Watchmen Review

Finally, time for my "Watchmen" review.
It is indeed a good movie. A great movie. Long and exactly faithful to the famous graphic novel.

The film is set in an alternative world of 1985 where Richard Nixon is still president and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. The heroes of the golden age are remembered while the new heroes are outlawed and try to find meaning in life. They must get back together to solve the mystery of who killed one of their own.

And with that the two hour and 20 minute long epic begins.
Points of interest that other reviews said that became negative aspects of the film shall be first addressed.

The length of the movie is long. It will only get longer with the Director's Cut, so I am not complaining at the long movie. It isn't that much longer than "The Dark Knight."



Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias. I have read that he is apparently just the wrong actor for the role and that his portrayal of the character makes him look frail and weak. At the end of the film, Ozymandias portrays feats of almost superhuman strength. I don't think this was in part of Goode's acting, but he just didn't look built enough for the role or was shown any real points in the film to show his strength (he did show his speed) earlier in the film.

The darkness of the film and its grim outlook on humanity. Yes, the film is dark and it doesn't make you jump for joy at the end (did "Dark Knight?"), but it is still an amazing tale woven through many cuts from flashbacks back to the films' present. It is dark and won't make people happy, but it doesn't make people sad and want to hate the film either.

Dr. Manhattan is better on the page than on film. But I thought he looked really good. The effects done on Billy Crudup fpr Dr. Manhattan was just a treat and it was really nice to look at the blue demigod, even if his genitals were showing. Yeah, it was there in full frontal glory, but it wasn't pointed out all the time. It was just there, not like a glowing halo around Manhattan Jr. I just think maybe Crudup's voice should have been worked on for the characters. The huge body builder look just didn't fit with Crudup's smaller voice.



Most of the unknown actors in the film made the characters in the film hollow. I just categorize acting according to if it is really bad, passing or phenomenal. No one's acting was terrible (especially not in a big budget film such as this). I felt everypone's acting was passable for the character's they were playing (Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II, Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II). Jeffrey Dean Morgan asEdward Blake / The Comedian played his hated character extremely well, showing the true inhumanity of his character. Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach almost stole the whole show with his awesome portrayal as the crazy vigilante. The jail scenes were truly fun and entertaining to watch.

My one true problem with the film was the music. It was great 80's tunes, but the songs just did not fit into the film in the points Snyder had them in there. Every time another song played during the movie I heard a couple of groans in the theater and it just made the scene awkward. Let me say the film had a so-so sex scene, but the song that started playing just made it abysmal and not worth watching almost.



In the end, I really loved the movie and want to go watch it one more time in theaters to catch things I missed. Director's Cut on DVD with "Tales of the Black Freighter" will make it longer but create a whole new experience. I will be waiting for that day.

9.1/10