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Director:
Zack Snyder
Writers (screenplay):
David Hayter and Alex Tse

Based On The Comic By:
Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore

Cast:
Malin Akerman – Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II
Billy Crudup - Dr. Manhattan / Jon Osterman
Matthew Goode - Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias
Jackie Earle Haley - Walter Kovacs / Rorschach
Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Edward Blake / The Comedian
Patrick Wilson - Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II
Carla Gugino – Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre
Matt Frewer - Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic
Stephen McHattie – Hollis Mason / Nite Owl


Content Guide: This movie is rated R for language, graphic violence, adult situations, and nudity.

Intro

Watchmen is beloved by comic fans as one of if not the best graphic novel out there. That is has been one of the best selling as well is a testament to the long standing nature of this story, considered to be literature, some twenty plus years after its creation. This is the move that even writer Alan Moore could never be made, but director Zack Snyder, a professed comic fan, has jumped at the chance to make this property into reality. It was a bold effort as the comic is so complex and rich that everyone knows it would be hard to do and make approachable by those who aren’t aware of the Watchmen comic.

Storyline

In an alternate reality 1985, The Comedian, Edward Blake, is murdered. He is one of the last of the superheroes, belonging to a group known as The Watchmen, who banded together to right the wrongs of society. As more and more of the mystery unravels, those still in the fight come to think that there is a mask killer on the loose and the others from the team may be next.

Everyone is a suspect and a target.
Old heroes come out of retirement and band together to find out who is behind these attacks and uncover a deeper plot that threatens the future of the world. The Watchmen must rise again to face this new threat, because if they fail, the world could be doomed to nuclear destruction.

Review

I wondered how they would be able to pull off this remake. Watchmen is such a complicated story, that took bold chances in storytelling and what was acceptable in comics. There is a reason why this comic hasn’t been made into a movie, as not only was the special effects not there until recent years, but this isn’t your average superhero story. It is a story that reset what comics were capable of and creators since have tried to mimic.
What unfolds is a very true retelling of the comic book series. Snyder has paid a lot of attention to the details of the comic, with most of the scenes being intact and unfolding just as it was in the series. There are many lines riffed straight from the comic and it was neat to see just how much of the story stayed intact. Whenever something is adapted for film, they almost always, “trim the fat” to streamline the story. That would be very hard to do with this property, but Snyder was successful overall in taking out some of the less key parts of the story. Dr. Malcom’s story, as well as Joey the cab driver, Max and Hira, the newspaper man and The Tale of the Black Freighter were all absent, but nods were made to them throughout the film.

The biggest change to the story was in the change of the villains plot. The means are different, but the end result is the same. The heroes are again forced into a position that has no real winner for them, and they must decide to value justice or peace more.

I think the problem here will be for people who do not know of the Watchmen comic. I went with a friend who hadn’t read it and his first comment was, “That was interesting.” Most people have ideas as to what a superhero movie is all about, and Watchmen seeks to break those ideas into pieces. The unknowing may be coming for something like Iron Man and be greatly shocked at what they see.

I really think Snyder and Co. did a great job at adapting the comic. The look of the movie was so close to the comic and I was really impressed to the level of detail that was put into the sets and characters. It was truly a stunning portrayal.