Having recently purchased and read the graphic novel of ‘Watchmen’ – by Alan Moore and after the realisation of what a fine piece of literature ‘Watchmen’ is, naturally I became as excited as a school girl for the release of this film which has been dubbed “un-filmable” by many due to the complex nature and story layout of the novel. Not to mention the films trailers were awesome! Still, as excited as I was I had to go into this film with lowered expectations as no matter how good the film could be – it couldn't ever be as good as it's source material, right? Well, first and foremost the graphic novel and the film should NOT be compared as they are both two completely different forms of entertainment media. Blatantly, you can't make a film exactly the same page for page as what is essentually a comic book for adults! Plus the film's running time is 160 minutes which is long for most people so obviously it does not go into as great detail as the graphic novel. Some scene's have been altered and/or shortened and some scenes have been taken out all together but to be honest, if Zack Snyder tried putting in every last detail from the novel – the film would be closer to six hours long!!! Besides all that, the film is still an excellent interpretation of the graphic novel and very simply put…is absolutely brilliant!
Now it was obvious from the film's trailers that the visual effects were going to be impressive (and they are) but still, what really makes Watchmen brilliant besides the great cinematography are the actors who really go the extra mile to bring these characters to life and give them depth and complexity not found in other films of this sort. The casting was perfect and every actor matched their comic counterpart flawlessly most notably ‘Jackie Earl Haley’ as the tough-as-nails (and slightly mad) vigilante “Rorschach”, who is also the films narrator. He was perfect for the role and literally became ‘Rorschach’ both physically and mentally and really succeeded in bringing the character out from the pages and onto the silver screen. The whole cast's dedication to their roles was phenomenal and besides the fact that they dress-up in skin-tight spandex suits and fight crime, are really identifiable and relatable as everyday human beings. Although this film is fantasy, there is still an overwhelming sense of realism to it which really enhances the overall experience. I was absorbed right from the spectacular opening scene right up until the final curtain and the 160 minutes flew by.
I do recommend reading the graphic novel before seeing this film although it's not essential that you do but that being said, this is not your average “x-men” type “super hero” flick: it's dark, graphic, extremely violent with frequent explicit language and full frontal nudity! In other words, it's “R”-rated for a reason!!! So if you don't like violence/brutality, long films or films with complex characters and plot – you might want to skip this one as it really isn't for everyone. You either get it or you don't… but if you're like me and you love this kind of stuff (or just appreciate descent films that are a little different)…then don't miss this film as it really is a truly wonderful theatrical experience and a master piece of it's genre.
Now for the die-hard fans of the source material, there are several scenes and plot details missing (obviously the comic within a comic “tales of the Black Freiter”) yet funny enough there is an added scene (I won't go into detail) which is more implied in the novel than actually portrayed (or might be done in one panel at best), put to the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen which is a pleasant surprise. Now every time I hear that song I can't help but chuckle! The scene is beautiful though, Hallelujah indeed ;) This film has definitely raised the bar for comic book/graphic novel adaptions to come and will be extremely hard if not impossible to beat. And if you want to go as far as dubbing this a “Super-hero” film, then it's definitely the best one you'll ever see!