic novel. That might not be enough for Watchmen fanatics. From what I understand the book is multilayered to the point of convolution. I felt the script was tight but I can imagine quite a bit was left out. I hear the DVD will have tons of stuff added back in. Those more rabid folks will have to simmer down and wait for that.
Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach and Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg/Night Owl II are the films strongest performances followed by the baddest ass of them all, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The weakest link, and I hate to say this, was Malin Ackerman. She looks fantastic and handles all the action sequences like a champ. But she simply lacks the acting chops to give her scenes any weight. Literally, when she’s not speaking she’s great. Additionally, Matthew Goode’s characterization of Ozymandias, the smartest man in the world, is confusing at times. It seems almost suddenly this slight German accent is detectable. Was he saying he was the product of Nazi experimentation on children for a perfect race? Oh yeah, I just totally blew your mind with that one!
This is a whole lotta movie! It clocks in at over 2 hours so be sure to portion out the liquids appropriately. In case you’re the kind of person who is curious about such things, yes, you see Dr Manhattan’s “Chrysler Building” several times. I’m curious to know if that’s a special effect too.
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