Movie Review: "Watchmen" - Franck's take
Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 7:01PM | By Franck Tabouring 
Seen on: March 6, 2009
The players: Director: Zack Snyder, Writers: Alex Tse, David Hayter, Cast: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson
Facts of interest: Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
The plot: In an alternate 1985, someone is killing former costumed heroes, inspiring the few who remain to don their disguises again to uncover the truth.
Our thoughts: I never read Alan Moore’s graphic novel and I probably won’t get to it in the near future, but considering all the exciting trailers, spots and clips I’ve seen over the past months, I admit I walked into “Watchmen” with incredibly high expectations. In fact, I was dying to see what all this recent hype was all about.
Now, did I enjoy watching “Watchmen”? Sure. Did I absolutely fall in love with this movie? No, not really. Zack Snyder obviously created a visually intriguing big-screen production that will certainly please many cinemagoers and fans of graphic novels, and while I definitely had a good time watching this thing, I also came across a couple of things I didn’t appreciate that much.
My biggest problem here is the film’s length. This baby almost runs for three hours, and while I didn’t encounter much trouble with the second and third parts, it was the beginning of “Watchmen” that disappointed me a little. Maybe I was terribly sleepy, but somehow, I just felt the plot took way too long to really take off.
Of course, I always respect a film that gives audiences a great insight into its central characters and explains in detail who these people are and what happened to them, but in this case, all the slow-moving dialogue during the flick’s first hour just didn’t pull me to the edge of my seat. Maybe I felt this way because I don’t know the comic, or maybe I was just expecting too much.
The main intrigue of “Watchmen,” however, is certainly fascinating, and I really appreciate the idea of a story serving as a way to reflect the fear of the world’s ultimate destruction. Nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union seems inevitable in this film, and even America’s costumed vigilantes don’t seem to be able to stop the growing global crisis.
One of the central figures in the movie is Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), a masked ex-superhero who launches an intense investigation into the brutal murder of one of his former colleagues. Little does he know, however, that the clues he finds eventually lead him to discover a ruthless plan that could forever change the future of humanity.
Rorschach’s determination to figure out what happened to his late friend is indeed intriguing to watch, and the involvement of his former partners Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman), Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) makes for a bunch of memorable (and utterly bloody) sequences.
Indeed, “Watchmen” features quite a bunch of visually stunning scenes that made it a lot easier for me to like the movie more and more as the story progressed. Snyder undoubtedly knows what he’s doing, and especially his action-packed moments in the film are just plain fantastic. At least technically, “Watchmen” is a masterpiece.
The depth of the central characters obviously plays a big role in the movie, and so does the acting. Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley definitely delivered my two favorite performances as Nite Owl II and Rorschach, respectively. On the other hand, Goode and Akerman didn’t really win me over, although I also enjoyed watching Morgan and Crudup.
Freaky quote: “The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!' And I'll whisper 'no'." – Jackie Earle Haley
The final word: Like I mentioned before, I am in no position to compare the movie to its source material. As a big-screen experience, however, “Watchmen” is overall fun to watch, even though it could have been a bit shorter. It’s something I’d definitely watch again though.
Article by Franck Tabouring
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Reader Comments (4)
didn't they have a 20 minute intro of various old songs before the movie finally started? too long indeed.
haha, that's a good way to put it.
Like the recent Batman, this film was dark, even more so in my view. Yes technically it was brilliant. You definitely get your moneys worth with this film.
Ir's funny, Frank. I enjoyed the first stretch of the film much more than the later parts. The first stretch was low on plot, sure, but it was told in such a compelling visual manner that it was easy to forget that nothing was happening. Sure, there were plenty of music video moments but the music choices were also different and exciting. I just think people want this to be the second coming, (The Dark Knight being thew first) and it isn't. Snyder wants the Watchmen to be grounded, relatable human beings but they aren't. They are outlandish and larger than life. And so again, an enjoyable film, yeah; but I think anyone calling this film a masterpiece would be stretching to save face.