thoughts on watchmen

[loosestrudel]

I've read a lot of tempered criticism because of the monumental effort to produce such a monumental comic achievement. Phooey to tempering anything, though.

I think Zach Snyder has earned full accolades for his successes and the full burden of criticism for his failures. If he has accomplished anything, it's responsibility for his work, good and bad. An artist can hardly ask for more, eh? Fortunately, it's mostly good. My thoughts follow.



First, let's tackle acting:

• Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach Unabashed triumph.
  The hardest character to get right was the best performance of the movie. Compares favorably with Ledger's Joker as far as achieving an iconic comic character. I don't know that Haley brought a lot extra to the character in the way that Ledger did, but he wasn't asked to do so, and he didn't need to do so. Just fantastic. Extra points for acting with a mask.
  
  
• Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II Very good.
  Did the timid side very well. Never got the full depth of inventive genius and dreaming, bird-fan adventurer provided in the book. I'm not sure the script allowed it, though. Did a great job with what he had.
  
  
• Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan Good.
  Probably the second-most-challenging character to portray after Rorschach. I know he's rather emotionless, but the performance erred on the side of flat. The voice seemed off to me--not sure why.
  
  
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian Mostly good.
  Again, looking for a little more range, from savage to maniacal to conscience-raising to tender. The Comedian is so important as a foil for all the other characters--he just didn't feel like he was well partnered in most of his scenes. I don't know--Morgan's resemblance to him made me really want Robert Downey Jr, and I kept wondering what the latter would have done with it.
  
  
• Malik Akerman as Silk Spectre II Mostly poor.
  She has a lot of screen time and is extremely important in the story. Akerman is cute of course and hot in the over-amped sex scene, but Laurie, she wasn't. Great fight work, and she looked good doing it. But none of Laurie's struggles or internal conflicts were laid bare in her. My criticisms of Billy Crudup, such as they were, may be unfair given he was partnered often with Akerman. It was good effort, but she didn't offer a lot.
  
  
• Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt Poor.
  Weird, affected accent. Too distanced. When he says "I have made myself feel every death", do you believe it for a moment? Do you think this guy could really wield a global corporate empire? Does he strike you as intelligent? Not for me. Again, more like affected. Here's a guy practiced at affecting intelligence with no true brights to own it. All pretense, no substance.
  
  
• Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter Very poor.
  "I'm 67 years old..." Like hell. None of the charisma and depth of the comic character. Part of the problem, as in other places, is her script. But her performance made me wish they'd hired a similar looking actress in her sixties and let Gugino just play the character in the past.
  

Okay, how about some changes from the book:

• The ending
  In theory, I like it. In fact, I like the idea even better than the squid in the book, which--dare I saw about a comic book--seems far fetched. Tying it back to Dr. Manhattan seems more consistent with the story, and eliminates an unnecessary diversion in already disparate comic. That said, for a movie that is so fearlessly violent, the end seems rather dry on the old tragedy scale. Perhaps I was so de-sensitized to violence after the cracked limbs and dismembered arms. But the people busting open in New York and the little video screens of explosions around the world didn't strike me with the gravity that the comic squid did. Perhaps if the film had shown me, as the comic did, who the newspaper man and the kid were, I might have felt more.
  
  
• Rorschach's child killer
  I guess it was important to Zach Snyder that we see Rorschach's first proper killing, but I'm not sure it's more effective than the hacksaw thing and explosion in the book.
  
  
• Dr. Manhattan's past-vision-touch thingy
  I appreciate this as an inventive way to translate the easy comic flashback to a more difficult one. Still no reason not to include the snow globe drop--though I appreciate its brief appearance.
  
  
• Adding Nite Owl I to observe the attempted rape scene and adding Nite Owl II to observe the Rorschach death scene
  Why? Just needed reactions? Seems goofy and voyeuristic. Okay, maybe not voyeuristic. But maybe.
  
  
• Having Dan Dreiberg pound on Veidt
  Maybe this answers half my last question. I liked this, if only because I wanted to hit him too for bad acting. But I think Snyder realized his conclusion lacked some drama and threw this in.
  
  
• Silhouette/nurse kiss
  Fun. Ironic. Nicely done.
  
  
• No hover sleds in Antarctica
  "Two riders were approaching..." Hello? Riders!
  

A few touches the fanboy in me appreciated:

• Mars happy face. : )
  
• Aforementioned snow globe.
  
• Cameos of the newspaper guy and kid.
  
• Gunga Diner
  
• All the songs from the book.
  
• Hooded Justice's voice
  
• Uncanny resemblance between the actor who played the psychiatrist and the character in the comic. We couldn't have done this for the New Frontiersman publisher--was Clint Howard not available?
  
• Art direction for Dreiberg's basement/hangar and shots therein resembling their comic counterparts
  

In general, I don't think there's any way this movie has influence on comic book films the way the original material had on comic books themselves. But it was a worthwhile experience faithfully adapted. The errors and failures are made all the more glaring by the success and attention to detail in the other parts of the film. I'm glad I saw it. I'd see it again. As for grades: a solid B.