This movie is unlike any other. This is a comic book movie that you have never seen before. Directed by Zack Snyder (300), Watchmen is based on the acclaimed comic book that focuses on normal people trying to be heroes. Well except Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). He is a kind of super-hero. I am not familiar with the comic book, but I do know the hype behind this movie. Expectations are sky high, but are in no way fully met.
First, let me try to explain this story. Besides Dr. Manhattan, all of the other vigilantes are normal people trying to make a difference. The members of Watchmen are Dr. Manhattan, Silk Spectre/Silk Spectre II (Carla Gugino/Malin Akerman), Night Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). The story is set in an alternate world that is a lot like Earth in 1985 and America and Russia are involved in a nuclear war with each other. President Nixon is on his third or fourth term and the government passes the Keene Act. This act forced the group to go in to retirement because it banished all masked avengers. But that doesn’t sit well with Rorschach.
The movie kicks off with the death of the Comedian and Rorschach sets out to find out who did this and if one of the other Watchmen members are next. This starts a stream of events involving all members of the Watchmen and dealing with their troubles and their past while trying to find out the truth. Oh and trying to keep the the country from a nuclear attack. Don’t forget about that.
This comic book adaptation is dark and violent. It definitely earns its R rating. Snyder is very good at fancy film-making. He really knows how to use the ever-evolving technology to his advantage. Visually this movie is amazing. There are scenes that are simply stunning. Never has there been a comic book movie that looks like this and deals with such a dark world. I give credit to Snyder because of how he was able to make this movie look and pull it off successfully. However, if you take away the technical aspect of the movie, you are not left with much.
The movie is Benjamin Button long (2 hours and 43 minutes), but there is not much to it. It didn’t feel long and I wasn’t really bored at all, but there is just no substance to the story. If Watchmen did not have all of the uses of technology, this movie would have been borderline lame. The performances are good and I have already praised the look and feel of the movie. But with all this hype about the movie, it was not that impressive, especially if you just look at the story itself.
The EFX overwhelm the story and I am almost certain that was a conscience decision. Is the movie good? Yes it is. But it was a little disappointing. Fans will probably love it more than the average viewer. The die hard fans will have a lot of back-story to the characters and perhaps have a more distinct, better story in their minds. But as a film, it cannot stand on its own. It has to rely on the uses of technology. It has to.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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