Scott reviews ‘Watchmen’

I know that you guys aren’t used to seeing a whole lot of reviews from me outside of the festival coverage, but after seeing what Zack Synder has done with the “unfilmable” graphic novel adaptation, he has almost perfected in ‘Watchmen’ I felt compelled to tell you why you should see this movie. I am not going to tell you that this movie is going to appeal to everyone, or even that 75% of people are going to “get it” but honestly, if you go see this movie with an open mind and no other preconceived notions of what a “comic book movie” should be, you will leave with a very big smile on your face. The movie is heavy, and will take a little while to digest it all, but rest assured you will.

Lets face it, someone that watches the trailer and expects this movie to be filled with nothing but superheroes saving the day and a ton of action aren’t going to be satisfied and will probably end up walking out of the theater half way through. Those aren’t the people this film was made for. This is the epitome of a fanboy flick and I couldn’t be any happier about that fact.

Its no secret that Alan Moore was not a fan of his graphic novel being adapted into a feature movie, even going as far as to say that it is “unfilmable” but I am here to tell you, Zack Synder created one epic piece of cinema that begs to be seen more than once. I honestly think that to really “get” this movie you need to enjoy it in additional viewings. Like some comedies that get better after multiple sittings, I think ‘Watchmen’ will reveal itself more and more after repeated sit downs.

I watched the film last night and after starting at 7, and ending at around 9:40 I didn’t just get up out of my seat. I sat there and watched the credits roll and tried to take the movie in as much as possible before the flood of “what did you think?!” questions that I get after every press screening. I wasn’t really sure what to say except the fact that Snyder took me on a journey that is both gritty and masterful. I also needed some additional time to think about the entire experience, not just certain scenes. Walking away you know that Jackie Earle Haley perfected the role of Rorschach, and Billy Crudup portrayed a stunning version of Dr Manhattan (blue CGI penis and all).

Visually, this film is flawless just like I expected it to be. I mean, we were all wowed by ‘300’ so it should come as no surprise how great this film looks. The best part of the visual aspect is that Snyder pulls off some of the best fight scenes I have seen since ‘The Matrix’, but that’s not the only thing he does great. Your average character shots are filled with so much intensity that just staring at these guys in certain scenes will give you chills. Snyder also brings in a flawless soundtrack/score into the fray as well. There are a lot of songs that might be classified as “hokey” in the scenes that they play in but I thought it came off EXACTLY how I expected scenes from the comic book to come off.

Critics have been quoted saying that this isn’t the best adaptation that could have been done, but this adaptation stayed more true than I actually thought the end product would be. The same feeling I got from the book, I also felt when I was leaving the theater. I wanted to go back in and watch it again… yes, all 2 hours and 40 minutes of it, or even better the director’s cut with the additional 35 minutes. I don’t know how anyone besides Snyder could have done a better job recreating a very difficult piece of work. For those of you that say it could have been done better by someone else, please leave me a comment as to why.

I would also like to throw out there that this movie definitely is not for the kids, as it deals with some very adult themes and most kids/teens are going to be super confused by the entire thing. If you don’t want your child to see a rated R movie, then don’t take them to see ‘Watchmen’.

It is very difficult for me to find anything “bad” about this, so I will just say that Zack Snyder perfected the “unfilmable” graphic novel.

Overall Rating: 5/5